7
A third Castro Starbucks?
12
Clinton's LGBT rights speech
21
Chita Rivera speaks.
The
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Disabled new targets of anti-gay initiatives
Castro is Occupied
by Seth Hemmelgarn
Feds to meet with Ammiano on pot laws by Dan Aiello
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n t i - g a y activists have added people with disabilities to their targets in the latest attempts to undo Senate Bill 48, also known as the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Karen England Respectful Education Act. SB 48 requires that students learn about the historical contributions of LGBT Americans and people with disabilities, among others. In the coming months, Californians could face multiple bids to gut the state law, which was authored by gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and is set to go into effect January 1. A proposed initiative filed with the state attorney general’s office Tuesday, December 6, brings to five the total number of efforts to diminish SB 48’s impact. One of the most recent proposals, “Repeal SB48,” filed by Richard Rios, chair of the Christian Coalition of California, strikes people with disabilities from the groups whose historical contributions have to be taught to students. In another part of his proposal, Pacific Islanders are removed from the law, among other changes. He previously submitted documents to exclude LGBTs. Many feel excluding LGBTs and others from the law means children won’t get an accurate picture of history. Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign, a nonprofit that’s been part of a coalition supporting SB 48, said Rios “would like to have a law that tells the history of a country that never existed and certainly doesn’t now.” It’s not clear why Rios, who submitted his latest proposal to the attorney general’s office November 21, wants to exclude people with disabilities. He didn’t respond to interview requests for this story. When it came to excluding LGBTs, he previously expressed concern over parents’ religious beliefs being contradicted. Whatever his motivation this time, Lauren Steinberg, who has a physical disability and identifies as gay, said Rios’s proposal angered her. Steinberg is the systems change advocate for the Berkeley-based Center for Independent Living, which provides support and other services for people with disabilities. She said Rios’s proposal “does students a huge disservice.” A child may be the only See page 2 >>
Vol. 41 • No. 49 • December 8-14, 2011
A Jane Philomen Cleland
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hen members of Occupy Castro stopped in front of the Castro Country Club Saturday, December 3 they were met by Deke Johnson, center, who said he is “in contract” to buy the building that houses the sober community space and coffee shop. Johnson took to the microphone, saying, “I am that man!” after activists called him out for possible plans to evict the manager of the country club from the upstairs apartment. In fact, Johnson, who said he would be keeping the clean and sober space, offered no such reassurances that he would allow the manager to stay in the unit. A similar LGBT-inspired Occupy march also took place in Los Angeles over the weekend.
fter more than two months of confusion amid a crackdown by the federal Department of Justice on medical cannabis dispensaries, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is expected to meet soon with the Jane Philomen Cleland U.S. attorney’s office, Assemblyman the Bay Area Reporter Tom Ammiano has learned. The private meeting is expected to take place next week between Ammiano, the San Francisco Democrat, and Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California. The decision by Haag to meet with Ammiano comes just one week after See page 16 >>
City mulls restrictions for Castro plazas by Matthew S. Bajko
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moking and camping would be banned and set hours for sitting on benches and chairs would be imposed at the Castro’s two street plazas under new rules proposed by District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener. The restrictions would apply to Jane Warner Plaza on 17th Street near Market and across the street at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni station. The ordinance would specify that Jane Warner Plaza, the city’s first Pavement to Parks project, falls under the rules that apply to the city’s public parks. Wiener introduced the proposed rules on November 15 at the request of the Castro/ Upper Market Community Benefit District, which oversees maintenance of the outdoor areas. The Board of Supervisors is expected to begin holding hearings on them in early 2012. “This legislation will set basic standards for the plazas so that everyone can enjoy them. For example, the legislation will extend the ban on smoking that’s already in existence in parks and other public spaces, will ban camping (as already banned in parks), and will prevent large shopping carts from coming into the plaza,” Wiener explained to his constituents in his latest email newsletter. “I worked closely with the Castro Community Benefit District and other neighborhood stakeholders to come up with this legislation.” Until now the plaza has fallen into a legal limbo as it is a former street. City officials have
Rick Gerharter
People playing a game of dominoes in Jane Warner Plaza are undisturbed by a passing MUNI F line streetcar.
been unclear on what city codes applied to the parklet. “It is still a street as far as the city code is concerned,” explained Andrea Aiello, the CBD’s executive director. “This is an attempt to put some clear rules in place.” No smoking signs are already posted at the plazas, but users routinely flout the ban. Once the regulations are passed, the rule will be able
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to be enforced and citations issued to violators. “I get calls all the time from people saying people are smoking here and they shouldn’t be smoking here,” said Aiello. The new rules also specify that sitting on chairs or benches in either plaza would only be allowed between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sleeping See page 16 >>
<< Community News
2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Oakland >>
Pride not yet breaking even by Seth Hemmelgarn
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lmost two years into their efforts to help establish an LGBT community center in Oakland, organizers of the city’s Pride celebration have little to show for their efforts. Pride board Chair Amber Todd said recently that this year’s event drew more than 50,000 people, but no money has been set aside for the center as the Pride organization is having a hard time just breaking even on the street festival, let alone having additional revenue to bank for a center. “It’s difficult,” Todd said, but there’s “no way we’re losing sight of our goal” to create sustainability. The center will be discussed at an LGBT roundtable meeting and holiday party that will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Monday, December 12, at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 4. Frank Ciglar, Oakland Pride’s treasurer, said the group is “stretching” to try to break even. Oakland Pride’s total income for this year’s event, held September 4, was $300,000 to $325,000. Expenses for the entire year were close to $300,000. He also said they paid a total of about $10,000 to $15,000 to Pride’s nine community partners, which include hockey and dodge ball teams. He estimated there would be a surplus of less than $10,000. Todd said much of the extra money from this year would go to pay off the small debt from 2010. She put that amount at $3,000 to $5,000. Whatever remains will be used to cover electric bills and similar expenses, Ciglar said. Once the event’s sustainable, Todd said, organizers hope to use revenue to
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Disabled
From page 1
person in their family, or in their school, who has a disability, she said. If such a student sees positive role models who have similar issues, it opens them up to what’s possible in their own lives. Steinberg pointed to the late Ed Roberts, who co-founded her agency, as an exemplary figure. She said he was denied admission to UC Berkeley because he was “too disabled,” but fought back and eventually became director of the state’s rehabilitation department. A state of the art campus for people with disabilities located across the street from the Ashby BART station is named after Roberts. Rios had already submitted another proposal to strike LGBTs from SB 48. He’s also filed an initiative proposal that would allow parents to opt their children out of school instruction in social science and family life that conflicts with their moral convictions. Parents can already opt their children out of health lessons.
Other submissions On Tuesday, December 6, Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute and its affiliated Capitol Resource Family Impact, said she and other anti-gay activists were submitting their own proposal for the November 2012 ballot. In an email blast, England said her submission, filed by attorney Kevin Snider, assures that LGBTs aren’t excluded from California curriculum. However, she noted that SB 48 prohibits lessons that reflect adversely on LGBTs. England wasn’t available for a phone interview, but apparently, she and others don’t
Jane Philomen Cleland
Adriana Marcela, front, danced with Amber Rivaed at the 2010 Oakland Pride festival.
help fund and develop a community center. “We’re trying to really hone in and really develop ourselves. We’re not perfect and we don’t claim to be. ... We’re basically five volunteers,” she said. Out City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, a leader in the effort to bring back the Pride festival and establish an LGBT center, will be at next week’s meeting. Jason Overman, Kaplan’s spokesman, said in an email that she’ll discuss the future of the LGBT community center and will ask for volunteers to join a working group on the project. LGBT business owners will also get a chance to showcase their work, he said, “and we are hopeful to have their involvement and collaboration in the center’s planning process.” All are welcome at the event. Oakland Pride has “created wonderful momentum for next steps
want positive depictions of LGBTs. Jack Hibbs, a sponsor of the proposal, said in England’s email, “It is unacceptable to require that our schools shine a spotlight on this lifestyle on the one hand and then demand that history books and teachers censor shortcomings on the other.” England recently failed to put a referendum on the ballot next year that would have repealed SB 48. She claims that she came within a few thousand votes of getting the petition signatures she would have needed. Like Rios, Lou Sheldon also wants to exclude people with disabilities from parts of the law. Sheldon is the chair of the Traditional Values Coalition. On November 22, he submitted “The Bipartisan Initiative to Restore Local School Board Control Act.” In the documents he submitted to the attorney general’s office, Sheldon complains that SB 48 takes “from local school boards many important rights and powers essential to local governance and subjecting all California school children to massive new instructional standards.” A message left for Sheldon at Traditional Values Coalition’s California headquarters wasn’t returned. Once the proposals by Rios and others enter circulation, they’ll have about five months to gather 504,760 valid signatures to get their initiatives on next November’s ballot. Rios has refused to talk about specific fundraising plans, and it’s not clear exactly how other antigay activists would get the money they need to undo SB 48. It would likely cost millions to hire signature gatherers for all of the proposals.
around planning for the center,” Overman said. Pride organizers plan to have another event next year. Todd said they “look forward to the planning of an awesome 2012.” Holding a major Pride event has been a struggle for Oakland for years, although the two recent events have garnered positive publicity for the city and attracted enthusiastic crowds. The East Bay Pride festival began in 1997, but ended in 2003 after being displaced by the multi-day Art and Soul Festival. A gathering with a few booths occurred in 2004 and 2005. But in 2009, the Art and Soul organizers moved up their dates to mid-August, freeing up the calendar on Labor Day weekend, which is traditionally when Oakland Pride has taken place.
Consultant departs As with other Pride organizations, planners of Oakland’s LGBT event have seen some leadership changes recently. Patricia Kevena Fili, who also goes by the name Amethyst Moonwater, had been working with Pride’s board as an executive consultant. But she resigned via a November 1 email to board members. In her message, which she shared with the Bay Area Reporter, she wrote, “I have genuine concerns about the direction and integrity of this board.” Fili discussed her complaints in a phone interview. Among them, she said that some decisions had been made at the executive committee level, then announced to the rest of the board without allowing other members a chance to weigh in. Todd responded by saying, “Any major decisions were made as a board.”▼
All of the proposals may be approved for title and summary, and it will be up to backers to decide which initiatives they want to circulate.
Quiet coalition In contrast to the noises being made by anti-gay groups, the coalition working against SB 48 repeal has been fairly quiet lately. Jacobs said the Courage Campaign is holding off on relaunching its hotline for reporting signature gatherers and taking other steps. “We want to see where this goes,” said Jacobs. “We want to watch and see what happens with any funding.” Equality California, the state’s LGBT lobbying group and a coalition leader, co-sponsored the bill, but it’s been mired in leadership and financial troubles. The last executive director quit after three months and it has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years. In an email blast Tuesday, EQCA board Chair Clarissa Filgioun said that if “anti-equality advocates have their way, California schools will instead become a breeding ground for extremism. ... The effect on schools will be chilling and the impact on students – especially LGBT youth – could be devastating.” Carolyn Laub is the executive director of Gay Straight Alliance Network, the San Francisco-based nonprofit that, along with EQCA, co-sponsored SB 48. Laub, who just returned to work from maternity leave, said her organization’s still involved with the coalition. However, she said, “We’re a small organization and we don’t have the capacity to run a political campaign.” GSA Network has been working to ensure that schools implement the law, though.▼
Read more online at www.ebar.com
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3
<< Open Forum
4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
Volume 41, Number 49 December 8-14, 2011 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Tony K. LeTigre Michael McDonagh • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood
ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith
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U.S. backs global gay rights A
significant shift in U.S. foreign policy occurred Tuesday, when President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the administration would use all the resources of American diplomacy to combat discrimination against LGBTs around the world. Obama, in a memorandum, and Clinton, in a human rights speech in Geneva, said that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance would be implemented to promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons. This includes efforts to combat the criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad, as well as protect vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. While officials said that foreign aid would not be used to force changes to other nations’ practices, the message to heads of governments could not be more clear: recognize and support the dignity of all citizens. “The Obama administration defends the human rights of LGBT people as part of our comprehensive human rights policy and as a priority of our foreign policy,” Clinton said. “In our embassies, our diplomats are raising concerns about specific cases and laws, and working with a range of partners to strengthen human rights protections for all.” Clinton also announced the creation of the Global Equality Fund. It will support the work of “civil society organizers,” she said, and could be used to teach people how to use the law as a tool for equality, train advocates, and forge partnerships with women’s and other human rights groups. Clinton said more than $3 million has been committed to the fund. There are many countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, where it is a crime to be gay. An alarming example is Uganda, whose Parliament has reopened debate on the “kill the gays” bill. Clinton acknowledged that the new directives could anger some American allies. “Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for
many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs.” But she was resolute when stating that gay rights and human rights “are one and the same.” In his memo, the president wrote that there would be “swift and meaningful U.S. response to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad.” The State Department will lead this effort; international organizations will lead the charge of engaging groups in the fight against LGBT discrimination and report on that progress. The administration’s commitment to global
LGBT equality is to be commended. We can’t forget that there is still discrimination in this country, and Clinton pointed that out in her speech. But the human rights abuses in countries around the world must be stopped too, and putting the force of the United States behind that goal is a worthy first step. If we have one quibble with the administration’s actions this week, it’s that neither Clinton nor Obama came out in support of same-sex marriage. Marriage equality, already legal in several foreign countries, would also go a long way toward ending discrimination if it was universal – of course, that would include the U.S. But, despite that omission, Clinton’s speech was a great first step. ▼
The commercialism of AIDS by Cyd Nova
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IDS activists have historically been a cohesive bunch: able to work together on similar goals, through a variety of tactics, despite varying socio-economic, race, and gender backgrounds. Granted, there have been some explosive differences; particularly in San Francisco. One of the more volatile situations to come to mind involves ACT UP/SF throwing the contents of a cat litter box at former San Francisco AIDS Foundation head Pat Christen. However; when it comes down to it, we have been supportive of each other because we need to be. Being HIV-positive is still criminalized and vilified, and poz people are still outlaws in our society. We are in a unique time now, where it’s finally become concrete: AIDS is officially big business. It became this way through a long process, spanning the past 30 years. During this time the pharmaceutical companies have always been doing what they do best; squeezing out every last dollar possible, always two steps away from being liable to an extortion charge. The high cost of medications drives everything around big pharma, reinforcing a structure that focuses on the ability to accumulate large sums of money. We see this in AIDS culture and discourse: H and M fashion for AIDS clothing line, giant billboards with fear-based messaging, and multi-million dollar organizations whose direct services are derailed through the bureaucracy of chasing funding dollars. It’s hard to complain about the excess when you know about the history. Years went by where the only governmental intervention amounted to the distribution of a poster asserting: “DON’T ASK FOR AIDS; DON’T GET IT.” Resource wise, we have vacillated between a feast or famine state (mostly famine), since people first came together to demand government accountability in the AIDS crisis. In the HIV/AIDS world we are still in a crisis mentality, where any money is “good” money – don’t ask where it came from. PEPFAR (the U.S. governmental organization that provides international funds earmarked for AIDS services) has a policy of denying funding to organizations that support sex worker rights. While many AIDS programs strongly disagree with this policy, and other similar exclusionary clauses, they comply
because they are starved for cash. Public AIDS activism has been replaced by AIDS consumerism. The face of AIDS organizing has shifted from grassroots community outreach, to one of business marketing, clothing lines, and $1,000 memorial bricks; all of which are targeted toward a particular class bracket. This creates an illusion that people in the U.S. living with HIV are spoiled for resources, that AIDS exists only as a memory, and that only Third World communities suffer from lack of services. The reality is that the AIDS crisis still exists. At one point, medication and treatment options were a scarcity for all poz people, but with protease inhibitors coming onto the market in 1996 – economically advantaged people secured the opportunity to take their meds and be quiet; which is heavily reinforced by the social pressure of continuing AIDSphobia. But for the homeless, people living with mental illness, the incarcerated, trans women who are unable to access competent care, and the over 9,000 people on the national AIDS Drugs Assistance Program waiting list, the experience of living with HIV/ AIDS looks the same as it did in the 1980s and 1990s, minus the community support. On World AIDS Day, in San Francisco, there were three events. A Castro merchant public health campaign, a film screening, and “A Light in the Grove,” (an AIDS gala where tickets started at $175 each, $500 for VIP access.) Could the late performance artist David Wojnarowicz have ever imagined this future? No anger, no protests, no fight left. Public commemoration available only for those with disposable incomes, where only the wealthy are allowed to mourn. [There was also a free event at the National AIDS Memorial Grove.] Radical AIDS activism in San Francisco has been at a standstill for some time, the territory of a few hardworking people. The stranglehold of the budget keeps most community organizations busy just grappling to keep their doors open, affording no opportunities to challenge the institutions that fund them. This is the situation: HIV organizations are, vastly, no longer run by poz people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that dropped community building and anti-stigma work, in favor of a “test and treat” model, now guide HIV prevention services. And, the Circle of Friends within the AIDS grove is sponsored by Wells Fargo, which
also happens to be a major investor in prisons; a predominant source of HIV transmissions in this country. World AIDS Day is a time for us to honor our own: the people who locked themselves to the old fed building in the ARC Vigil. The activists who lay down in the streets, took over churches demanding that homophobic archbishops stand down, and who devoted their lives to fighting for the rights and recognition of poz people. We still have so much to fight for: Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) has introduced three bills supporting decriminalization of HIV transmission, access to condoms in prison, and an end to abstinence-only education. We must fight for the passage of those bills, and for the availability of generic HIV meds in the U.S. and abroad. And that’s only a step; there are many more battles to be won before we can rest. There is a place for exclusive fundraising events, but at a time where there are up to 2,500 HIV-positive homeless people living in San Francisco, it is unconscionable that we have nothing else. With the nationwide Occupy movement, people everywhere are standing up against big corporations, utilizing ACT UP chants, demanding change: for all those who care about HIV, this is our moment! For next year’s World AIDS Day we recommit to a radical voice. Forget about marketing tactics, AIDS soirees, and public health billboards. Remember that there is still a lot to fight for. We have a rich history to commemorate, but rather than just memorializing it, we need to actively engage with that history; to draw wisdom from mistakes, and inspiration from past victories. We need a radical change in tactics before we can even hope to change a culture; that culture which currently perpetuates the spread of HIV through silence, isolation, issues of access and class, fear campaigns, misinformation, and pharma-corporation driven funding policies. In the battle for access, education, and community, this is a call for reinforcements: let’s take back our hijacked community, and turn the current AIDS paradigm into one that supports poz folks beyond just medicating them.▼ Homonomixxx is a metallic queer contingency that seeks to resist all forms of oppression. We are interested in creating queer visibility at demonstrations, antiracist work, unions, community organizing, self-care, and transformative justice work, by bringing a feminist, creative lens to that work and bangin’ dance moves.
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Letters >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5
Gay softball commissioner responds We deeply appreciate your coverage on the settlement of the lawsuit filed against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance by the National Center for Lesbian Rights calling into question the legality of limiting the participation of non-LGBT persons in the Gay Softball World Series [“Gay Softball World Series settles with bisexual players,” blog post, November 28 and “Moving Forward,” Jock Talk, December 1]. In response to the article we would like to reiterate NAGAAA’s commitment to both welcoming and encouraging inclusion and diversity. It is one of our core values. It is also important to maintain both the spirit and welcoming culture LGBT athletes experience and enjoy at the GSWS. We continue to believe and the courts have upheld that we have the legal right to define our organization’s participation. Fortunately, judgments in three key pretrial motions have given iron-clad strength to right of self-governance, leaving only the question of the treatment of the protesters themselves during the protest process. While clearly winning on the legal rights of our organization to operate within the parameters we ourselves define, the NAGAAA executive committee determined it to be in our organization’s best interests to settle the non-legal claims raised by the plaintiffs and have therefore made the following concessions: NAGAAA recognizes that the disqualification of the San Francisco D2 team was not consistent with our intention of being inclusive of bisexual players and conducting its Protest Hearings in a manner that does not cause undue offense; and NAGAAA confirms that its records will be amended to reflect the participation of the plaintiffs and their team in the 2008 GSWS, including the results of all games played by D2, and that D2 is recognized as a second place winner, and will be awarded a second place trophy, for that series. We are pleased the plaintiffs are satisfied and feel
strongly that we as an organization have been vindicated. We are also pleased to be able to put this matter to rest, once and for all. Roy Melani, Commissioner North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance Portland, Oregon
What’s in a name? In Seth Hemmelgarn’s recent article, “World AIDS Day events offer time to remember” [November 24], he referred to the recent name change of the UCSF AIDS Health Project to the UCSF Alliance Health Project. Mr. Hemmelgarn focused his attention on the loss of the word “AIDS” from the name. He then went on to report that the reason for the name change has to do with AHP’s expansion to include the broader mission of providing mental health and substance abuse services to the larger LGBTQ community. While this is correct, I am writing to highlight what could have been missed by the reader: that while our name has changed and our mission has broadened, we will continue to provide the range of HIVrelated mental health and prevention services we have provided to the community over the past 27 years. Rather than de-emphasizing our HIV work, our intent was to reflect our wish to build on our longstanding HIVspecific work while broadening our efforts to include the larger LGBTQ community. We chose “Alliance” as our new name in part because it highlights the alliance between our staff and their clients, and also because it suggests a bringing together, an alliance, of these two communities – LGBTQ people and people with HIV – under a single roof. We are pleased that the change also reflects another big change: our new name focuses on the solution and not on the problem. James W. Dilley, MD Executive Director, UCSF AIDS Health Project
Ducal craft fair to help three groups compiled by Cynthia Laird
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he Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco has hit upon a unique way to support three local organizations. On Saturday, December 10, the council, a predominantly gay drag queen charitable organization, will hold A Very Ducal Holiday Craft Faire to benefit the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy. Ducal court members will also be collecting charitable donations for the San Francisco Night Ministries and St. Aidan’s Food Pantry. There is no admission to attend the craft fair, which encourages local artists, parents, and students to sell hand-made items as well as baked goods. There will also be a silent auction and raffle to support the Milk school. In addition to raising cash for the civil rights academy, the fair encourages revelers to support the other worthy organizations. Raffle tickets will be exchanged for on-site donations of blankets or coats for the night ministry and nonperishable food items for St. Aidan’s. To welcome the holidays, there will be photo opportunities with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Local drag queens will be providing holiday-themed entertainment every 30 minutes. The event takes place at the Milk school, 4235 19th Street in the Castro, from 2 to 5 p.m. Those wishing to rent exhibit space to sell handicrafts should contact Olivia Hart at franglingeib@ aol.com. The fee is $75. For more information, visit www. sfducal.org.
LGBT safe schools summit Saturday The Gay-Straight Alliance Network will host the seventh annual Youth Empowerment Summit Saturday, December 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Horace Mann Community School, 3351 23rd Street in San Francisco. Cost is sliding scale up to $15, although no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Breakfast and lunch are included.
The summit is youth-planned and youth-led, and will include skill-building workshops, a resource fair, and keynote speeches about California’s Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act, which is now the target of five initiatives that would repeal it. [See story, page 1.] There will also be 34 workshops offered, including “FAIR Education for LGBTQ Youth,” “Opening the Locker Room Closet,” and “Handling Bullying (Focusing on Yourself)”. Keynote speakers include Teresa Favuzzi of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers about why the FAIR Act is important for people with disabilities, as well as a joint address by GSA Network youth advocates Benji Delgadillo and Sam Alavi about the role of students in supporting FAIR education in schools. KQED will present its Not in Our School Project, a Palo Alto student-led program to reduce violence, bullying, and prejudice. There will be a youth dance party following the conference. People planning to attend are asked to register at www.gsanetwork.org/ yes.
Mission Station cops launch toy drive As the holidays approach, officers and the civilian staff at the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission Station are seeking toys for needy families. Sergeant Chuck Limbert, Mission Station’s liaison to the LGBT community, said new, unwrapped toys and monetary contributions are being accepted 24/7 at district headquarters, 630 Valencia Street, until Friday, December 16. Gifts appropriate for children ages 3-12 are especially welcome. Toys will be distributed beginning at 9 a.m., Saturday, December 17, at the station. Santa Claus is expected to make an appearance. “Obviously, with the economy the way it is right now, we’ve seen more need than we have in years past,” Limbert said. More families are struggling to pay
bills and put food on the table. “It’s always nice for families to be able to provide something a little bit extra for their children,” he said. In the Castro, which is part of Mission Station’s coverage area, donation bins are available at Cliff’s Variety, 479 Castro Street, and at the bar 440 Castro.
‘Santa Paws’ photos to benefit SF SPCA Santa Claus will be making a special appearance at Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco, 501 Geary Street (at Taylor) Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11 at 2 p.m. to pose for photos with pets and their families. The event benefits the San Francisco SPCA. A suggested donation of $10 is requested, which includes a CD with two digital images taken by a professional photographer on-site. Guests will also enjoy holiday refreshments and there will be treats for the dogs and cats. Parking is available at Union Square garage, which charges an hourly rate. For more information, visit www.sfspca.org.
Maitri holiday dinner Maitri Hospice is holding its Holiday Dinner at Maitri benefit Saturday, December 10 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at 401 Duboce Avenue in San Francisco. The evening will feature delicious fare, live seasonal music, and good company while raising needed funds for residents programs. Seating is limited to 20 and the suggested minimum donation is $150. People should RSVP by December 8 to gsun@maitrisf.org. Fore more information, visit www. maitri.org.
Benefit for SJ Pride San Jose Pride will host a onenight appearance of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Miss Raven (David Petrischin) for an exclusive holiday red carpet benefit at Kaama Restaurant and Lounge, 385 S. Winchester Boulevard in San Jose on Friday, December 9. The Extravaganza Holiday Variety Show takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight and will feature vocalists, dancers, comedy, and more. Doors open at 7. See page 15 >>
<< Election 2012
6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Romney comes out for gay rights – but not marriage by Dan Aiello
issue is civil equality,” Flaherty said. Most LGBT equality activists aren’t buying Romney’s newfound support for non-discrimination in housing and employment as a sign the candidate is sympathetic to their cause. Carlson pointed out that the Mormon Church has finally taken that same position in Utah, after negative publicity nationwide over the arrest of a gay couple by church security for a kiss on Salt Lake City’s Temple Square.
W
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hen Iowa’s ultra-conservative, anti-gay Family Leader evangelical group declined to endorse Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at its forum last month, the former Massachusetts governor was quick to turn the nonendorsement into an opportunity to win over LGBT voters in New Hampshire. “I don’t believe in discriminating in employment or opportunity for gay individuals. So I favor gay rights. I do not favor gay marriage,” he told the editorial board of the Nashua Telegraph in New Hampshire in midNovember. To buttress his position, Romney signed the National Organization for Marriage’s pledge opposing same-sex marriage, joining candidates Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum. The pledge affirms a candidate’s promise to “vigorously defend the Defense of Marriage Act” in the courts and to nominate to the Supreme Court and federal district courts judges who “reject the idea our Founding Fathers inserted a right to gay marriage into our Constitution.” The NOM pledge also holds the candidate to the promise of a presidential commission on “religious liberty” that would investigate harassment or threats against those who have taken positions against same-sex marriage. Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said in an interview last year that a disturbing strategy has emerged from the marriage equality fight: religious organizations are defending their right to discriminate against LGBT Americans by portraying themselves as victims of religious discrimination. “There is this kind of messaging going on by conservative churches and organizations that somehow they’re the victims,” Davidson said. The Republican presidential race is largely unsettled, although recent polls have begun to paint the contest as a two-man race between Romney and Gingrich. Romney’s steady showing over much of this year has also led to questions about the role his Mormon faith would play in a Romney administration. “I’m old enough to remember the [John F.] Kennedy religious debate, it is never religious persecution to ask a candidate, ‘what are you and your church going to do with my government?” said Ned Flaherty, 58, Marriage Equality USA’s election 2012 project leader. “Some candidate’s churches have no role in their decisions as elected officials, but some candidate’s churches do. “Kennedy never flew to Vatican City to let the pope tell him what the Catholic Church wanted done via the White House,” said Flaherty. “Yet Romney flies to Salt Lake City to let Mormon officials tell him how to govern. That religion controls the church officials, who tell him how to govern, but he refuses to explain the religion to voters, or to explain his church’s role in everyone else’s government.” Will Carlson, the former executive director of Equality Utah, told the Bay Area Reporter, “I think Romney’s a lot more active in the church so what he thinks the church leaders want would likely play a greater role in his presidency.” Carlson explained that presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, a former Utah governor who is also Mormon but not active in the church, would likely not be as influenced as would Romney. Huntsman is polling in the low single digits as his campaign
Mormon faith
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
has yet to gain traction with GOP primary voters. When asked about his faith, Romney refers to the “no religious test” clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, paragraph 3), which states that elected officials shall be bound by oath or affirmation (should a person’s faith forbid swearing of an oath), to uphold the Constitution, but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. In a Pew Forum survey conducted last month, results indicate Romney’s faith is a factor within his party’s primaries, but wouldn’t be one in the general election. Thirty-eight percent of the Republican base self-identify as evangelical Protestants, the largest voting bloc of the party. Of them, 53 percent believe that Mormons are not Christians, and the survey concludes, Republican voters who say Mormonism is not Christianity are far less likely to support Romney for the GOP nomination. The poll also found that those conservatives who support the Tea Party movement were even less likely to vote for Romney.
Gay rights In 2008, Romney bowed out of the Republican presidential race after a poor showing in the first three primaries. Many Mormons, whose church is expanding worldwide, were surprised that their faith was a major stumbling block for Romney among evangelical Christians. Of the GOP in Iowa, 40 percent of voters in the Republican primary were evangelical Christians. Besides questions about his religion, Romney has faced increasing scrutiny over changing his positions on various issues. Last week, Democratic National Committee Chair Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz stated that Romney “has no moral core.” Her comment was in response to Romney’s perceived flip-flopping on several issues. Despite Romney’s statement last week that he supports some gay rights, the candidate remains opposed to repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and to equal benefits for the families of gay and lesbian service members and veterans. Romney now says he supports non-discrimination for gays and lesbians in housing and employment. At the Marriage Equality USA website, Flaherty maintains a list of the presidential candidates’ positions on LGBT rights, as submitted by the candidates. Flaherty recently changed Romney’s status to reflect his comments to the New Hampshire newspaper. “At MEUSA we educate the public about where candidates stand regarding marriage equality, but the
In Romney’s case, adherence to his faith has never been in doubt. Mormon blogger Greg Prince suggests it is an individual Mormon’s adherence to his or her church, not the candidate’s faith, that needs to be considered. “Know who your enemies are when it comes to your civil rights,” Prince said, when asked if Romney was a friend or foe of the LGBT community. “The only core belief Mitt Romney has is that Mitt Romney should be president. Remember how Romney attacked [then-Senator Edward] Kennedy from the left on gay rights in the mid-1990s Senate race?” Author Ron Scott, whose biography, Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics, was just released, told the B.A.R. that Romney was born immersed in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints political dynasty. His father, who was governor of Michigan, was also known to change positions on political issues. Scott, a former reporter, is Mormon and also a distant cousin of Romney’s. “The church wouldn’t seek to ask him to vote a certain way, not in an office that high,” Scott said in an interview. In fact, Scott said Romney has “actually had a history of doing it the other way around,” flying to Salt Lake City to discuss his position on abortion, for example. “As a regular member of the church, you’re not obligated” to discuss personal decisions, said Scott. “On the same hand, if you’re an officer of the church you’re in a little bit of a situation.” Scott explained that Romney was president of the Mormon Church in Massachusetts, the equivalent of being a bishop or an archbishop in the Catholic Church. “Can a Mormon say ‘I’m personally in favor of gay rights?’ The answer is yes. Mormons are taught to believe in the ability of free agency,” said Scott. “That we were put on this earth to make decisions for ourselves. It’s called the plan of free agency. “I would think he probably is praying between now and next November the Supreme Court rules on the issue of same-sex marriage. If the Supreme Court upheld it, would he work for its repeal? I doubt it. He did not support Proposition 8 financially,” Scott said, referring to California’s same-sex marriage ban that voters passed in 2008. “I think that he’s been out in the world he knows how the world functions. I don’t think, in my gut, his beliefs have changed that much 15 years,” said Scott of Romney. “I think maybe on the surface he’s had to be more strident on the marriage issue, but I think that his position on equal rights has been consistent.” At one point Romney supported civil unions. “From 1994 to 2003 to 2004, he [Romney] was in favor of civil unions, in fact, he was a leader in that,” said Scott. “It was after 2004 that he began to hedge his bets. When he appeared on the dais with the Wirthlins [who sued the Estabrook School District over its anti-bias curriculum that expressed acceptance for same-sex marriage] he first said he supported civil unions ‘as a last resort.’”▼
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Politics >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7
Fight brewing over new Castro Starbucks by Matthew S. Bajko
A
fight is brewing over plans to open a new Starbucks store on upper Market Street. It would be the national coffee chain’s third location in the city’s gay Castro District. While officials for the Seattlebased coffeehouse say they need the additional store to meet customer demand, not everyone is so welcoming of the idea. Some nearby business owners have raised objections, as have residents opposed to seeing a prime retail location go to a chain store. “This is a tough one. Some people want it, some people don’t,” said Steve Adams, president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro. Because of the city’s formula retail zoning laws, the company needs to receive city approval to open at the corner of 2201 Market Street at Sanchez. The site used to be home to a stereo store until it closed and Industrialists, which sells kitchen furnishings, moved in. Company officials have begun meeting with Castro groups to discuss their plans for the site and seek community approval. They expect to go before the Planning Commission to obtain a conditional use permit sometime in early 2012, and say the store could be open for business as soon as next fall. “I am sure many of you are asking why this location? Why this neighborhood? The number one reason is to meet our customers’ demands,” said Andrew Zall, a store development manager for Starbucks based in its San Francisco regional headquarters, at MUMC’s December meeting last week. Starbucks already operates stores nearby at the Safeway shopping plaza on Market Street and near the corner of Castro and 18th streets. The site in the heart of the gayborhood is nicknamed “Bearbucks” due to its large clientele of hirsute gay men. Zall said both of those locations are too small and do not provide enough seating indoors or out. The new location would provide up to 60 seats inside and have space outside for three tables. The current building was built in 1956 and has “a ton of dry rot,” said Zall. Starbucks plans to overhaul the 3,500 square foot building using eco-conscious building practices and materials so it is LEED certified. The store would be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. “Our desire is to return something special for the neighborhood,” said Zall, noting the design is being tweaked as the company meets with neighborhood groups. Kimberly Winston, a senior manager of governmental affairs for Starbucks, said the new store would draw more street traffic to that section of Market Street and be a boost for surrounding businesses. She also said it would generate up to 20 new jobs that likely would be filled by Castro residents. Of the 1,000 Starbucks employees working in San Francisco, 15 percent live in the gayborhood, she said. But concerns run the gamut from competition for locally owned stores to traffic congestion. The lot has four parking spots currently, but Starbucks’ plans call for just two. Cafe Flore owner J.D. Petras said he “doesn’t like the idea” of seeing the new store open but wants to see more finalized plans before he decides whether to oppose it. Other business owners told Starbucks they want to see what
Jane Philomen Cleland
Starbucks has its eye on this site at 2201 Market Street as its third coffee shop in the Castro.
givebacks the company will make to Castro causes in return for their supporting the new store. Past deals for chain stores in the Castro generated money for such things as a community meeting room and the new LGBT history museum. “I would like to see a clear, defined commitment on what the store’s local giving will be,” said Terry Asten Bennett, whose family owns Cliff’s Variety. The company recently donated $5,000 to the Castro Community Benefit District and sponsored this year’s Castro Christmas Tree for the first time. Company representatives said Starbucks is willing to do more and asked for specific funding requests. They also said that each Starbucks store designates local partners based on the staff’s interests. “Starbucks has given $700,000 over the last decade in San Francisco to nonprofits,” said Winston. For more info on the store plans visit tinyurl.com/cmvx9as.
Gay man named SF arts director Arts commissioners and Mayor Ed Lee have hired Thomas DeCaigny, a gay man and arts consultant, to be the city’s new cultural affairs director. He will start Monday, January 9 and will make somewhere between $110,000 to $150,000 a year. DeCaigny, 35, had served for nine years as executive director of the Performing Arts Workshop. Between 2004 and 2006 he served as board co-chair of the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in the Castro, and in the late 1990s worked as the education manager for the nonprofit overseeing the AIDS quilt. “I am humbled,” DeCaigny said in a phone interview after being hired. “I am really exited to work with communities across San Francisco to make sure everyone is getting high quality access to the arts.” It is the second time that an out gay man will lead the San Francisco Arts Commission. The first was Richard Newirth, who held the position for 12 years until resigning in 2007. His successor, Luis Cancel, was forced out this summer after news reports detailed his telecommuting from Brazil. It was the start of a series of negative headlines involving the city agency with a $10 million budget and oversight of public funding for the arts. The agency was recently slammed for doling out contracts to an artist who had killed a dog as part of an artwork in 1977. And an audit released last month found not only low morale and poor management at the agency but also that $477,000 had
been incorrectly given to a non-local arts group. The money came from the Cultural Equity Grant program, which is meant to go to arts groups based in the city. DeCaigny told the B.A.R. he has seen the audit and intends to address the concerns raised in the report. “I am eager to make sure all grants are competitive,” said DeCaigny, who lives in the South of Market area with his partner of 15 years, Seth Goldstein.▼
On the web Online content this week includes a story about a think tank’s report on LGBT nonprofits and a photo of the World Tree of Hope. www.ebar.com.
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8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Jane Philomen Cleland
Castro Fair gives back C
astro Street Fair officials and representatives from this year’s benefiting agencies gathered at the Lookout bar Tuesday, December 6 for the check distribution party. Fair
Executive Director George Ridgely said that $85,000 was given to 32 nonprofits, including HIV/AIDS groups, sports organizations, and local schools.
Bathhouse opens in the Castro for dogs by Raymond Flournoy
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his week Mudpuppy’s Tub and Scrub dog-washing service opens its doors at 536 Castro Street, the space formerly occupied by Citizen, which relocated (489 Castro Street). Co-owners Daniel Bergerac, Eddie Lundeen, and Todd Ahlberg have operated the original Mudpuppy’s at Point Isabel in Richmond for the last 12 years. According to Ahlberg, they targeted the Castro for their second location because of the large number of dog owners in the area. So committed are they to the neighborhood that the three are also renovating and moving into the apartment above the Castro Street store. Bergerac and Lundeen, who are married, explained that the dog washing is intended for breeds that do not need grooming, or for dogs who need a little bit of sprucing up between groomer visits. In addition to various washes, nail clipping and flea treatments will be offered. After the weeklong soft opening, the trio plans to start taking reservations on Saturday, December 10. A week later, Mudpuppy’s introduces itself to the neighborhood with an informal open house on December 17 at 6 p.m. In the coming months the business will also open the rear building, containing what Bergerac describes as “the longest continuousflow dog water bowl in the world – pending confirmation from people who keep records on that sort of thing.”
Steven Kasapi
Maya (a.k.a. Miss Moo) oversees final touches before the opening of Mudpuppy’s Tub and Scrub, and is joined by, from left, co-owners Eddie Lundeen, Todd Ahlberg, and Daniel Bergerac.
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus presents its 22nd annual “Home for the Holidays” show at the Castro Theatre (429 Castro Street). The theme of this year’s show is “Joyous, Jolly, Jingles,” with performances at 5, 7, and 9 p.m. Tickets run $20 to $25, and are available at www.sfgmc.org.
Shipping dates to remember The days are ticking down to Christmas Day, and the crew at P.O. Plus (584 Castro Street) has released their annual list of dates to remember if you plan to play Santa successfully. For ground service to the East Coast, plan to have your packages out by December 16. For more information consult with owner Paul Moffett and his mustachioed crew, who can also provide a range of packing and wrapping options.
Castro holiday events for December
Parking by phone comes to the Castro
On December 18 from 1 to 7 p.m. the Imperial Council of San Francisco will be offering gift wrapping and caroling at Jane Warner Plaza, at the corner of 17th and Castro streets. Under One Roof (518A Castro Street) will be raffling off a 2008 Suzuki GS500f motorcycle on December 11 at 3:45 p.m. The motorcycle is valued at $2,820, and is currently on display in the front window of the store. Raffle tickets cost $5 each, or $20 for five, with the funds going to benefit the AIDS Emergency Fund and Positive Resource Center. On Saturday, December 24, the
This month a new parking meter system is rolling out on a trial basis in the Castro. The new meters will allow drivers to pay for parking using their cell phones, and will also send text message reminders when the meter is about to expire. Drivers can choose to add time remotely by phone within limits, and elect to receive receipts by email. During this pilot project, a convenience fee of $0.45 will be charged for the service, but Supervisor Scott Wiener anticipates that that fee will decrease if the program is successful and can be rolled out to more neighborhoods. The pilot covers the meters on
Castro Street between Market and 19th streets, on 18th Street between Diamond and Hartford streets, and in the lots behind the Castro Theatre and Magnet (4122 18th Street).
Bag ban may extend to paper At the December meeting of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro, Adam Taylor, an aide to Wiener, announced that the supervisor has not taken an official stance on the proposed expansion of the plastic bag ban to cover paper bags as well. The 2007 legislation introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi banned commercial use of many single-use plastic bags. Under the new proposal, businesses would be required to charge customers $0.10 for each paper bag used, with the charge increasing to $0.25 in 2014. Certain business and uses, such as restaurant “doggy bags,” would be exempt. Wiener joined with six other supervisors Tuesday, December 6 to table the proposal until February. At the MUMC meeting, a number of member businesses expressed heated opposition to the proposed legislation. Terry Asten Bennett, general manager of Cliff’s Variety (479 Castro Street) spoke for the assembled business owners as she said, “We are 100 percent opposed to this legislation.” Bennett described the paper bag charge as creating “a hostile, unfriendly environment” for consumers where business-owners would look “petty for charging for every bag.” Additionally, she noted that purchases could not be fully tallied until they were completely bagged See page 16 >>
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December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9
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10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11
<< International News
12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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U.S. calls for global gay rights by Heather Cassell
S
tanding on the global stage at the United Nations in Geneva Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke for the undeniable human rights of LGBT individuals around the world and pledged support from the United States to fight discrimination. “You have an ally in the United States of America and you have millions of friends among the American people,” Clinton told LGBT citizens around the world
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in a speech to mark International Human Rights Day. In her remarks, Clinton said that more than $3 million in start-up funds was being committed to the Global Equality Fund to support multifaceted aspects of women’s and human rights organizations’ work toward protecting LGBT rights. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to U.S. diplomats and embassies to strengthen U.S. foreign policies to protect LGBT human rights in conjunction with Clinton’s speech. The two-pronged initiative deepens the Obama administration’s commitment to LGBT rights. U.S. diplomats and embassies are being asked to be watchdogs of and responders to nations violating LGBT human rights. Embassies will also serve as a refuge for LGBT individuals. As reported by the Bay Area Reporter in October, U.S. foreign ambassadors will be provided with a toolkit to help improve their efforts to protect queer rights and the creation of a
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for global gay rights during a speech in Geneva Tuesday.
task force at the State Department to support the diplomats’ work. “It should never be a crime to be gay,” said Clinton, calling attacks and discrimination of LGBT individuals one of the “remaining human rights challenges of our time.” Acknowledging the sensitivity of speaking about homosexuality among the convergence of cultural, personal, political, and religious differences, Clinton firmly stated, “We cannot delay acting” on progress of LGBT human rights and ultimately queer individuals living freely.
Global cheers Clinton’s speech resonated with LGBT advocates working on asylum and global queer rights and political leaders.
The chamber was packed with an estimated 2,000 individuals and was standing room only, said Julie Dorf, a senior adviser for the Council for Global Equality, in an email interview from Geneva. “The speech was so well received that there were cheers and a very long standing ovation by all but a few,” said Dorf. “As someone who has been working on these issues for almost 25 years, you could not have found a prouder American in that hall than I.” The Obama administration’s directives Tuesday as a “culmination” of the work done on LGBT issues during the past three years, said Dorf, who works closely with the State Department and other federal agencies to “ensure that the policy shifts of this administration are there to last,” she said. Tuesday’s announcements were the “loudest public broadcasting of the truly outstanding work of many, many people across our government and civil society,” said Dorf. Jessica Stern, acting executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, agreed. “We are deeply gratified by today’s historic development,” wrote Stern in an email interview, happy to see the “most affirming LGBT rights foreign policy in the nation’s history.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) applauded the president’s leadership on LGBT rights “on our shores and beyond our borders,” in a statement Tuesday.▼ A longer version of this article is online at ebar.com.
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National News >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13
Obama pledges $50M to fight AIDS in US by Michael K. Lavers
P
resident Barack Obama used his World AIDS Day address in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, December 1, to announce an additional $50 million to combat the domestic epidemic. The White House will seek an additional $15 million for Ryan White-funded HIV medical clinics and another $35 million for state AIDS drug assistance programs. “The federal government can’t do this alone,” said Obama, stressing the need for further financial commitments to combat HIV/ AIDS. “I’m also calling on state governments, pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments.” Obama also announced new targets to further curb the global epidemic. These include providing life-saving antiretroviral drugs to more than 1.5 million pregnant women with HIV over the next two years. Obama received a sustained standing ovation inside George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium when he said his administration seeks to get 6 million people with HIV on antiretrovirals by the end of 2013 – 2 million more than its original goal. “We need to keep refining our strategy so that we’re saving as many lives as possible,” said Obama. “We need to listen when the scientific community focuses on prevention. That’s why, as a matter of policy, we’re now investing in what works, from medical procedures to promoting healthy behavior.” Former President George W. Bush and Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete also addressed the forum via satellite from a Dar es Salaam hospital. Infection rates in the East African country have dropped from 18 percent in the 1990s to 5.8 percent. Kikwete also stressed that more than 740,000 Tanzanians currently receive care and treatment that includes antiretroviral therapy. He credited increased advocacy and education for an “increased understanding of the disease” in Tanzania. Bush further highlighted the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative to fight breast and cervical cancer among women with HIV. The George W. Bush Initiative, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, and other private foundations have committed at least $75 million over the next five years to expand infrastructure established under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The Bush administration committed $15 billion to PEPFAR, and Obama described this funding as “an extraordinary legacy.” “That program – more ambitious than even leading advocates thought was possible at the time – has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, spurred international action, and laid the foundation for a comprehensive global plan that will impact the lives of millions,” the president said. “We are proud to carry that work forward.”
A call for a domestic PEPFAR CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta moderated a panel discussion on the status of the global and domestic epidemic three decades after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first cases of what became known as AIDS. Panelists included
Michael K. Lavers
President Barack Obama
Bono; Alicia Keys; Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland); Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida); Dr. Patricia Nkansah-Asamoah, director of the PMTCT Clinic at Tema Hospital in Accra, Ghana; Florence Ngobeni of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; and Kay Warren, founder of the Saddleback Church’s HIV and AIDS Initiative. Former President Bill Clinton stressed via satellite from Florida that the United States has fallen “asleep at the switch” on the domestic epidemic. Federal health officials reported on Tuesday, November 29, that only 28 percent of the 1.2 million Americans with HIV currently have their viral loads under control. CDC statistics indicate that new infection rates among black men who have sex with men between the ages of 13-29 rose 48 percent between 2006 and 2009. And a 2008 CDC study found that 59 percent of black MSM with HIV were unaware of their status. “We only think it’s somewhere else and not in the United States,” said Clinton. Lee, who co-chairs the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus alongside Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-Washington) and Trent Franks (R-Arizona), stressed the need for a continued bipartisan approach to tackle the domestic AIDS epidemic. She is among the 102 members of the House of Representatives who signed a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in support of a proposed $5.25 billion for PEPFAR and $1.05 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. “Here in Washington, D.C., I hope all of you and all of us look at how the Congress and political leaders have put aside their partisanship and points of view to work to ensure that we have an end of AIDS,” she said. “We’re at a defining moment and we have to recommit ourselves on this World AIDS Day.” Lee described the Obama administration’s additional $50 million pledge as a “start” and a “marker” that confirms the White House’s commitment to combat the domestic epidemic. She once again called for a domestic PEPFAR that would expand access to treatment and affordable health care to people with HIV/AIDS and end stigma and discrimination against at-risk populations. Lee introduced a bill in September that would offer incentives to states that repeal laws that target people with HIV/AIDS. “This is a very comprehensive approach we have to take in this country,” said Lee. “It’s very comprehensive and complicated. We know how to do this, but it’s the commitment and political will to get it done.”▼
14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
The Sports Page >>
▼ I-N-C-L-U-S-I-O-N: Find out what it means to sports by Roger Brigham
I
t was already apparent six months ago that 2011 would prove to be the “gayest” year in sports. It seemed not a week went by that another coach, athlete, administrator, or executive was coming out in a very public and vocal way in the sports pages and on blogs. Team after team made It Gets Better anti-bullying videos, and the list of teams holding LGBT events continued to grow. In the sports world, out was the new black. But in the Internet age, that is so last spring. The new theme dominating sports as we get ready to put a close on the year is inclusion. More and more, the love that once dared not speak its name is being entered into policies and discussions from elementary schools to professional sports. As the barriers of homophobia come tumbling down, we are being welcomed to playing fields across the country, with our right to be there increasingly affirmed. Consider: • In September, the Women’s Sports Foundation issued a well-researched and well-reasoned position paper calling for sports organizations to allow intersex athletes to compete under the gender identity they have lived their lives, rather than having to be subjected to invasive examination and dignity-shredding accusations. • Last month, a lawsuit with the Gay Softball World Series was settled with an agreement to drop inherently racist restrictions against the inclusion of bisexual players participating in the annual event.
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News Briefs
From page 5
“We have an amazing lineup of artists,” said Roman Fernando, vice president of San Jose Pride. The intimate benefit is limited to 140 tickets, which are $25 in advance ($30 at the door) or $50 for VIP, which includes a meet and greet with Raven and an after-party. For more information, visit www. sanjosepride.com.
Openhouse offers volunteer info night Openhouse, the LGBT senior housing advocacy group, is recruiting new volunteers to be friendly visitors in San Francisco for its Caring Connections Friendly Visitor Program. An informational meeting will be held Wednesday, December 14 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street. Openhouse strives to ensure that LGBT older adults will age with grace, dignity, and respect in their community. Becoming a volunteer
• This year alone, Major League Baseball and the National Football League added sexual orientation to their collective bargaining agreement protections for players, joining the National Hockey League (2005) and Major League Soccer (2004). As of this writing, the details of the new CBA for the National Basketball Association were not yet available, but even before the CBA was settled a public request was sent to Commissioner David Stern by the LGBT advocacy group Resource Center Dallas asking for sexual orientation to be protected in it. Dollars to donuts we will learn that orientation is indeed now protected. If not, you can be sure a public campaign to push for its adoption will be launched within the week. Which is all very well and good for queer athletes, assuming they have survived the scholastic sports world and entered the pro leagues. But with reports of student suicides and bullying seemingly more prevalent than the coming out of elite athletes, is it a safer and more inviting sports world for LGBT youth athletes? That topic was a central theme for workshops held in San Francisco last week for public school coaches and physical education teachers, and will be explored this weekend in a panel discussion at a Gay Straight Alliance Network summit in the city. Professional development workshops were presented on December 1 and 3 by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and San Francisco Unified School District’s Student Support Services focused on
doesn’t require a professional background. Openhouse will provide a daylong training and ongoing support. Volunteers provide companionship and active listening two times a month. People are encouraged to bring their questions and can RSVP to the meeting by calling Ellyn at (415) 296-8995, ext. 13.
Peninsula meeting for LGBT seniors Peninsula Family Service’s new group, Peninsula Community Connection for LGBT Seniors, is meeting Wednesday, December
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15
GLSEN’s Pat Griffin
utilizing “student-athletes’ leadership potential as role models for respect and inclusion in schools; countering gender and sexual orientation stereotypes in athletics and physical education; addressing anti-gay name calling and bullying among athletes, coaches and spectators; and inclusion of transgender students on sports teams and in physical education classes.” As wrestling coach at Mission High School, I attended the first workshop. SFUSD’s Ilsa Bertolini and Kevin Gogin presented an alarming battery of statistics from surveys of middle school and high school students, showing the greater risks LGBT students are exposed to than their straight classmates. Statistics such as transgender students being three or four times more likely to be threatened or injured with weapons, or LGB students being four times more likely to attempt suicide. Pat Griffin, director of GLSEN’s Changing the Game program, then
led discussions with the coaches and teachers about proactive steps they can take to help LGBT students feel safe in gym classes and on sports teams, and how to address situations as they arise. For four hours we exchanged anecdotes about how bullying incidents were handled, how teaching moments are identified and capitalized upon, and how things such as signage and setting positive examples can help encourage respectful behavior and greater selfacceptance. Throughout the day, as we discussed the issues faced by adolescent and pre-adolescent athletes, I kept thinking back more decades than I care to admit to my days as a blossoming gay teen athlete. I was blissfully unaware at the time of my sexuality, but like so many others I was keenly aware that I was “different,” and everything around me signaled that I should not speak up about ways in which I might be different. But the one place where I always felt at one with those around me was on the soccer field or on the wrestling mat. It wasn’t so much a sense of family as a sense of tribe I had there. Ultimately, it was realizing that I not only could survive and thrive in athletic combat but that I could find friends and a sense of belonging that over the course of the years gave me the courage to come out. The opportunity for strength and belonging are two of the concepts we hope to bring home at the Youth Empowerment Summit Saturday, December 10, at Horace Mann Community School. Equality Coaching Alliance will present a panel discussion on “Opening the Locker Room Closet.” I will moderate a panel that will include Helen Carroll of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; San Francisco Gay Softball
Commissioner Vincent Fuqua; Team San Francisco delegate Martha Ehrenfeld; and Jaime Loo, who came out at Mission High through wrestling. We hope to share our stories about what sports have meant to us, raise LGBT student awareness of sports opportunities, and answer fears students may have about entering sports. [For more, see News Briefs, page 5.] Thirty years ago, AIDS hit home the message that silence equals death. In 2011, that message is finally taking hold in the sports world. It does get better, but only if we speak up and make it so. Information and resources for coaches, parents and youth athletes are available from GLSEN at www. sports.glsen.org. Information and registration for YES are available at www.gsanetwork.org/yes.
Play safe, Alex It took just half a dozen years for top draft pick Alex Smith to become an overnight sensation with the San Francisco 49ers. If the new NFC West division champs are to make a run deep into the postseason, they’ll need to do a better job of protecting their quarterback than they did in the Turkey Day loss in Baltimore, where the Ravens devoured the Niners (their only loss in the past 10 games) and Smith was sacked seven times. That sad sack performance made Smith the winner of the weekly NuVo Protection Plan – the third time Smith has been so “honored.” NuVo announced last week it would send a pack of 48 NuVo condoms to Smith as his “prize.” NuVo said it was sending a one “week supply of condoms to the quarterback that gets sacked the most every week of the NFL season.” One week, 48 condoms? We should all have such weeks.▼
14 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the agency’s offices, 24 Second Avenue in San Mateo (Winsom Room). The group is a social and supportive space for LGBT people 55 and older to meet, talk, and connect as well as learn about community events happening throughout the county. There is no cost to attend. For more information, contact Arquimides Pacheco, LGBT program coordinator, at (650) 403-4300, ext. 4320 or apacheco@peninsulafamilyservice.org.▼ Seth Hemmelgarn contributed to this report.
ebar.com
<< Community News
16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Feds
From page 1
U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong ruled against three Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries, one of the dispensary’s patients, and another’s landlord. “U.S. Attorney Haag’s office has responded to our request and Assemblyman Ammiano will be meeting with her sometime next week,” Quintin Mecke, Ammiano’s communications director, told the Bay Area Reporter. Mecke did not disclose the date or time of the meeting and told the B.A.R. that “participants of the meeting have not been confirmed.” Asked if either Governor Jerry Brown or Attorney General Kamala Harris would attend, Mecke said, “No other elected official,” was scheduled to attend. “This meeting is on behalf of our office,” said Mecke. In recent months, federal prosecutors have announced broad prosecutions against medical marijuana dispensaries across California, reportedly threatening landlords with eviction, property seizures, and imprisonment. At least one dispensary in San Francisco has
already closed. Raids on dispensaries have been reported in northern California, including Sacramento, where patient records were also seized. The DOJ and federal prosecutors have said the actions are part of an effort to stop the proliferation of forprofit dispensaries and prescribe-forpay doctor’s offices that have sprouted up in California communities with no local regulations for dispensaries of medical marijuana. But some cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have policies in place for medical cannabis clubs. Ammiano was critical of the federal government’s intervention. “They’re timid about foreclosures, giving no warnings to banks about them, but they warn banks that lending money to medical marijuana businesses will be punished. And sending letters to landlords saying we are going to put you in jail if you rent to dispensaries, that’s pure thuggery and un-Democratic,” Ammiano said. In an email, Haag was asked about those issues and through DOJ spokesman Jack Gillund, sent an email response. “Although all marijuana stores are illegal under federal law, I decided to use our limited resources to address
those that are in close proximity to schools, parks, and playgrounds. I hope that those who believe marijuana stores should be left to operate without restriction can step back for a moment and understand that not everyone shares their point of view, and that my office has received many phone calls, letters, and emails from people who are deeply troubled by the tremendous growth of the marijuana industry and its influence on their communities,” Haag stated. She added that since she sent out letters to dispensaries and landlords, “we have received even more complaints relating to schools ...” Haag said that she was speaking only for the Northern District of California and said that the dispensaries contacted by her office are within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, or playgrounds or closer. Gillund said his office would have no further comment on the scheduled meeting. In an interview with California Progress Report, Ammiano said he and his colleagues want to respond with legislation to address the concerns raised by the feds, but first they needed to hear what their concerns were. “We want to meet with the Department of Justice, the attorney general, and the governor because if I do come up with legislation to provide statewide regulations to address their concerns we need to know what they are thinking,” Ammiano said. “It’s not coordinated, it’s a mess, and we need
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Business Briefs
From page 8
and a bag count was taken. Bennett also speculated that the increase in customers carrying reusable shopping bags would lead to greater losses from shoplifting. Taylor indicated that Wiener is waiting to see a revised version of the proposal before announcing a position on the policy.
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answers and we need them yesterday.” Ammiano, who is openly gay, is angered by what he sees as an attempt to destroy years of effort by the LGBT community to make medical marijuana available for compassionate use. Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996, legalized medical marijuana in California. Since then, 15 other states and the District of Columbia have followed suit. However, the federal government does not recognize medical marijuana as legal medicine. Ammiano sees the actions by the DOJ as an attack on those suffering from complications associated with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, assisting terminally-ill patients with appetite encouragement and relief from pain and nausea for those taking other medications. “It’s a particular insult to our community, our involvement and all our efforts toward passing [Prop] 215,” said Ammiano. “If they do everything they said they will do it would undermine years of LGBT work for terminally-ill patients.” “This is a crisis and it’s putting patients at risk,” Ammiano said. Ammiano said last month that state leaders also need to address the issue. “We’re all on very unsteady ground here,” Ammiano told the B.A.R. “Look, everything should be on the table, including uniform statewide regulation. Obviously, we need the input of the attorney general, we do need her response – it’s very
possible we could get approval from the attorney general [on statewide regulation], we just need to know what can they live with.” Harris’s spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill responded via email. “The unilateral federal action has only increased uncertainty about how Californians can legitimately comply with state law,” Gledhill wrote. “State regulations are vague and chaotic and the attorney general’s office is working with legislators for more consistency and stronger controls.” Medical marijuana advocates said the list of dispensaries targeted by the feds includes some of the best regulated in California. “Contrary to DOJ claims that they are targeting abusive profiteers, their list of targets includes some of the most respected and best regulated facilities in the state,” stated Dale Gieringer, the state director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, on the organization’s website. “The U.S. attorney of Northern California has threatened dispensary landlords with property forfeiture for operating too close to schools and parks, citing a federal drug-free school zone statute that prescribes enhanced penalties for operating within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds, however, California law allows dispensaries and collectives (like liquor stores) a 600 feet buffer zone from schools, with further restrictions as prescribed by local ordinance,” read Gieringer’s statement.▼
Present tense?
purchased for $38. Down the street, the GLBT History Museum (4127 18th Street) offers a variety of gay-themed items, including a coffee mug festooned with matchbooks from gay bars from the 1960s through the 1990s ($10). Volunteers Beatrice Lee and Eva Ovalle also suggest a $50 gift membership for that difficult-toplease LGBT person on your list. Know a crafty gay? The Cliff ’s Variety Annex offers a range of fabrics from Alexander Henry featuring male pin-up images. The cheeky prints run $12.99 per yard.▼
Feeling anxious about gift giving? Running out of ideas for that perfect present? Castro businesses have numerous options to consider for the gay in your life. Consider a Christmas T-shirt with a twist from the Human Rights Campaign store (575 Castro Street). The bright red “HO-HO-HOMOSEXUAL” shirt and sprightly green “Fa La La La La La Les-bi-an” run $25 each. HRC also continues its series of blown-glass ornaments with Teddy the bear tucked into a red stocking. The ornament is free with a $50 donation, or can be
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Plaza restrictions
From page 1
would also be banned in both plazas any hour of the day. It is the second rule proposal Wiener has introduced for the plazas. An ordinance requiring nudists to put down a towel when sitting at the plazas goes into effect December 15. It also states anyone entering a restaurant without clothing can be fined. Queer activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca called the latest planned restrictions “more anti-homeless bigotry from Wiener and the folks at the CBD” that go against the historic role Harvey Milk Plaza has played in the fight for gay rights. “Harvey Milk Plaza has always been a symbol of the freedom of the Castro, it’s the place where Milk got up on a soap box and expressed his opinion about things,” wrote Avicolli Mecca in an email, referring to the gay former city supervisor and Castro merchant the plaza honors. “Gay men have always stood and talked or congregated at any hours of the day and night in the plaza ... Now Wiener and the CBD want to impose restrictions on the plaza, such as no sitting on the benches after 9 p.m., that are intended only to stop a certain group of people from sitting or using the plaza.” He predicted that the police would use the seating restrictions to harass homeless people and underage queer youth who hang out at the plazas at night. “Forty years ago, this is the kind of legislation that was often used to restrict the use of public space
by gay men. Now it’s used against the homeless or those perceived as homeless,” wrote Avicolli Mecca. “As we used to say in ACT UP, ‘Shame, shame, shame!’” Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter the need for the time stipulation is so that people know when the tables and chairs at Jane Warner Plaza will be removed each day. Employees from Orphan Andy’s, a 24-hour eatery located on the plaza, bring in the street furniture each night and put it back out every morning. There is also a provision giving the Department of Public Works director discretion to close the plazas to general sitting and congregating due to such things as inclement weather or a community gathering. Anyone wishing to sell items at the plazas would be required to apply for the proper city permit. And the new rules would prohibit people from doing any landscape work at either plaza “without prior written permission from the director of the Department of Public Works.” Violators of the rules could face fines of $100 for their first infraction up to $500 for a third or more citations within one year. The CBD’s board is set to vote on the new rules tonight (Thursday, December 8). The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the community meeting room on the second floor of 501 Castro Street. Either the Board of Supervisors’ land use or city operations committee will be assigned to first hear the proposed regulations sometime in January or February. The rules would become effective 30 days after passage of the ordinance.▼
Read more online at www.ebar.com
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
18 • Bay Area Reporter • December 8-14, 2011
Classifieds
t
Legal Notices>>
The
Legal Notices>> notice of petition to administer estate of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW: Case Number: pes-11-295237 superior court of california county of san francisco 400 Mcallister, sf, ca 94102 Petitioner Elaine Law-Lau To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW. A petition for probate has been filed by ELAINE LAW-LAU in the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County. The petition for probate requests that ELAINE LAW-LAU be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act.(This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. a hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: December 27, 2011, 9:00 am Probate department, Rm 204, 400 McAllister street, San Francisco, CA 94102 If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the descendent, you must file with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided in Probate Code Section 9100. The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above. You may examine the file kept by the Court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice(form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for the petitioner: Maureen O’Connell, SB#069233, 999 W.Taylor St., Suite B,San Jose, CA 95126 408-297-6004
Dec. 8,15.22,2011 nOTICE OF application for change in ownership of AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGE license Dated 11/30/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : SAN FRANCISCO ELKS NUMBER THREE BUILDING ASSOCIATION. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 450 Post St.,2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102-1526. Type of license applied
48- On-sale general public Premises dec 8,2011 nOTICE OF application for change in ownership of AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGE license Dated 07/01/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : VESPERTINE INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 46 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105-2931. Type of license applied
48- On-sale general public Premises dec 8,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs Dated 11/16/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : DEAN ZAIN AZZGHAYER. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 522 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94102-1102. Type of license applied
21- Off-sale general Nov. 24, dec 1,8,2011
statement file A-033949200 The following person(s) is/are doing business BULLDOGG, 570 Ellsworth St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Logan Knight..The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033947600 The following person(s) is/are doing business RYAN JOSEPH HEALTH AND FITNESS,610 Clipper St.,Suite A,SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by an individual, signed James Ryan Joseph.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/14/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033932800 The following person(s) is/are doing business SAN FRANCISCO FRENCH DESIGN,1900 Vallejo St.,SF,CA 94123.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Sonia Richioud.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/07/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/07/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033948100 The following person(s) is/are doing business TATAKI CANYON,678 Chenery St.,SF,CA 94131. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Kenneth Zhu.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033948800 The following person(s) is/are doing business A&T PLUMBING,5945 Wenk Ave. Richmond,CA 94804.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Andrew Lee.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/14/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033937800 The following person(s) is/are doing business SF ONLINE MARKETING,170 Eureka St.,SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Pamela Card.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033938500 The following person(s) is/are doing business 1.CYBER GUY SF,2.CYBER RELATE,584 Castro St.,Suite #877,SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Frank Strona.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 statement file A-033939300 The following person(s) is/are doing business PRIORITY CARE SERVICES,2636 Judah St.,#207,SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Alex Tico.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/09/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/11
Nov 17,24,dec 1,8,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs Dated 11/15/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : JESSICA LYNN VOSS. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 858 FOLSOM St., San Francisco, CA 94107-1123. Type of license applied
41- On-sale beer and wine – eating place dec 1,8,15,2011 state of california in and for the county of san francisco file# cnc-11-548237 In the matter of the application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name. The application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that JOMO KENYATTA filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to JESUS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 514 on the 24th of January, 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011
statement file A-033956900 The following person(s) is/are doing business KING CONSULTING, 2038 Divisadero St.,Apt. #304,SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Christopher King.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/17/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11
Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033956400 The following person(s) is/are doing business FETE CATERING,3487 21st St., #3,SF,CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, signed Charles D. McCreight.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11
Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033958500 The following person(s) is/are doing business COOK & COMPANY 870 Market St.,Suite 576,SF,CA 94102.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Douglas E. Cook.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/16/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/11
Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0301883-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as AWAKENED SEED,610 Clipper St.,Suite A,San Francisco, CA 94114.This business was conducted by an individual, signed James R.Joseph. The ficticious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/07.
Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033965400 The following person(s) is/are doing business 1.LEXCENTREX,2.MUNDARTZ AG,3.PAPER NAPKIN,4.SENIOR ELDER AMERICA,301 Main St.,Suite 28A SF,CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Myron H. Marshall.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/23/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033961400 The following person(s) is/are doing business ENDODONTIC ARTS OF SAN FRANCSICSO,3113 Geary Blvd., SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Vladimir Shuster.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962300 The following person(s) is/are doing business YT ELECTRIC CO.,2526 32nd Ave.,SF,CA 94116.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Rurong Chen.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/21/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962100 The following person(s) is/are doing business KING OF THAI NOODLE #2,346 Clement St.,SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Thongchai Chaichaiana.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033956600 The following person(s) is/are doing business BURGER URGE,1599 Haight St.,SF,CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jack Mogannam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962600
statement file A-033963400
statement file A-033950600
The following person(s) is/are doing business FOG CITY CAB NEIGHBORHOOD DISPATCH SERVICE, 979 Bryant St.,SF,CA 94103.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/11
The following person(s) is/are doing business DOCTOR’S LOUNGE,4826 Mission St.,SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Rochelle McCune.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033970600
dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033981400
The following person(s) is/are doing business FOG CITY CAB NEIGHBORHOOD DISPATCH SERVICE, 1407 Irving St.,SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/28/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/28/11
The following person(s) is/are doing business POPSUGAR SHOP,111 Sutter St.,15th Floor,SF,CA 94104.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sean Mecnew.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/02/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033931300 The following person(s) is/are doing business DINORA’S JEWELRY & FASHION,3218 21st St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Irma D. Salguero.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/04/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/04/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0304081-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as KING OF THAI NOODLE HOUSE 2,346 Clement St.,San Francisco, CA 94118.This business was conducted by a corporation, signed Sara Thang. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/15/07.
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033971700 The following person(s) is/are doing business V&V FLOWERS,1455 Market St.,SF,CA 94103. This business is conducted by a husband and wife, signed Van Lam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/11
dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033968700 The following person(s) is/are doing business TC & ASSOCIATES,2748 Stewer St.,SF,CA 94123.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Amir A.Talebi.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/28/11
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Vol. 41 • No. 49 • December 8-14, 2011
C
hita Rivera isn’t part of American musical theatre, she is American musical theatre. The Broadway star originated the roles of Anita in West Side Story, Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and created starring roles in Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Rink (opposite Liza Minnelli). While those roles often went to others when the shows were made into movies, Rivera’s stellar acting, singing, and dancing gifts were immortalized on screen in the 1969 film Sweet Charity. (“Hey Big Spender,” anyone?) At 73, Rivera is as busy as ever. She’ll narrate SF Symphony’s Peter and the Wolf
Chita Rivera: “Another lovely stone in my brooch.”
this Saturday, Dec. 10, and her rehearsal and performance calendar this past month has been so full that our phone chat had to be rescheduled three times. “I just did a staged reading of Kander and Ebb’s musical The Visit,” she tells me when we finally connect. “And I’m in rehearsal for a reading of a new show called Zarra. It’s a take-off on Zorro, only she’s a dress designer. The important thing is to keep working.” When I ask her for specific memories that stand out from her landmark performances, two themes emerge again and again: her admiration and love for her collaborators, and the fact that no one See page 33 >>
Page turners: books for holiday giving by Tavo Amador
U
nsure what to get family and friends for the holidays? Wander into your local bookstore, where an amazing selection of gifts is available. Following are titles to fit most budgets and tastes. Fashion mavens will be thrilled by Vogue: The Covers (Abrams, $50) with a foreword by Hamish Bowles. This sumptuous tome begins with covers from 1892 (when they were illustrated) and continues for another 120 years. By the 1930s, models replaced drawings. Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst, Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, David Bailey and Irving Penn were among the photographers. Professional mannequins included Dovima, Dorian Leigh, Suzy Parker, Jean Shrimpton, Lauren Hutton, and Cindy Crawford. Society legend Babe Paley, Truman Capote’s See page 33 >>
{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }
Buy tickets today! sfballet.org or 415.865.2000 San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Nutcracker (© Erik Tomasson)
<< Out There
22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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All the newspaper that’s fit to print by Roberto Friedman
N
ewspaper is a noun, but sometimes Out There uses it as an adjective. As in, “Oh, that is so very newspaper of you.” Or, “I’m feeling rather newspaper tonight.” Oft-times when catching up with friends, we might say, “Girl, just give us the headlines, because we’re on deadline for a whole lot of body copy.” So we made sure during our recent visit to Washington, D.C., to catch the Warhol: Headlines exhibition now on view at the National Gallery of Art. The show contains paintings, screenprints, photographs, video and film created from Andy Warhol’s obsessive interest in tabloid news, headlines, and the whole newspaper enterprise. Wall text points out that Warhol, who after all got his start as a commercial artist producing drawings of shoes for department store ads, considered newspapers just another product
ripe for the Pop Art treatment. What are headlines, really, but the labels of products called newspapers? To Warhol, a headline like “Eddie Fisher Breaks Down” was just another, more to-die-for variation on “Campbell’s Soup.” There are paintings here based on disaster (“129 Die in Jet!”), history (“President Shot Dead”), the royals (“A Boy for Meg”) and the media whores (“Madonna on Nude Pix: So What!”) (with Keith Haring, from 1985). Stop the presses. Through Jan. 2, 2012. Concurrently, Andy Warhol: Shadows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington presents all 102 silk-screened and hand-painted canvases of a monumental artwork. Warhol made an abstract image based on a shadow in his studio, then replicated it 102 times, with different background/ foreground color variations. The panels, hung edge to edge along the wall of an entire floor of the Hirshhorn’s circular galleries, form an
unforgettable whole much larger than its parts. Warhol was the 20th century artist who most foresaw our endlessly repeatable present-day digital culture. Through Jan. 15, 2012. Since we were in a very newspaper state of mind after seeing Headlines and Shadows, we stopped in at one of our old haunts, the Front Page bar and grill just off Dupont Circle. This fine establishment displays on its walls newspapers’ framed front pages culled from editions announcing historic news: royal visits, war developments, assassinations. We were perusing the headlines when our bartender introduced us to an elderly man, billiard-ball bald, sitting to our immediate left. “This is Charley. He’s 99 years old, and he comes in here every day at Happy Hour for two glasses of wine, sometimes three. Plus he gets here on his scooter!” OT was duly impressed. Maybe we could be just like Charley in 49 years – minus the scooter, because we’d only kill ourselves puttering around the Circle before we made a single revolution. Still: a veritable role model for an old pressie like us. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
City lights Out There hit the ground running, to use an unfortunate war metaphor, upon our return to this beloved City by the Bay. First night back we rubbed shoulders with filmies and arts luminaries at a welcoming reception for the new San Francisco Film Society executive director Bingham Ray at Tosca Café. The late SFFS e.d. Graham Leggett was remembered fondly and poignantly. But Ray seems psyched for taking the reins. The next night we were regaled with tales of bygone visits to the erstwhile Burma, now Myanmar, from seasoned correspondents during the unveiling of holiday décor at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. This largest hotel atrium in the world, Portman-designed, looks its most elegant with its many rows of white lights dangling from high overhead: worth a seasonal visit. Then on our “day off” we attended a press conference for news of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion. After unveiling its conceptual basis in May, Snøhetta principal architect Craig Dykers was now ready to present the schematic design of the proposed addition to architect Mario Botta’s iconic SFMOMA. By now the design
“Daily News” (c. 1967) by Andy Warhol, screenprint on paper (detail).
of the new building, slated for groundbreaking in summer 2013 and opening in 2016, has been pretty well dissected in the press and online forums, and you can see sketches of the expansion at www.sfmoma. org. As usual, Out There has a few quibbles. Though the design is respectful of the Botta atrium, and the oculus and fifth-floor bridge will remain, its spectacular central staircase must apparently fall victim to a more direct procession up to a new entry lobby on the Howard-Minna St. axis. The staircase, a beauty of many landings built in the building’s signature bands of black granite, will be missed. All the more reason to visit before the makeover, and scope out the LED light installation by media artist Jim Campbell, hanging in the atrium, from its best viewing site, the soon-tovanish second-floor landing (through July 15). In general, the Snøhetta design is, as billed, generous and forward-thinking in its contribution to the SoMa streetscape and urban community. Parts of the new space will not require gallery admission, for example. But there are compromises inherent in any aesthetic decision. The architects’ decision to house administrative and conservation spaces in the building’s top floors, while generous to staff and probably a model of efficiency, means that the gallery spaces will be bereft of the Botta building’s brilliant skylights that make an option of natural light from above. That feature was muchvaunted at the original building’s unveiling. SFMOMA museum director Neal Benezra said that the museum would have to close during part of the construction, and would not pursue an alternate temporary site for the interim but strive during the transformation for a so-
called “SFMOMA without walls” in collaboration with other arts presenters and institutions in the Bay Area. No museum spokesperson would comment on the expected duration of this site closure, but OT heard figures bandied about by unofficial sources to the tune of 30 months. We’ll have to stay tuned for better information. Meantime, for the most part, we like what we see.
Dancers to watch for We’re pleased to be able to pass on the names of San Francisco Ballet School scholarship recipients for the 2011-12 school year. The Bob Ross Scholarship goes to Jeanette Kakareka, 18, from Harleysville, PA, invited to train at SFBS after attending its 2010 Summer Session. The Keith White Memorial Scholarship goes to Miranda Silveira Templer, 17, who hails from Barcelona, Spain. And the Eric Hellman Memorial Scholarship goes to Brett Fukuda, 18, originally from Ridgewood, NJ. Congratulations to all the ballerinas, as we’re sure exciting careers await.
Production dept. Our favorite recent newspaper correction from the New York Times: “The Vows column last Sunday, about the marriage of Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle, misspelled the name of the city in Ireland where Ms. Jacobs had a speaking engagement. It is Cork, not Quark.” And the groom hails from Indiana, not InDesign. Thanks to all the arts writers, photographers, staffies and drivers who showed up for the B.A.R.’s swank annual holiday affair at Palio d’Asti downtown last week. It’s always a pleasure to dine and avail ourselves of the open bar with a diverse group of individuals (sometimes very individual) who can only be described as trés newspaper.▼
SFMOMA expansion, view from Yerba Buena Gardens, architectural sketch by Snøhetta. Courtesy Snøhetta
▼
Theatre >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23
Holidays with the gals by Richard Dodds
an argument for same-sex marriage years before the notion was on the radar even for most of those to whom it would be applicable. In addition to the absurdly funny Heklina as Dorothy, the starring performers are Pollo Del Mar as the scatter-brained Rose, Cookie Dough as Dorothy’s acerbic mother Sophia, and director Martin as the coquettish Blanche. On opening weekend, D’Arcy Drollinger took over the role of Rose from the ailing Pollo Del Mar, and delightfully captured Betty White’s vocal inflections while elevating the character’s naive
W
e all know the pre-show spiel: Turn off cell phones, note your nearest emergency exit, avoid shouting out punchlines ahead of the actors. Oh right, that final dictum is not usually part of the preamble. But it is deemed necessary at The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes, a remarkable testimony to the staying power of a television sitcom that ended its network run nearly 20 years ago. No one in the packed Victoria Theatre did indeed preempt the performers, but there was no stopping the audience from spontaneously launching into a sing-along as soon as the “Thank You for Being a Friend” theme song began to play. Syndication has kept the series on the air over the years, but the visceral response to the series goes beyond mere familiarity. The four women who shared a house a Miami, as well as their joys, sorrows, angers, and loves, passed their passions to audiences because of characters who were both broadly and lovingly drawn – and the actresses who so vividly embodied them: Beatrice Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Estelle Getty. A local drag recreation of selected episodes has grown in the past five years from a parlor show into a bigtime entertainment at the Victoria. As cast member Heklina remarked in a curtain-call speech, the gang was feeling particularly classy for this was the first time the word “theater” has actually appeared in the name of the venue where they have played. Heklina, for many years the face of Trannyshack, plays the Bea Arthur role of Dorothy in a performance that draws as many laughs from the hulking character’s exasperated, extended silences as from the lines themselves. Under Matthew Martin’s direction, the performers are given ample freedom to exaggerate, elaborate, and elongate their characters’ particular peccadilloes in a kind of affectionate burlesque.
Jose Guzman Colon
The Golden Girls lineup, clockwise from upper left: Heklina, Pollo Del Mar, Cookie Dough, and Matthew Martin play the title characters in the all-drag production at the Victoria Theatre.
Two particularly relevant episodes have been chosen for the current production. Both are set at Christmastime, and more significantly for the local audience, both deal with gay and lesbian issues that were bold for a series that began its network run in 1985, and that still have social and political resonance. That some of the gay-straight conflicts depicted have a touch of quaintness, at least in our neck of the woods, is a good thing, and maybe even a bit instructive as memories of more benighted times begin to fade.
Allessandra Mello
Nicholas Pelczar and Sherman Fracher play son and mother in a strained relationship in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie at Marin Theatre Center.
Will & tenement by Richard Dodds
T
ennessee Williams seems to be inviting directors to take liberties in recreating the world in which The Glass Menagerie exists. In the opening moments of the play, the narrator declares a disinterest in rigid reportage. “I am the opposite of a stage magician,” he says. “He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.” And even before the play begins, the stage directions are loosening the screws: “Memory
takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches.” At Marin Theatre Company, Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis takes these words to heart. Among the details omitted are most anything beyond a skeletal suggestion of a set (by Kat Conley) and any props that aren’t absolutely required – as is, for example, the unicorn in Laura’s otherwise left-to-the-imagination collection of small glass animals. See page 25 >>
This is particularly true of the first episode, “Isn’t It Romantic,” in which a visiting character’s lesbianism is treated with the secrecy that seems more akin to someone in a witness relocation program. The second episode, “Sister of the Bride,” makes
enthusiasms to a point where the character was quite literally vibrating. As man-hungry Blanche, Martin mixes in equal parts Susan Hayward, Joan Crawford, and Bette Davis, along with McClanahan, to create a scene-stealing vixen out of old Hollywood. Cookie Dough gets laughs with her variation on geriatric physicality, but there is little comic spin to the performer’s vocal work. Laurie Bushman and Manuel Caneri cross-dress to play the lesbian and gay characters whose visits set the plots a-spinning. See page 24 >>
<< Music
24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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SFGMC returns home for the holidays by Jason Victor Serinus
B
eginning its 34th season with a smile, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus promises a different Home for the Holidays than in years past. Not only will the stage hold as many of the ensemble’s whopping, record-setting 275 choristers as space allows, but the stop-andstart, variety show atmosphere and time-consuming personnel changes of recent celebrations have been replaced by the sleeker concert format of 2011’s abundantly punctuated Joyous, Jolly, Jingles! “I love brass, bells, and sopranos with men!” SFGMC’s artistic director Dr. Tim Seelig exclaimed in a phone interview awash with superlatives. “When I told Jake Heggie that I wanted a soprano voice to add color to our concert, he said, ‘You have to get Melody Moore.’” Moore joins the SFGMC as a major centerpiece of all four concerts. The complete kibosh debuts tonight, Dec. 8, in Masonic Auditorium, with three shorter installments on Christmas Eve at the Castro Theatre. Fresh from her triumph as the star of San Francisco Opera’s Heart of a Soldier and preparing for her New York
John Vajda
Boa’d soloist Carl Pantle at a previous San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Home for the Holidays concert.
City Opera stint as the lead in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna, Moore brings her wonderful voice and heartfelt warmth to all four performances. “She is ridiculously fabulous, and everything I could have hoped for,” says Seelig. “Her voice is perfection, and it’s beautiful with the men’s chorus.” Morten Lauritsen’s heavenly “O Magnum Mysterium” will reap additional benefits from Moore’s
presence. In unique arrangement for male chorus and soprano, Moore enters halfway through. “Her entrance is glorious,” enthuses Seelig. “It’s spectacular, and her voice is breathtaking.” Moore promises to balance the Lauritsen and her solo performance of one of the all-time Christmas spectaculars for high-voiced soloist – take a guess – with a spoof entitled “Variations on Jingle Bells.” Seelig, who directed Dallas’ Turtle Creek
Chorale for many decades, cannot help but slide into Texas-speak as he praises Moore’s “kick-ass coloratura.” Bells will jingle encore as the four-person Velocity Bells Ensemble somehow manages to perform the entire “Hallelujah Chorus” without breaking a single wrist. Yet another timbre variation comes in the form of the 45-piece Contra Costa Wind Symphony, which can only fit on the stage of Masonic Auditorium. “Randol Bass from Austin has done some magnificent arrangements for orchestras, chorus, and wind symphonies that have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, and other major ensembles,” says Seelig. “He loves Christmas, and has written a ‘Gloria’ that is spectacular. It’s one of my favorite pieces of all time. Prepare for big, bombastic male choral music at its butch best.” Lest the boys get out of hand, Ms. Donna Sachet will return to the Castro to perform with the outfit with which she got her start. In addition, three ensembles – the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Chorus and SFGMC’s Lollipop Guild and Vocal Minority – will each appear once on Dec. 24, switching off between the three Castro Theatre shows.
Other highlights of Home for the Holidays 2011 include Eddie Clement’s “amazing” arrangement of “Sleigh Ride,” Kevin Robison’s “phenomenally big” arrangement of “Silver Bells,” and Stephen Schwartz’s (Godspell, text for Bernstein’s Mass, Wicked) “stunning, really great” Hanukkah composition, “We Are Light.” Music about memory and remembering, it is dedicated to the large Fifth Section of the SFGMC: choristers who have passed from AIDS and other diseases. Honored as well will be the concert’s five strategic partners: Maitri Hospice, Shanti, the National AIDS Memorial Grove, AIDS Lifecycle, and Project Open Hand. Of course, Seelig promises to surround the serious with lots of fun, and all the warmth that Christmas with family is supposed to provide. How could a gay holiday celebration with America’s premier gay men’s chorus be anything but warm and fun?▼ Home for the Holidays in Masonic Auditorium (Dec. 8 at 8 p.m.) and the Castro Theatre (Dec. 24 at 5, 7 & 9 p.m.) Tickets are available at www.sfgmc.org, the LGBT Community Center, or (415) 865-2787.
Christmas faves at Davies by Philip Campbell
L
ast week I decided to try adjusting to the overwhelming rush of holiday parties, performances and events by attending a kid-friendly concert at Davies Symphony Hall. Conductor Donato Cabrera was leading the San Francisco Symphony along with director Kevin Fox’s Pacific Boychoir in a program of Christmas favorites, selections from The Nutcracker, a carol sing-along and (most enticingly) a screening of the British animated silent-film classic The Snowman with live musical accompaniment. For all my build-up of Scroogelike attitude over the years, the season admittedly is “all about the kids,” or at least their innocent surrender to the magic and make-believe we adults have concocted for them. I figured it was time to quit stalling and just get with the program. I also must confess the spirit of the Christmas fantasy is what I find most admirable about grown-ups at this time of the year. After an evening spent with some first-rate musicians and at least 1,000 enchanted children and their
obviously loving caretakers, how could anyone really resist? Davies Hall is always a winter wonderland once the spectacular trees are up and decorated, lining the lobby levels. The tasteful hanging of the green throughout the rest of the hall and the auditorium cozily completes the picture. Children of the audience, dressed to the nines in party dresses and snappy sweaters and blazers, toured the preshow presentation, sipping their refreshments and squealing with happiness and delight. Okay, so mission accomplished, adults, and the concert hadn’t even started yet! Opening with master orchestrator Leroy Anderson’s stirring “A Christmas Fantasy,” played richly by the orchestra and continuing with the Boychoir and a sweet rendition of “Carol of the Bells,” conductor Cabrera made it clear this was going to be a real concert that all ages could enjoy. The boys injected some whimsy with the funny “All I Want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus,” and Leroy Anderson (as composer this time) was back on the bill with his ubiquitous “Sleigh Ride.” If you think
the blasé gamers and soon-to-be texters in the crowd didn’t get excited by the sleigh bells and cracking-whip sound effects, you would be way wrong. The first half ended with some tastily prepared excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. After a noisy intermission and some naughty running about the aisles with drinks in hand, the thoroughly warmed-up crowd tucked in for the screening of the short movie. The Snowman was originally produced by the BBC as an animated television presentation in 1982. Based on the children’s book by Raymond Briggs, the story really needs no words. The utterly charming film, directed by Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T. Murakami, relies only on the beauty of the drawings and the wonderful score by Howard Blake. A young boy builds a snowman, and they bond to have some magical adventures, all before the morning sun finally ends the dream and melts the snowman. All that remains is the scarf given to them when they flew to visit Santa Claus and his reindeer. The ride through the woods on a motorbike and the joyously lively
San Francisco Symphony
Conductor Donato Cabrera offered a concert all ages could enjoy.
dance of the snowpersons at Santa’s workshop are highlights, and Blake’s score, played in perfect synch by the SFS, makes the most of them. The most awesome moment and the one that clearly entranced everyone in the audience both young and old is when the boy and the snowman take to the sky and fly over the English coast to the North Pole. The music is soaring, and the orchestra made it absolutely uplifting. The best part of having the Boychoir on hand, with some really fine boy sopranos, was most evident during this transcendent sequence as they sang the gorgeous “Walking in the Air.” The purity of the choir’s
<<
Golden Girls
From page 23
The original scripts were designed with scenes that could immediately blend together, lessening the need for a strong tagline to end each vignette. But when an extended blackout is needed in this live translation for a change of costumes and scenery, these tags can be pretty weak. The production lessens the letdown by playing audio from vintage television commercials that
voices made the only words heard in The Snowman all the more beautiful and nostalgic. That perfect little film was enough for me, and I really couldn’t bring myself to stay for the concert’s concluding carol sing-along, so I took my leave. I may be a closet sentimentalist, but I was also attending solo. Instead, I decided to walk the lobbies and take in the sights, hearing the enthusiastic voices of the audience on the monitors and through the auditorium hallways. It got my season of holiday concertgoing off on just the right note. And now here comes Handel’s Messiah, and I’m looking forward to it.▼
often provoked the audience into more sing-alongs. The intent of holiday entertainment is an extra dose of good cheer, and it was visibly a happy crowd that poured onto 16th Street as The Golden Girls delivered on the yuletide prescription.▼ The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes will run at the Victoria Theatre through Dec. 23. Tickets are $25 & $30. Go to www.trannyshack.com.
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Dance >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25
Dancing on a cliff ’s edge by Paul Parish
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hat do you long for? Money? Fame? The love of women? Security? Pleasure? Youth? Your own youth? Your mother’s love? Escape to tropical paradise? To be adored? Access to the one you worship? Grace? To be understood? Peace and quiet?” The great German choreographer Pina Bausch, who died in 2009, regularly asked her dancers such questions. Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, which survives her, has just danced her Danzon here in Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall to screaming ovations (presented by Cal Performances). Simultaneously, Wim Wenders’ brilliant 3D documentary film Pina, which shows them dancing literally on the edge of a cliff, was shown at the Shattuck Cinema, in advance of its wide release this coming January. Her performers replied to her questions with small dances as answers, which formed the basis of her creative process, which has since influenced contemporary dance worldwide. This material she tested, shaped “so it could survive repetition,” and strung into tight lyric units, each little world having its own tone and timbre – some hilarious, some sick-unto-death – a “playlist” with a deep subtext that holds the whole thing together and takes the audience through a surreal emotional journey. Worldwide, she’s been hugely popular. My spies tell me that tickets are nearly sold out already for the 10 Bausch pieces that play at London’s Olympiad next summer. They get a month of Pina. By contrast, in the last 10 years, we’ve seen only three of her works here. Nur Du, cocommissioned by Cal Perf., which featured three giant sequoias on stage, was a German meditation on the California lifestyle built around the Platters’ song “Only You.” Bausch worked in the anti-Nazi tradition, the German Expressionist line that goes straight from Kafka’s The Trial, which prophesied the Nazis, through Koestler’s Darkness
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Glass Menagerie
From page 23
But Minadakis isn’t only about subtraction. In place of the photo portrait of the Wingfield patriarch who has long since abandoned his family, trumpeter Andrew Wilke is there to freeze with a smirk when his wife ruefully references the graven image and to otherwise provide melancholy underscoring. Program notes provide Minadakis’ reasoning behind his unusual choices, largely about moving the memories away from the wistful toward the painful, though their effectiveness often diminishes from page to stage. The premise that a strippeddown physical production would focus more attention directly on the actors and their roles is reasonable enough. But the elaborate mimings of such common actions as lighting a cigarette or unfolding a newspaper become distractions in themselves. While these choices often prove counterproductive, they arise from comprehensible logic, which isn’t necessarily the case with the trumpetplaying portrait that feels more like novelty for its own sake. And yet… and yet… The play itself is strong enough after all these years to still pull you into the lives of the Wingfield clan. The 1945 drama, which is set in a St. Louis tenement in the late 30s, was inspired by Williams’ young life with his mother, a quasidelusional former southern belle, and his handicapped older sister. The play largely centers on mother
at Noon. Her great teacher Kurt Jooss had refused to work for Hitler (who wanted him to create the spectacle surrounding the Berlin Olympiad) and took refuge during WWII in England. Returning after the war, he gave the young Pina Bausch the role of the grieving mother in his great antiwar ballet, the woman who has to see all her children picked off by Death. Danzon has many echoes of the nightmarish Green Table. At any moment the pleasant scene could dissolve and reveal itself to be a wish-fulfilling fantasy, and the reality is, you’re about to die. Danzon (created in 1995) is loosely Cuban, but essentially is a study in the perennial German escapist dream, the tropical Paradise where, in Goethe’s phrase, “die Zitronen Bluhn [the lemon tree blooms].” It is not necessary to feel all the echoes of the great preNazi tradition inherent in Danzon, but if you do hear them, they add greatly to the resonance of the piece, and make it almost intolerably moving. It’s two hours long with no intermission but easy to enjoy, if you’re willing to accept an absurdist tone. The evening’s arc is explicitly birth to death. The dancer who appears in a diaper, crawling on his hands and knees at the beginning, and recurs in that garb many times, once crawling across the catwalk at the top back of the bare stage, from which he throws things like a baby dropping his spoon from a high chair, that same dancer reappears as a menacing figure of Death. He stalks maidens lolling in bathtubs like odalisques, whom he hauls one after another off to a mysterious end. Each one flirts with him, like Blanche Dubois, but gets hauled away nonetheless. It was impossible for me not to think of Death taking away the mother’s sons in The Green Table. Danzon seems steeped in the pre-Nazi world of German Romanticism. Goethe himself is evoked explicitly in a “messenger’s scene” where the composition of Der Wanderers Nachtlied is recited in English. There is a hilarious scene
Amanda’s efforts to rescue the family by finding a husband for the achingly shy Laura, and pressing son Tom to lure one of his co-workers from the shoe warehouse where he toils into her elaborate but misguided web. In the Marin production, the quartet of actors delivers the kind of passionately committed performances that make you care about this tiny sliver of unhappy humanity. As Tom, Nicholas Pelczar has the look of a 1930s character actor and an idiosyncratic manner that ultimately rings true for a character who is, after all, Tennessee Williams. Anna Bullard has her own idiosyncrasies as sister Laura, with telegraphic mannerisms and an unidentifiable regional accent, but it adds up to a performance of heartbreaking empathy. Sherman Fracher solidly grabs hold of the bitter butterfly Amanda, one of American theater’s great female roles, and it is her energy that keeps the other characters in a tilted spin. As Jim, the Gentleman Caller for Laura, Craig Marker provides a performance that is sunny, boisterous, and kind. The very title of The Glass Menagerie suggests fragility, and its story may seem spun of gossamer threads. But the fabric remains remarkably sturdy, and pliant enough to accept efforts to reshape it whether it needs to be or not.▼ The Glass Menagerie will run through Dec. 18 at Marin Theatre Company. Tickets are $34-$55. Call 388-5208 or go to www.marintheatre.org.
of campfire tales, told in English and screamingly funny, which evokes the Waldesgesprach of so many German Lieder, translated into modern tones. But the last word is Mahleresque melancholy. Das Lied von der Erde was evoked early, with a recitation from the Chinese, and again at the end, as one of his most desolate songs plays while a dancer crawls off-stage and shovelfuls of dirt are tossed onto her back. Hitler sent jazz-lovers to the concentration camps; perhaps that’s why jazz features so prominently in Bausch’s soundscapes. I leave you with a YouTube clip of the most Kafkaesque moment in the piece, in which dancer Dominique Mercy freaks out: www.youtube. com/watch?v=pBM3RJjtEqU. This spastic solo expresses a Kafkaesque state of frenzied anxiety, but the dance, though it mimics loss of control, in fact sustains exact repetition. The Bausch repertory is classic – it is built to last, and to sustain endless re-applications of attention.▼
Bettina Stoβ
Aida Vainieri of Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal performs Danzón.
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Film>>
Talking ‘Shame’ With director Steve McQueen & star Michael Fassbender by David Lamble
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n Shame, a provocative bitch-slap of a movie from highly regarded British director Steve McQueen, a very horny 30-something Irishborn stud named Brandon (Michael Fassbender) sets out to nail every attractive woman of a certain age found trolling the financial corridors of Michael Bloomberg’s New York. McQueen and screenwriting partner Abi Morgan make it very clear that Brandon is a sex addict, and for nearly 100 minutes keep us wondering if he’ll hit bottom while the camera’s rolling. The filmmakers treat us to an opening shot of Brandon naked beneath the sheets. Then it’s off to the races as our hero demonstrates just how much congress it is possible for a gainfully employed man to have while drawing a six-figure paycheck. A ferociously lonely man, Brandon maintains quasi-human contact with three individuals: his party-animal boss, David (James Badge Dale); a beautiful co-worker, Marianne (Nicole Beharie), with
whom he struggles to have a “normal” relationship; and finally, his suicidal kid sister Sissy (an eyepopping turn from British actress Carey Mulligan). In a film with long stretches of minimal dialogue, two conversations stand out: one, a magnificent tracking shot of Brandon walking Marianne to the subway after a chaste first date and a mid-film blowup between Brandon and Sissy. The scene follows a night on the town where Sissy has made a play for Brandon’s horndog of a boss, and a chaotic moment where Sissy has broken in on Brandon jacking off in the bathroom. Among the many agonizing moments is a penthouse scene where Brandon’s attempt to fuck Marianne ends in humiliation for him. It’s not entirely clear if the problem is premature ejaculation or the failure to maintain an erection. In some ways it’s a downward slide from there on, to an ambiguous “people don’t change” finale. With its overt frontal male nudity, three masturbation scenes and a
long orgiastic night where Brandon goes for a new personal record, from a three-way with two women to a backroom gay bar scene, Shame is a very uneasy something for everyone, a true NC-17 film, not just a naughty hard R. The film benefits greatly from Brit McQueen’s fresh eye on New York. Manhattan’s legendary bygone sleaze resurfaces, not in the Disney Lion King remake of the once gloriously slutty Times Square, but in odd nooks and crannies, like on a downtown local train. Brandon’s gaze on a young lass on the subway is framed by the ghostly graffiti etched into the train’s windows and the zombie-like passengers dozing around them.
Under pressure Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender first collaborated on the contents-under-pressure prison film Hunger, where they brilliantly established the political, moral and personal context for the fatal hunger strike staged in a British prison by IRA militant Bobby Sands. My recent conversation with the pair began with my observation that a lot of gay men object to the term “sex addict,” on the grounds that it could at times be used to characterize a broad swath of urban gay men. Steve McQueen: You keep saying gay all the time, I don’t think it matters. I think you see things as human beings, and it doesn’t really matter about your sexuality or your gender, it is what it is. David Lamble: I say that because some of these experiences I’ve had myself. You’re bold in dealing with masturbation, which most filmmakers don’t deal with, that I can say. You can say what you want, absolutely, you can say as a human being, absolutely, whatever. Yes,
Michael Fassbender as Brandon in Steve McQueen’s Shame.
masturbation I can imagine all of us do it, just as a majority of us have obviously had sex. It’s something that is familiar, obviously to us, and it’s something that as a sex addict that you’re very familiar with, it had to be shown: this individual does it on a very regular, everyday basis. The term “sex addict” can be controversial for some gay men because some of the behavior depicted as addictive behavior is very commonplace in urban gay nightclub districts. When it alters your life in a way that has a devastating effect, that’s addiction. Some human beings are sort of promiscuous in sex, but there’s a difference between being promiscuous and being an addict, a huge gulf of a difference. Why did you shoot this audacious film in New York? No one wanted to speak with us in London. We tried to speak with people suffering from sex addiction, but no one would speak with us. It was a kind of strange and surprising thing. I think at the time sex addiction was quite prevalent in the news in the British press, but no one wanted to speak with us. So we went to New York, spoke to people
who were experts in the field, and they in turn introduced us to people who had the affliction and were sort of recovering sex addicts as well and I thought, “Why don’t we shoot it in New York?” Michael, the opening shot of the film has Brandon half-naked in bed, seemingly lost in thought. Michael Fassbender: I was probably thinking, “I’ve got to get out of bed in a second and be naked [in front of the camera] – no, no. It’s like what goes through your head before you start your day: How does he feel about the night before? Essentially it’s waking up, and today is a new day. There is so much in the character that is expressive and non-expressive: he’s preparing to put on his mask for the rest of the day. He’s getting ready to go back into the outside world, where he’s playing a sort of masquerade. Like, how many different faces does he put on, at the office, when he’s out at a nightclub speaking to girls, you name it. Then you’re sort of at home with him, behind closed doors, and this is a moment where he’s actually just Brandon, exposed, naked if you like, and open for the audience to come in.▼
Music>>
In Kate’s footsteps by Gregg Shapiro
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t’s easy to follow in Kate Bush’s footprints when she’s walking in the snow, as she does on her frosty new disc 50 Words for Snow (Anti-/ Fish People). Closest in mood to her 2005 Aerial set right down to the mini-epic length of the seven songs (the shortest track clocks in at just under seven minutes), the disc feels like the musical equivalent of a snowstorm. That’s especially true of “Snowflake,” which has the hypnotic sensation that occurs while sitting in a window and watching the snow blanket streets, sidewalks, houses and trees. The weather intensifies on “Lake Tahoe,” although it’s not quite a blizzard. Once the snow has fallen, what’s left to do but build a snowman, as Bush does on “Misty.” The pace picks up considerably on the feral “Wild Man.” Already a favorite among the gays, Bush cements her status with cameos by Her Royal Highness Elton John on “Snowed in at Wheeler Street,” and out actor/writer Stephen Fry supplying the voice of the character
Prof. Joseph Yupik on the dazzling title cut. Tori Amos is probably the artist who has been most regularly compared to Kate Bush. Early in Amos’ career, when the focus was the piano and her voice, the Bush comparisons came fast and furious.
With her ambitious new album, the 21st-century song cycle Night of Hunters (Deutsche Grammophon/ Decca), she bravely explores another avenue. Still, it’s not all that surprising to find a classically trained musician such as Amos moving in this direction. After all, Rufus Wainwright, the closest thing that Amos has to a contemporary, has written an opera. Joined by daughter See page 27 >>
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Film >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27
Ellen Barkin, in Another Happy Day, brings empathy and pathos to an uncomfortable soul.
Family estrangement by David Lamble
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he acutely realized “hysterical” extended family in director Sam Levinson’s comedy/drama Another Happy Day is the kind we wish we had grown up in until an artistic rendering reveals a funhouse mirror where the likes of us are freaks, rejects and the butt of cruel jokes. In the intricate cosmology of the film’s big, boisterous wedding party, Lynn (Ellen Barkin, with empathy and pathos for a most uncomfortable soul) is coming to the wedding of son Dylan (saintly Michael Nardelli), the boy she left behind after the implosion of an abusive marriage to Dylan’s dad, Paul (Thomas Hayden Church), who’s returned somewhat sheepishly from the dark side. Lynn fled with her baby girl Alice, who has since grown into an intelligent but troubled young woman who cuts herself to release stress. On Lynn’s agenda is to “protect” the now grownup Alice (Kate Bosworth) from potentially toxic contact with Paul. It galls Lynn that Paul’s second marriage to Patty (wickedly alive Demi Moore) has provided a more stable home for Dylan than her
own second marriage to the witty, detached Lee (Jeffrey DeMunn) has for their neurotic brood: Alice, camera-wielding Ben (Daniel Yelsky) and fiendishly insightful Elliot (Ezra Miller), In the ring with Barkin’s moodswinging Mom and Ellen Burstyn’s exasperated Grandma, New Jerseyborn Ezra Miller turns his cynical 17-year-old prep school drop-out into a family rebel with a host of sad causes. A young actor who has already essayed queer roles (Every Day) and who has a bathroom moment with Lynn’s lipstick that ignites the family tom-toms in this one, Miller pivots effortlessly from compulsively rude court jester to one-boy Greek Chorus. Apart from inheriting his dad Barry’s talent for milking the last drop of humor and rueful insight from gifted ensembles, Sam Levinson has spun out one of those addictive party movies, like Jonathan Demme’s 2008 Rachel Getting Married, with Miller occupying Anne Hathaway’s role as the verbal bomb-tosser. A dark comedy with dueling moms, ex-spouse reunions just shy of homicidal, and a troubled
Steven Underhill
Ezra Miller at the Mill Valley Film Festival 2011.
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New CDs
From page 26
Natashya Hawley on several tracks, and accompanied by the Apollon Musagète Quartet and Andreas Ottensamer, principal clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Amos pays homage to Chopin, Satie, Bach, Schumann, Debussy and others
through a series of variations based on the composers’ themes. In spite of the non-commercial nature of the recording, Amos fans are certain to find things to their liking, such as “Job’s Coffin” and “Your Ghost.” French pop chanteuse Emilie Simon goes for a distinctly vintage Kate Bush vibe on The Big Machine (Le Plan/Universal). The Bush
boy’s attempt to avoid ending it all, Another Happy Day’s emblematic moments include wary eye contact between Miller and George Kennedy as Elliot swipes Grandpa’s painkillers, and an all-but-naked Miller’s acing the scariest solo drug trip since Ryan Gosling’s herointaking teacher in Half-Nelson.
Miller time Ezra Miller – pale-skinned, a single grey hair in a shaggy mane, sporting a black vest without a shirt – is quick to correct his online bio, the onetime child opera singer confessing that he wasn’t born in Hoboken, that he considers himself Jewish and spiritual, and that yes, he has been insanely lucky to grab roles in his teens of a caliber Paul Newman wouldn’t land until his 30s. “It’s like being a samurai amongst the best samurai in the world, and having to fight for your life.” David Lamble: You have a scene with Ellen Barkin where Elliot assaults Lynn after she’s forbidden him to party down with his cousins. Ezra Miller: Yeah, Barkin and I were slapping each other around all over the place. You have this great monologue up against Ellen Burstyn where she snarls, “That’s despicable.” They’re like moon-born powerhouses falling on your head. I just watched the film again for the first time since Sundance. The things Sam did are so unbelievable and unexpected: he had so many beautiful tricks up his sleeve. On the phone from New York, 26-year-old Sam Levinson notes the luck that a script that took three weeks to write and three years to sell attracted a talented acting corps: “I had no short film, no music video.” For Levinson, the luck began on the fateful day he met his Elliot. “I go to this restaurant, and I’m arguing with the manager, it takes like 30 minutes for me to get this table, and Ezra Miller walks in. He looks at the table, he looks outside at the patio area and says, ‘Can we switch tables outside, cause I gotta smoke?’ “I thought, ‘What a fucking prick!’ My next thought was, ‘He’s perfect for this film!’”▼
business is especially strong on cuts “Rainbow,” “Nothing To Do with You,” “Chinatown” and “The Devil at my Door.” You might think this Kate copycat would get tiresome, but there’s something charming at work. Simon emerges as her own performer because it’s immediately obvious that you aren’t listening to Bush.▼
www.ebar.com
Dr. Strangelove @ The Dark Room
<< Out&About Tue 13
non-perishable food, new blankets and jackets. Free entry. 2pm-5pm. 4235 19th st. 241-6276. www.SFDucal.org
Jim Fourniadis’ stage adaptation of the Stanley Kubrick satire about 1960s Cold War paranoia. $20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Dec 17. 2263 Mission St. 401-7987. www.darkroomsf.com
Holiday Crafts Fair @ Civic Center Park, Berkeley Think global; shop local. Swap old holiday lights for new LED lights, buy handmade crafts as gifts-ceramics, jewelry, cards, clothes toys and more. 10am-4pm. Also Dec. 17. Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. www.ecologycenter.org
God’s Plot @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Shotgun Players’ commissioned play written and directed by Mark Jackson; an update on the 1665 satire on the King of England. $18-$27. Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru Jan. 15. 1901 Ashby Ave. Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org
The Golden Girls @ Victoria Theatre The Christmas Episodes, the 6th annual drag stage adaptation of the hit TV show, with Heklina, Matthew Martin, Cookie Dough and Pollo Del Mar. $25-$30. ThuSat 8pm. Thru Dec. 23. 2961 16th St. at Mission. www.trannyshack.com
Hella Gay Comedy @ La Estrellita Café, Oakland
Sundance Saloon’s Holiday Ball. See Sun.
Charlie Ballard hosts another night of multiculti queer yet totally un-PC comedy; this month, Fred Anderson, Rory Hensey, Carrie Avritt, Stephanie Milton, Queen TT, Dolores Trevino. Full bar/dining available. $10. 21+. 9pm. 446 E. 12th St. (510) 8910972. www.charlieballard.com
Nick of Time
John Hughes Films @ Castro Theatre
by Jim Provenzano
Midnites for Maniacs presents three classic and (and one lesser-known) films by the pop culture master. Home Alone (7:30) Weird Science (9:45) and Career Opportunities (11:45). $12. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
I made a list. I checked it twice. Here are events both naughty and nice.
Kitka @ Various Venues
Thu 8 >>
comedians with families from former Communist countries, including Kira Soltanovich, Chris Garcia and Janine Brito. $15. 8pm. 2-drink min. 18+. 915 Columbus Ave. www.RecoveringCommies.com
Powerful singer-electric violinist performs at the East Bay venue with DJ Alligator. Local songstress Jenny Hoyston opens. $10. 9pm. 21+. 3101 Shattuck Ave. (510) 841-2082. www.bitchmusic.com www.starryploughpub.com
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus @ Masonic Auditorium
Bitch @ Starry Plough, Berkeley
The Dog Show @ Z Space Laura Arrington and Jesse Hewitt/Strong Behavior’s new dance-theatre works compares canine lives to human domestication, and media-created “monsters.” $8-$20. 8pm. Thru Dec. 11. 450 Florida St. (800) 838-3006. www.lauraarringtondance.com www.zspace.org
Drag Queens on Ice @ Union Square Skating with the local stars, as drag performers take to the ice, and you can, too. Group drag skate 8pm; show 9:30pm. Beer and wine available. $5-$10. Reg hours 10am-11:30pm. Thru Dec 31. Powell St. at Geary. 781-2688. www.unionsquareicerink.com
Fela! @ Curran Theatre Touring production of the vibrant Broadway musical about the life of the Nigerian pop singer Fela Kuti. $31-$200. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat, Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 11. 445 Geary St. www.shnsf.com
Great Broadway Sing-Along @ JCCSF Local performers lead the audience in an evening of Broadway hit songs. $26-$30. 8pm. Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org
Lost Landscapes of San Francisco @ Castro Theatre Rick Prelinger’s 6th annual screenng of amazing vintage footage of early San Francisco; hosted by Stewart Brand. $10. 7:30pm. 429 Castro St. www.lostlandscapes.eventbrite.com www.castrotheatre.com
Loni Love @ The Rrazz Room Comedy host of The Gossip Queens does her wild stand-up act. $25. 8pm. Also Dec 9 & 10 at 9:30pm, and Dec 11 at 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com
Mommy Queerest @ Bindlestiff Studio Kat Evasco’s comic solo show about her own misadventures trying to get her mother to come out as a lesbian. $15-$25. 8pm. Thu-Sat 8pm thru Dec. 17. 185 6th St. www.bindlestiffstudio.org
Recovering Commies @ Cobb’s Comedy Club Gay comic Yuri Kagan performs stand-up with Vladimir Khlynin and presents other
Acclaimed women’s vocal ensemble performs Wintersongs, a concert of holiday-themed music. $15-$25. Dec 9, 8pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave. Dec 10, Dance Palace, 8pm at Point Reyes Station, 503 B St. Dec 11, St. Gregory Episcopal Church, 7:30pm, 500 DeHaro St. Dec 17, 3:30pm at Temple Sinai Chapel, 2808 Summit St, Oakland. (510) 444-0323. www.kitka.org
Home for the Holidays, the chorus’ 34th annual year-end concert, includes guest artists SF Opera fave Melody Moore, Velocity Bells ensemble and the Contra Costa Wind Symphony. $20-$60. $132 for season tickets. 8pm. 1111 California St. Also Dec 24 at The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St; 5pm, 7pm, 9pm. 865-2787. www.sfgmc.org
Ladies in Waiting @ Exit Stage Left
Fri 9 >>
Veteran lesbian comic performs Not Getting Any Younger, a new solo show about her ‘coming of middle age.’ $15-$50. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 8:30pm. Sun 3pm. Extended thru Dec 17. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org
A Christmas Carol @ ACT American Conservatory Theatre’s annual lavish production of Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh’s adaptation of the classic holiday Charles Dickens story. $15-$105. Tue-Sat 7pm. Sun 5:30pm. Various matinees at 2pm & 1pm. Thru Dec. 24. 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org
Cinderella @ Buriel Clay Theater African American Shakespeare Company’s annual production of the stage adaptation of the classic fairy tale. $10-$35. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru Dec 11. 762 Fulton St. at Webster. (800) 838-3006. www.AfricanAmericanShakes.org
Cirque du Soleil @ AT&T Park The Montreal circus spectacular returns with Totem, a visually striking exploration of human evolution, from amphibians to those who seek to fly. $55-$360. Thru Dec. 11. (800) 450-1480. www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem
Sat 10
No Nude Men Productions’ three comic plays about damsels in distress include Marie Antoinette and crossdressing werewolves. $20. 8pm. Thu-Sat. Thru Dec. 17. 156 Eddy St. www.horrorunspeakable.com
Marga Gomez @ The Marsh
Period of Adjustment @ SF Playhouse Local staging of Tennessee Williams’ “serious comedy” about a man who brings his bride to meet his best friend. $20-$50. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Thru Jan 14. 533 Sutter St. near Powell. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org
Pete Escovedo Orchestra @ The Rrazz Room Latin jazz ensemble wows with classic and contemporary music. $37.50-$40. 7:30pm. Also dec 10, 7:30pm and Dec 11, 5pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com
A Tale of Two Genres @ SF Playhouse Un-Scripted Theater Company’s comic production of An Improvised Dickensian Musical, with audience suggestions. $10$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Also Sat 3pm. Thru Dec 21. no show Nov 19 or 24. 533 Sutter St. www.un-scripted.com
Dance-along Nutcracker. See Sat.
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Kelli Dunham @ Dark Room Franc D’Ambrosio at The Rrazz Room. See Tue.
The Temperamentals @ New Conservatory Theatre Jon Marans’ hit Off-Broadway drama about 1950s gay activist Harry Hay and Rudy Gernreich, and their struggle to form the historic Mattachine Society; stars J. Conrad Frank (Katya Smirnoff-Skyy). $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 18 no show Nov. 24. 25 Van Ness Ave at Market, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org
We Are Not Saints @ Harvey Milk Academy Recovery-based standup comedy troupe (Felon O’Reilly, Ian Harvie, Amy Dresner) performs hilarious humor about getting sober. Proceeds benefit the Castro Country Club. $20. 8pm. 4235 19th St. www.wearenotsaints.net
Genderqueer Brooklyn ex-nun comic performs her comedy show, Why Is the Fat One Always Angry? $10-$20. 10pm. 2263 Mission St. www.kellidunham.com
Line Dance Classes @ ODC Dance Commons New fun line dance classes taught by Sundance Saloon’s Sean Ray, with a special LGBT-anybody-inclusive ambiance, and not just country music. $14. Weekly Saturdays, 6pm-8pm. 351 Shotwell St. www.odcdance.org
Nutcracker Sweets @ Children’s Museum Mark Foehringer’s contemporary update on the classic holiday ballet, set to the Tchaikovsky score. $20-$35. Various Sat & Sun (a few weekdays Dec 20-22), 11am & 2pm. Thru Dec. 23. 221 4th St. www.brownpapertickets.com
We Were Here @ Cable Channels David Weissman and Bill Weber’s Oscarnominee shortlisted documentary about San Francisco AIDS caregivers, activists and survivors gets a pay-per-view and on-demand broadcast. www.wewereherefilm.com
The Wild Bride @ Berkeley Repertory Touring production of Kneehigh Theatre Company’s acclaimed Broadway show with music and dance that blends fairy tale dreams and humorous yet heartbreaking realities. $34-$82. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed 7pm (Dec 7, at 8pm). Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm. Thru Jan 1. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2972. www.berkeleyrep.org
Xanadu @ New Conservatory Theatre The hit Broadway musical –based on the campy 80s Olivia Newton-John/Gene Kelly film about a mythical muse and a roller skating rink– gets a local production. Special “Xanadu Fun-Pack” includes a cocktail/soft drink, keepsake cup and souvenir disco ball necklace. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Jan. 15. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org
Sat 10 >> The Air We Breathe @ SF MOMA
New group exhibit of works by 30 contemporary artists and eight poets who explore the issues of legalizing same-sex marriage. Free-$18. 151 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org
Chanticleer @ Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble performs traditional holiday songs. $32$54. 8:15pm. Also other Bay area venues and dates thru Dec 23. 121 Harrison St. Oakland. www.chanticleer.org
City Ballet Nutcracker @ Palace of Fine Arts Local youth school’s performance of the Tchaikovsky ballet. $20-$35. 2pm & 7pm. Dec 11 2pm. 3301 Lyon St. 392-4400. www.citydance.org
Dance Along Nutcracker @ YBCA Forum The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band’s annual fun festive participatory dance and music concert, this year with a groovy ‘Clara’s Magical Mystery Tour’ theme, with Leigh Crowe, Flynn DeMarco, Fifi & Fanny, Woodstock guitarist Harvey Mandel, Lia Metz and members of the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF. Expect tie-dye holiday and dress up yourself. Gala reception Dec 10, 7pm $50. Dec 11 $16-$25. 701 Mission St. at 3rd. 978-2787. www.sflgfb.org
Ducal Craft Fair @ Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy The Ducal Court’s fundraiser and collection for donations to San Francisco Night Ministries and St. Aidan’s Food Pantry, with raffles, auctions, a bake sale, holiday-themed performances, Mr. & Mrs. Claus photo ops, student crafts. Donate
Lois Tema
28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
Xanadu the Musical at New Conservatory Theatre. See Fri.
Peter and the Wolf @ Davies Symphony Hall Broadway legend Chita Rivera narrates the kid-friendly orchestra performance of the classic fable; also, works by Prokofiev, Falla, Strauss and a traditional carol singalong. $15-$57. 1pm & 4pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. (Also Dec 11, 3pm at the Cupertino Flint Center.) www.sfsymphony.org
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra @ Zellerbach Hall The Philharmonia Chorale performs early music and Handel’s Messiah with the music ensemble. $30-$95. 7pm. UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org
Logan’s Run, Saturday Night Fever @ Castro Theatre Two 1970s classics, about disco dancing (2:20, 7pm) and designer death (4:35, 9:15), starring John Travolta and Michael York. $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
Shamanism Class @ LGBT Center Find your animal spirit guide at this drumming ritual event led by Liz Dale; monthly, 2nd Saturdays. $25. Details: Lizsanpablo@ aol.com 1800 Market St. www.sfcenter.org
Teatro Zinzanni @ Pier 29 The new show Up in the Air, about a struggling radio station, stars Geoff Hoyle, blues musician Duffy Bishop, and a slew of amazingly talented acrobats, singers, musicians, a five-course dinner, and a lot of fun. $117-$145. Saturday 11:30am “Breve” show $63-$78. Wed-Sat 6pm (Sun 5pm) Thru Dec 31, when the show goes on hiatus for World Cup Sailing pier renovations. Pier 29 at Embarcadero Ave. 438-2668. www.teatrozinzanni.com
Sun 11 >>
Antiques & Collectibles Faire @ Candlestick Park Stock up on holiday gifts at the huge sale of knick-knacks, antiques, collectibles and more.$5-$10. 6am-3pm. (650) 242-1294. www.candlestickantiques.com
Bijou @ Martuni’s It’s a psychedelic music night with violinist Kippy Marks, vocalist Jay Husain, and Joel
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Out&About >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29
Smuin Ballet’s Christmas Ballet. See Wed.
sfeld. 7pm. 1835 Ellis St. 567-3327. www.bjesf.org/library.htm
Franc D’Ambrosio @ The Rrazz Room Broadway singer ( Phantom of the Opera ) and local fave performs It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas. $30-40. Thru Dec. 17 at 8pm; also Sun Dec 18 at 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com
Radar Reading @ SF Public Library
Wicht at the piano. $7. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. 241-0205. www.dragatmartunis.com
Disco Christmas @ The Grand Holiday T-dance with DJs Steve Fabus and Paul Goodyear, in a totally renovated nightclub (home of the legendary Trocadero parties). $15. 6pm-12am. 520 4th St. www.guspresents.com
Folk Dancing @ Presbyterian Church Dignity SF hosts a night of dancing, with food and fun. 5pm. 1329 7th Ave.
Holiday Bizarre Bazaar @ Powerhouse The SoMa Guardians host a holiday party, with kinky arts and crafts, ornaments, leather goods, pottery and baked goods for sale, along with a naughty Santa. $5 and up; donate canned goods and/or toys. 5pm-8pm. 1347 Folsom st. 552-8689. www.powerhouse-sf.com
stepping, line-dancing and holiday faves. $5 if you bring/donate an unwrapped toy for a needy kid. $8 otherwise. 5pm10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org
Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host the fabulous weekly brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.harrydenton.com
Throne of Blood, MacBeth @ Castro Theatre Akira Kurosawa’s haunting Samurai remake of the Shakespeare tragedy (1:30, 6:15), and Roman Polanski’s 1971 classic gory take on it in English (3:35, 8:20). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
Sun 11
Santa Skivvies Run @ The Lookout Third annual run around the Castro –in red swimwear, Santa hats and not much else– raises funds for the SF AIDS Foundation. Sign up in advance to get pledges or register the day-of. Top pledges get prizes. All participants who raise/donate the minimum get a Santa hat. It’s fun, it’s festive, it’s momentarily freezing. $35 minimum. 1pm. After-party back at The Lookout. 3600 Market St. at Noe. www.greaterthanone.org
Stacey Kent @ Venetian Room Bay Area Cabaret presents the Grammy Award-nominated jazz vocalist in her San Francisco debut. $40-$45. 5pm (sold out) & 7:30pm. Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. 392-4400. www.bayareacabaret.org
Sundance Saloon Holiday Ball @ Space 550 The LGBT country-western dance group hosts a holiday-themed party with two-
Exhibit of unique multimedia works depicting gay icons like Allen Ginsberg, Harvey Milk and Oscar Wilde. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Exhibit thru Jan 11. 5 Claude Lane near Bush St. 956-1310. www.5claudelane.com
California Dreaming @ Cont. Jewish Museum Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, an exhibit about the lives of historic Western American Jewish people, from Levi’s jeans and Ginsberg’s Howl to Gump’s and LGBT synagogues. Also, Houdini: Art and Magic. $5-$12. ThuTue 11am-5pm. 736 Mission St. at 3rd. 6557800. Thru Oct. 16, 2012. www.thecjm.org
Noir City Xmas @ Castro Theatre Second annual night of two noir-stained yule classics. Lady on a Train (7:30) and Christmas Holiday, with Gene Kelly as a psycho! (9:20) $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
Oakland East Bay Symphony @ Paramount
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence present the third annual “Fellini-esque” costume show and party with a steampunk-gothwhatever dress code. This year, recycled materials are used by local designers paired with Sisters. Jane Wiedlin of the Gogos, Mutha Chucka and Annie Danger provide catwalk commentary. Live music by Robot Bomb Shelter, DJed grooves Trevor Sigler, Bill Dupp and Sister Maudlin Mascara. $9-$20. 3pm-9pm. 314 11th St. www.thesisters.org www.beatboxsf.com
Brett Kaufamn @ 5 Claude Lane Gallery
AEF fundraiser, 6pm-9pm. Ducal Court Christmas party, 7pm-9pm and Dylish drag show at 10pm. 510 Larkin St. at Turk. 346-2025. www.decosf.com
The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts, an expansive exhibit showcasing textiles, jewels and items from the heyday of the early Indian empires. Also, Sanjay Patel’s Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches: Indian Avatars ; Tateuchi Thematic Gallery, 2nd floor, thru April 22. $7-$17. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Thu til 9pm. Thru April 8, 2012. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500.www.asianart.org
Project Nunway III @ Beatbox
Wed 14 >>
Hydrant @ Deco Lounge
Maharaja @ Asian Art Museum
Joan Baez guest-stars in this holiday concert, with several other East Bay choirs, plus Klezmer band Kugelplex, at the beautiful Art Deco theatre. $15-$40. 4pm. 2025 Broadway, Oakland. (800) 745-3000. www.oebs.org
Author Michelle Tea welcomes writers and performers Amra Brooks, Greg Youmans, Fauxnique and Priscilla Lee. Free. 6pm. Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin St. lower level. www.sfpl.org
Smuin Ballet @ Novellus Theater
Project Nunway at Beatbox. See Sun.
Mon 12 >>
David Simon @ Jewish Community Center MacArthur Fellow and writer for The Wire and Treme discusses his career with The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman. $10$25. 7pm. 3200 California St. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org
Russ Lorenson @ The Rrazz Room Crooner hosts the 6th annual jazzy Christmas in San Francisco show, with Tim Hockenberry, Veronica Klaus, Terry McLaughlin, Carly Ozard and other guests. $30. 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com
Monday Musicals @ The Edge ‘Stoli Superstar Edition;’ the renovated bar now features talented local singers each second Monday night. At the premiere event, LaToya London and Jason Brock perform at 9pm. Stoli drink specials, too. 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
Tue 13 >>
Balancing on the Mechitza Contributors @ Jewish Community Library Transgender in Jewish Community, a reading and conversation with editor Noach Dzmura and Chav Doherty, Martin Rawlings-Fein, Jhos Singer, and Max Stras-
Local dance company performs Michael Smuin’s whimsical Christmas Ballet , and works by Amy Seiwert and Robert Sund. $25-$62. Wed-Sat 8pm. Also 2pm Sat & Sun and 7pm Sun. Thru Dec 24. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 556-5000. www,smuinballet.org
Thu 15 >>
Francois Truffaut Films @ Castro Theatre The Soft Skin (3pm, 7pm) and Shoot the Piano Player (5:15, 9:15). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
The Jewish Nutcracker @ ODC Theater World Dance Fusion’s multi-genre ethnic dance revisioning of the Tchaikovsky ballet. $15-$25. 2pm & 6pm. Dec 18 2pm. 3153 17th St. www.odctheater.org
The Matter Within @ YBCA Fascinating new exhibit of contemporary Indian art; installations, sculptures and other media. Don’t miss Sunil Gupta’s alluring gay photo series Love, Undetectable and Sun City. Free-$12. Exhibit thru Jan 29. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org
Richard McKay @ GLBT History Museum Historian presents his essay, “Randy Shilts and the Creation of Patient Zero: Humanizing the AIDS Epidemic?” $5. 7pm. Also, see the exhibit with a wide array of rare historic items on display. New mini-exhibit focuses on the legacy of activist and performer Jose Sarria. Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org
Same-Sex Dancing @ Queer Ballroom Ongoing partner dance lessons and open dancing in a variety of styles- Argentine tango, Cha Cha, Rhumba and more; different each night. $5-$25 open dancing to $55 for private lessons. 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th. www.QueerBallroom.com
To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com. Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.
Kippy Marks at Bijou. See Sun.
For bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com
ebar.com
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30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
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Fashion forward by Donna Sachet
W
ho doesn’t love a great fashion show? Well, Fritz Lambandrake is determined to present monthly fashion shows featuring upcoming local talent at various downtown venues, as evidenced by his first effort last week at CounterPulse at 1310 Mission St. A gaggle of fashion groupies of all ages, genders, and looks impatiently gathered in a crowded hallway, where we ran into Anne Kronenberg representing the Harvey Milk Foundation, beneficiary of the event. Soon we were ushered into a stark, industrial space with a white central runway and rows of seats (were we in San Francisco, New York or Milan?), where light hors d’oeuvres were passed and cocktails were enjoyed. After a short introduction from our host, the lights dimmed, the music swelled, and towering models pranced out in the fashions of Victor Tung. Before the second half of the fashion show, Anne spoke passionately about the Harvey Milk she knew and how the Foundation was carrying his message forward, and a video introduced a major project of the SF Gay Men’s Chorus, inviting artists of all kinds to answer the question, “What do you want to say to Harvey?” Along with Eric Swenson, we had a great time soaking up the trends, learning about the cause, and gabbing with other fashion followers. Lu Conrad presented Opening Night of the 19th annual Songs of the Season benefit for AIDS Emergency Fund last Monday with a reception elegantly catered by Macadamia Events & Catering. The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko was packed to capacity as a spirited group of performers, including Dan O’Leary, Vicki Shepard, David Carver, Kelly Houston, Abigail Zsiga, and Sharon McNight, joined us in ushering in the holiday season, and Richard Sablatura received the prestigious Zachary Long
Steven Underhill
Donna Sachet is part of the scene before a fashion show benefiting the Harvey Milk Foundation at CounterPulse.
award. Among the audience were Russell Kassman, Chris Carnes, Les Natali, Larry Metzger, Ralph Hibbs & Hector Crawford, Mary Sager, Michelle Jester, Roberta Bobba, Charlotte Coleman, Jerry Goldstein & Tommy Taylor, Audrey Joseph, Werner Tillinger, and Susan Fahey. The following two nights, Napata Mero, Matt Lovell, Jason Brock, and Ed Morgan also performed, and attending were Brian Benamati & Tony Onorati, Jerry Coletti, Tom Horn, Michael Montoya & Kevin Shanahan, Morgan von Rueden, Sean Kline & Philip Beers, Roy Kaushik, Stu Smith, John Lipp, Terry & Ben Penn, Gordy Boe, Joe Mac, Dan
Joraanstad & Bob Hermann, Michael Murphy & Andy Schwartz, Joe Granese, Marlena, Robert Brandt, Jay Harcourt, and Joe Seiler & Ken Henderson. The months of preparation certainly paid off as smiles spread throughout the room and over $50,000 was raised for the AEF. The Holiday Hob Nob, created by the late Bella Farrow, was held Friday night at the sumptuous Fairmont Hotel, where several hundred guests were wined and dined and then asked to support St. Francis Hospital. The live auction, skillfully presented by Lenny Broberg, featured golf trips to Pebble Beach and the Augusta Masters, a city helicopter tour, and an elaborate wine package, raising thousands of dollars in a short time. See page 31 >>
Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Dec. 8: Daddy Thursdays at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). Shot & drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.
Exchange (220 Jones St.), for guys into spanking and spanking fantasies, a male-only event. 1-6 p.m. Go to: www.voy.com/201188/.
Thu., Dec. 8: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom). Show your undies for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com
Sun., Dec. 11: Jose Guevara presents Holiday Bizarre Bazaar at The Powerhouse. Buy, Barter, or Sell Kinky Arts & Crafts, Xmas Wreaths, Ornaments, Leather Goods, Pottery, Bake Sale, Naughty Santa. $5 or donate a can of food or toy. Hosted by SoMa Guardians. Go to: www.facebook.com/events/266428110074332/.
Fri., Dec. 9: Eclipse, Women & Trans Party, Holiday Un-Wrapping at the SF Citadel (1277 Mission). Women-centered party welcoming those who identify as women, transgender, genderqueer, gender fluid and other non-binary gender identities. 7 p.m.-12 a.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Fri., Dec. 9: Lick It Toy Drive Holiday Edition at The Powerhouse. Benefits Mama’s Toy Drive. 10 p.m.-close. $5. Go to: www.mamasfamily.org. Fri., Dec. 9: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom). 10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys, drink specials. Go to: www.trucksf.com Fri., Dec. 9: Cockstar at Kok Bar, hosted by DJ Gehno Sanchez. Sexy contests, cash prizes, Pin the Cock on the Star contest at Midnight. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Sat., Dec. 10: Everything Lucy Holiday Toy Drive at The Edge (4149 Collingwood). Benefits Mama’s Toy Drive. 4 p.m. No cover. Please bring a toy! Go to: www.mamasfamily.org.
Sun., Dec. 11: Night Cruise Sundays at Kok Bar. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Sun., Dec. 11: Castro Bear Presents Sunday Furry Sunday at 440 Castro. 4-10 p.m. Go to: www.castrobear.com. Mon., Dec. 12: Nasty at The Powerhouse, drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Tue., Dec. 13: 12-Step Kink Recovery Group at the SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Open to all kink-identified people in recovery. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Tue., Dec. 13: Queen Cougar facilitates Adult Erotic Spanking at the SF Citadel. Spanking is one of the oldest and most popular fetishes. Demonstration of sexy style and technique. Attendee participation is strongly encouraged! $20. Dress: Come at you like! 8 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.
Sat., Dec. 10: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef & Co. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.
Wed., Dec. 14: Golden Shower Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.
Sat., Dec. 10: Lady Thorn’s Community Exchange, aka SM Flea, at the SF Citadel. 12-4 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.
Wed., Dec. 14: Bear Bust Wednesdays at Kok Bar SF. $6 all you can drink Bud Light or Rolling Rock drafts. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.
Sat., Dec. 10: Boot Lickin’ at the Powerhouse. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.
Wed., Dec. 14: Nipple Play at The Powerhouse. Specials for shirtless guys. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.
Sat., Dec. 10: SF Men’s Spanking Party at the Power
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Karrnal >>
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31
Thrills between covers by John F. Karr
M
y gift-giving guide this year consists of two books that’ll fit budgets big and small. Both are pretty fuckin’ incredible. Small first. While I intend on writing further about Susie Bright’s memoir Big Sex, Little Death (Seal Press, hardbound, $24.95), I had to let you know about it now. It struck me deeply in so many ways. For one thing, she really means the title. She had big sex everywhere she went, all the time, didn’t seem to matter what gender the person was that she was doing it with. She practiced kissing with a girlfriend so she’d be ready when a guy wanted to date her, but neglected to stop at kissing. She and her girlfriend plowed right on. When a boyfriend came along, and for the rest of her life, Susie has been a non-discriminatory sexualist. It’s fascinating to read her feelings about all that, and how her attitude toward sex evolved over the years. It’s equally intense reading when she later, nearly accidentally, became a pornographer. She cultivated heretical, heroic, and hard-oninducing ideas about the medium. I’ll spend more time on those issues soon. She was at the center of the action in many places, but most especially right here, and she paints an intimate and lurid portrait of explosive San Francisco in the 1980s. Don’t miss carousing with Susie through the provocative political and sexual landscapes of her life. It’s been my pleasure to write about some impressive photography books this past year, but not one is as magnificent and important as the ultimate tribute to Colt founder and sole photographer The Jim French Diaries (Bruno Gmunder, hardbound). “Important?” I can hear you query. Well, deary, photographer Mark Henderson says it more succinctly in his preface than I could muster up, so listen to him. “Photographing male athletes and competitive bodybuilders as objects of sexual desire [was] a highly rarified, taboo subject. But not for Jim French, who helped pioneer the depiction of the fully sexualized and aroused male nude as a serious subject for photography, with both commercial and artistic implications.” Here I paraphrase, and throw in a bit of my own. In applying the sophisticated gloss of fashion photography to the experimental structure and composition of modern art photography, French brought physique photography from the somewhat campy but charming and relatively modest images of Bob Mizer and Bruce of LA to a level of refinement and artistry still
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influential today. Here is virility, writ big and rendered with sheen and glamour, as well as a daring that titillates on the simplest level, but on reflection reveals itself as a careful elaboration of the compositional framework. Like French’s whoppingly large models, The Jim French Diaries is a whopper of a book. For starters, its list price is a whopping $122.95 (although it can be found at nearly half that). Its 350 pages measure nearly a foot square. And let me tell you, if you’ve only seen some of these pics in Colt magazines, you haven’t really seen them. Because size matters. It’s clearly and page-after-page thrillingly evident in these large reproductions that French’s technique and aesthetic remain unparalleled. Local photo-fiend Bob Mainardi spent three years editing the photos and interviewing Mr. French. Transcripts are generously interspersed with photos, so what we get with the See All is a Tell All. French modestly recounts the biographical details of his life – particularly how he wandered into hardcore homosexual erotic photography, and how he practices it. He pays tribute to his mentors and his models, too – both the inspiring ones (there’s a whole section for Ledermeister) and the
naughty ones (there’s the dirt on Ray Dragon). French is circumspectly forthcoming with delightful dish about the eccentricities of men who model not merely their physique but their phallus. Try these tidbits: Mike Timber, afflicted with satyriasis. John Pruitt popped an erection on request, but Nick Chase, who wouldn’t allow himself to be photographed with an erection, just couldn’t get his to go down. And the reason French split from early partner Lou Thomas? “He had taken a lover who was irascible and difficult – and had two Great Danes that he rented out for parties.” I’m grateful Gmunder has included a model index. And the previously unpublished Polaroid of Wade Neff’s personally requested set-up has me quite lubricated.▼
On the Town
From page 30
Nob Hill swells and visiting partygoers enthusiastically danced into the night. Saturday night, we emceed the annual fundraiser for City Youth Now, which addresses the needs of young people coming out of the juvenile justice system and foster care. The Green Room of the War Memorial Building bustled with food, drink, and music, while across the hall, Frederica von Stade gave her farewell concert in Herbst Theatre. Holiday events and Steven Underhill celebrations continue. Vicki Shepard performs at the 19th annual Tomorrow night, Dec. 8, the SF Gay Men’s Chorus Songs of the Season benefit for AIDS Emergency presents Joyous, Jolly, Jingles! Fund at the Rrazz Room.
at Masonic Auditorium, with guest stars Melody Moore, Contra Costa Wind Symphony, and Velocity Bells. The same night, the skating rink in Union Square hosts Drag Queens on Ice, bound to be a hilarious sight for all. The SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band performs the crowd-pleasing Dance Along Nutcracker Sat. at 7 p.m. and Sun. at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Then on Sunday, head to Marlena’s in Hayes Valley, where thousands of holiday nutcrackers are beautifully displayed, and a special Christmas show at 6 p.m. features the Empresses of San Francisco. Don’t give up yet! There are still weeks of holiday events to come!▼
ebar.com
32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 8-14, 2011
<< TV
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I kissed a girl by Victoria A. Brownworth
T
PERSONAL TRAINER
here’s been a tempest in a teabag controversy slapping around on Facebook the past few days about Glee. We generally take social networking with a heaping teaspoon of suspension of disbelief, but since we are confirmed in our Gleekiness, we read, read some more, scoffed, then just got irate. We hate it when people talk about our favorite shows like experts when they clearly have never seen an episode, but heard through a friend of a friend of a friend that – Isn’t this how those urban legends about gerbils up the rectums of [insert closeted gay male celebrity here] got started? But back to Glee. As noted previously in this column, the queerest show on the tube not on Logo has moved our favorite bad girl, Santana (Naya Rivera), front-and-center this season. (That space previously having been shared by Rachel and Quinn in
the show’s two earlier seasons.) The controversy stems over last week’s episode. Santana’s lesbianism, which was exposed to the handful of people who didn’t know about it a few weeks ago, was the major storyline. All good, right? We thought so, but what do we know? We’ve just been watching the show since it started and actually know something about the characters. We thought it was a blissfully, wonderfully, dramatically and musically perfect episode. Every musical number was spectacular (after a few episodes lately where the music was iffy at best) and Santana’s rendition of k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” at episode’s end is something you will want to download pronto onto your music machinery to swoon over. Much as we love lang’s mellifluousness, Santana’s cover was just dreamy. For those who might have bought into the alleged anti-lesbian issues with the episode, we’ll provide a quick
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recap. Santana has been a Catch episodes at FOX.com. villain throughout her tenure Speaking of bullying, at McKinley High. She’s a bad Extreme Makeover: Home girl and a bully, and causes Edition took on the topic in trouble wherever she goes, a two-hour special on Dec. because she likes it. She’s a 2 (watch it at ABC.com). diva and a drama queen, as The crew remodeled the befits her status as co-captain home of the Walker family, of the cheerleading squad, the whose 11-year-old son Carl Cheerios. But when she met committed suicide in 2009 Brittany (Heather Morris), after being bullied. The she started to mellow. A lot. family has been lobbying for And she also started to come anti-bullying laws ever since to the realization of her own and have appeared on Ellen, lesbianism. Scenes of her among other shows. making out with Brittany We never understand in Season 2 are definitely how a network can get some YouTube faves. The point shows so right and others so where Brittany suggests wrong. ABC’s much-hyped Fox Broadcasting Company to Santana that they sing Work It debuts on Jan. 3. Be Melissa Etheridge’s “Come Naya Rivera as Santana in Glee. sure to miss it. ABC’s promo to My Window” for glee club describes the show as a “highis priceless. Except Santana concept comedy” about “two out of the house when Santana tells got scared. She wasn’t ready to take unrepentant guy’s guys who, unable her she’s a lesbian is cruel. her affair with Brittany from the to find work, dress as women to get Seriously? Because this smacks bedroom to the music room, fearing jobs as pharmaceutical reps. With of not knowing who the character ridicule and bullying because, well, unemployment an ongoing issue and of Santana is, what her relationship she’s a bully herself. So Brittany women now outnumbering men in with Brittany has and has not been, started seeing Artie (the boy in the the workforce, Work It follows two and what Santana’s been up against wheelchair). Santana pined. alpha males who realize the only for three seasons. She isn’t Kurt. Like many a pretty cheerleading way to beat the current ‘mancession’ She’s his opposite. It’s not degrading high school lesbian, Santana had tried and land a job in pharma sales is to lesbians, it’s a realistic portrayal several times (without success) to to pass themselves off as women. of what happens in high school. re-route her sexual interest to boys, Work It centers on Lee Standish Mean girls exist, and Santana is one. notably Puck and Finn. She even tried (Ben Koldyke), a likable family man She’s also a lesbian. That’s where the to break up Quinn and Sam, even who used to be a top car salesman dramatic conflict comes in, folks. though Quinn was her best friend. until he got laid off, and Angel Ortiz Because the bullied sometimes also But she knew she was really a lesbian, (Amaury Nolasco), a hot-headed bully. Much as we love her, Santana’s and somehow had to come to terms ladies’ man with no filter. They mean girl status is entrenched. She’s with it. quickly learn there are fundamental blackmailed half her compatriots, But unlike the sweet Brittany, differences in the worlds of men and dissed her best friend repeatedly, Santana doesn’t really know how to women that go beyond teetering in played with people emotionally and do nice or vulnerable. She’s spied for high heels and tightening up with sexually, and done the Evil Sue’s Sue (Jane Lynch), and at the end of Spanx.” bidding on more occasions than we last season, she blackmailed a closeted ABC reps also note, “Being a can count. She’s said vicious things jock, Dave, to get him to run with her better man sometimes means being to almost everyone, but especially to for prom king and queen, with the a better woman.” Really? In what other members of the original glee idea of winning Brittany’s heart. She parallel universe would that be true? group. And she is dishonest, not just did win Brittany over, and this season We’re not sure how this idea got to herself, but to everyone around her. Santana and Brittany have been an past the people on hallucinogens That said, we loved the scene where item. But because Brittany is a bit of who dreamed it up, but this show is an asshat jock tells Santana she just a flake, and Santana was still in the laughable. Not funny, just laughable. needs a good man to set her straight. closest, all has not been smooth. These guys are the worst drag queens Her girls, with Rachel in the lead, Mercedes started an off-shoot since Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie and come to the rescue, singing a fantastic choral group, the Troubletones, Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire, and rendition of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed and brought Santana with her, make those two look hyper-realistic. a Girl.” This followed a poignant who brought Brittany. But then That’s how unbelievable this shtick rendition of “Girls Just Wanna Have luring Santana back to the original is. Plus, Work It is so offensive on so Fun,” sung by Finn to Santana. group along with Brittany became many levels, we aren’t sure where to Despite all her bad-ass-ness, these important because, well, Nationals. start. girls love Santana and feel protective Sue got her to do some damage The reason the pharmaceutical of her. in the interim, and Santana’s vicious company is hiring women only bullying of the doltish Finn, which was That scene bolstered Santana’s (which would be illegal anyway) is really awful and ended in her slapping courage to tell her abuela she’s a because doctors apparently want to him, nearly got her suspended. It also lesbian. But her grandmother would “nail” women reps more. Ew. There resulted in Finn outing her in the have preferred she keep silent, telling are endless “tucking” jokes, because hallway when she pushed him over Angel gets constant erections while her “It’s selfish of you” to utter the the edge. He accused her of being a dressed as a woman. There are also secret aloud. Secrets and silence are coward and not being honest with racist jokes, like when Angel says, meant to be kept. Santana’s face herself or anyone else about being in “I’m Puerto Rican. I’d be great at shows how crushed she is. In her big love with Brittany. That conversation selling drugs.” There’s no one this coming out moment she wanted to be was overheard by another student, show doesn’t offend. We suggest the embraced and told she was still loved. whose uncle was running against Sue folks so hot to kvetch about Glee Instead her grandmother orders her for Congress. Which led to an ad in might want to check out Work It. It out of the house and tells her never which Santana was labeled a lesbian is definitely worthy of a Facebook to come back. At first Santana doesn’t and Sue was tainted by association. campaign. And a quick cancellation. believe her, but her grandmother says Sue apologized for Santana being Speaking of cancellations, we it repeatedly, until she leaves, in tears. so horribly labeled, but that is when are still fuming about All My We totally feel her pain. Children being off the air (taking everyone found out it was true. Seeing Santana out of her Cheerios with it the longest-running lesbian Santana watched the ad, began to cry uniform for the first time since prom, character on TV) and next month’s and noted, “My parents don’t even seeing how vulnerable she is in her cancellation of One Life to Live. Did know!” home environment, her hair no no one at ABC check what happened All of which culminated in last longer pulled back severely but softly to ratings on CBS after As the World week’s stupendous episode in which falling over her shoulders, her meanTurns was cancelled and replaced Santana realizes just how hard it is girl affect completely set aside, she’s a with The Talk? AMC was replaced to be out the way Kurt (Chris Colfer) real girl under all the costuming and by the execrable The Chew, with its is every day. We’ve wanted to see McKinley facade. It’s a deeply moving stereotypical flamer designer and a Santana in a larger role since Season scene. This is what LGBT teens are cast of other irritating cookers and 1. She’s one of the sexiest lesbian going through all over the country. eaters. OLTL will be replaced by The characters ever on the tube, and one While it’s great that Kurt’s father and Revolution, one more “make your life of the more complicated characters in brother are supportive of his ultrabetter” show. It’s about eating better, the Gleescape. Santana is now out and flaminess, that’s not the norm, and dressing better and having a better front-burner. It’s all good, right? we all know it or there wouldn’t be attitude. Because there isn’t another Not according to some, who (while an “It Gets Better” campaign because show like that on the tube, is there? clearly not ever having seen the every LGBT kid would feel safe and Like The Chew, The Revolution show) think Santana is being treated secure in their accepting and nonwill have a resident flamer, because badly by the “white heterosexual judgmental home. What Santana these shows must have a queen cisgendered male” establishment faces is much more common. Glee now. TR at least has a super flamer that is Glee, because we didn’t get to nailed it, proving yet again that it’s in Tim Gunn, on loan from Project see her come out to her family in a the most queer-friendly and accurate Runway. Can Gunn make this show positive way, Brittany doesn’t kiss her show on the tube. Gloria Estefan is wear better? That will take more enough like Blaine kisses Kurt, and slated to play Santana’s mother when than a nip and a tuck. Stay tuned.▼ Santana’s grandmother’s ordering her the new season starts next month.
▼
Read more online at www.ebar.com
December 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33
Music >>
Renaissance man by Tim Pfaff
I
f 2011 produces a less sensational but more satisfying release than Tomas Luis de Victoria: Sacred Works (Archiv), it’s hard to imagine what it would be. Issued on the 400th anniversary of the late-Renaissance Spanish composer’s death, this set arrives with none of the hoopla attending a “Victoria Year.” It’s not even targeted at us “completists,” since while Victoria wrote nothing but sacred music, the 10 discs of this set do not contain all of it. Its only extravagance is care. Recorded over several years in a variety of European venues, this unostentatiously rapturous music is performed by Michael Noone’s Ensemble Plus Ultra, a group of mostly British early music specialists, singers whose exact membership at any point depends on repertoire and performance site. Especially given that rotating membership, there’s an amazing consistency in standards of musical performance and ensemble sound, both of the highest order. The Ensemble performs the music – masses, motets, and Magnificats –
<<
Holiday books
From page 21
favorite “Swan,” graced a cover, and so did Princess Grace. Among stars who happily posed were Gene Tierney, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Candace Bergen, Catherine Deneuve, Shari Belafonte, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Julian Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Natalie Portman. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama showed that politicians were not above appearing fashionable. These covers vividly show how each era defined chic. Five beautifully reproduced ones, suitable for framing, are included. Noel Coward (1899-1973) was unique: a child actor who became a celebrated stage and movie star, and a successful director in both mediums; playwright (Private Lives, currently in a Broadway revival; Blithe Spirit); Oscar-nominated scenarist (In Which We Serve, 1942); and composer/lyricist (“Bittersweet,” “Mad About the Boy.”) For decades he symbolized elegant, urbane wit. He was discreetly gay – not out in public, but everyone in show business knew. He befriended Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Gertrude Lawrence, Elizabeth Taylor, among countless others. When Marlene Dietrich made her London nightclub debut, he wrote a special introduction for her that ended, “We would all enjoy/
<<
Chita Rivera
From page 21
knew what show would be a hit until it opened. West Side Story “On opening night in D.C., we had no idea what we had, but it blew the roof off the theatre. That’s when we realized it was something really special. ‘America’ stopped the show dead. We said to [director] Jerome Robbins, ‘What do we do now?’ He said, ‘Go downstairs, get ready for the next scene, and go on with the show!’ “Sitting in Leonard Bernstein’s apartment while he was teaching me the score to West Side Story, I was so nervous. I thought, ‘Please God, don’t let me throw up.’” Bye Bye Birdie “Dick Van Dyke and [director] Gower Champion were so wonderful. I first went in to read with my friend Tom Poston, and he thought the show was awful. ‘No one’s gonna wanna hear these kids on telephones.’ That shows you how much you know.
1592. If in some ways a less sophisticated work than the 1605 revision, the earlier Requiem is, Noone claims, “exceptionally beautiful,” and his singers make it one of the most emotionally affecting works in the set. To our ears, Renaissance music can sometimes seem as taxing as a Pierre Boulez score, yet it’s one of Victoria’s gifts that his music goes down easy. That’s not to slight its compositional sophistication; rather, it reflects the mysterious way Victoria combined the most advanced musical language of his time (learned mostly in Italy before King Phillip II – yes, the one Verdi portrays so compellingly in Don Carlos – called him back to his native Spain) with his truly singular directness of utterance. For me the highlight of this set, in which there is not a single slack moment, is the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae, Victoria’s setting of the lamentations of Jeremiah. A work of truly probing spirituality, it’s set to music of the
most plangent melismas and melting harmonies. Noone’s Ensemble earns its name, Plus Ultra, with its suave, perfectly balanced, penetrating rendition of this subtly, quietly elevating music. The compositions are not presented in chronological order (or any other that I can detect), which may lend the set its eerie sense of variety in music this consistent in quality and character. That said, the ear picks up what Noone observes in his note, namely, that in the later music, published after 1600, you hear Victoria stepping beyond his Renaissance roots to stand “at the
v vanguard of the latest stylistic t trends of the emergent Baroque.” T harmonic and contrapuntal The s stretches are as unmistakable as t they are unostentatious. It’s just my luck that Victoria’s m music reached me at a highly i impressionable young age and h never lost its hold on me. has L Living with this set has been one o the joys and consolations of of th last year, and I feel an almost this p personal debt to Noone and his e exemplary musicians for their unflagging dedication to this sublime repertoire, rendered at what is, for me at least, its purest and most searching. After the Jeremiah Lamentations just mentioned, it’s the motets – the form of Victoria’s first compositions and some of his greatest – that have affected me most. Victoria’s setting of “Super flumina Bablyonis” (“By the waters of Babylon”), with its lines that seem to ascend in overlapping waves, has pretty much daily been keeping my spirits afloat in Thailand’s seeming endless flooding. I’ll not stop listening anytime soon.▼
Seeing Helen of Troy/As a gay cabaret entertainer./But I doubt that she would/Be one quarter as good/As our lovely, legendary Marlene.” Samples of his writing and insights fill the pages of the superb Noel Coward Reader (Vintage, $18.95), with commentary by scholar Barry Day and a foreword by Sir Cameron MacIntosh. He was once the most famous lawyer in America. In Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned (Doubleday, $32.50), John A. Farrell explains why. Darrow (1857-1938) is best remembered for the Scopes Monkey Trial (1925), in which he defended John T. Scopes, accused of violating a Tennessee law by teaching the theory of evolution. Darrow’s opponent was three-time Presidential nominee and noted orator William Jennings Bryan. Scopes was convicted, but the verdict was overturned, and he was set free. Alarmingly, the issue has returned to the political arena. The year before, Darrow defended brilliant, psychopathic college students and lovers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, for their “thrill” murder of teenage Bobby Franks. In one of the first “Trials of the Century,” Darrow succeeded in getting his clients life
imprisonment, rather than death sentences. Both these cases have been dramatized: the former as Inherit the Wind (1955) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, filmed in 1960 with Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, and Gene Kelly playing characters based on Darrow, Bryan, and H. L. Mencken, respectively. The latter, Compulsion (1959), starred Orson Welles as an attorney inspired by Darrow, with Dean Stockwell and
B Bradford Dillman as the lovers. During her 1968-91 tenure aat The New Yorker, Pauline K Kael (1919-2001) was the most in influential and opinionated film ccritic in America. Brian Kellow’s su superb Pauline Kael: A Life in th the Dark (Viking, $27.95) is a b balanced, lively assessment of tthe woman whose controversial in insights continue generating h heated discussions. Born in P Petaluma, CA, Kael wrote blurbs f City Lights Bookstore in San for F Francisco, and ran a repertory film theatre in Berkeley, where i seems she saw every classic it H Hollywood and foreign film ever m made. She outraged many readers b damning The Sound of Music by (1965) and praising the thens shocking Last Tango in Paris (1972). Those interested in the a of criticism will also welcome art The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael, edited by Sanford Schwartz (Penguin, $40). In 1938, Clark Gable was elected “King of Hollywood,” and the title stuck. Few remember his Queen, however. She gets well-deserved recognition from Emily Lieder in Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood (U. of Calif. Press, $34.95). In the 1930s, Loy (190593) ranked just behind Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer and her life-long friend Joan Crawford in the MGM
hierarchy. She sometimes played exotics (The Mask of Fu Manchu (32), as his daughter) before finding stardom opposite William Powell in The Thin Man (34). As Dashiell Hammett’s Nick and Nora Charles, they captivated the country with their witty, martini-fueled banter. She personified the sophisticated American urban wife. She and Powell were teamed in and out of Thin Man sequels, and she was also paired successfully with Gable, Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, Cary Grant and Clifton Webb. Her popularity held until the early 50s, but celebrity and acting weren’t obsessions with her, as they were with Crawford. A liberal Democrat, she used her celebrity for political purposes, becoming a delegate to the United Nations and surviving the Hollywood Red Scare. In the 1960s, she headlined the Chicago production of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park opposite Crawford’s daughter Christina, whose lack of professionalism Loy wouldn’t tolerate. She later denounced Christina’s vicious Mommie Dearest and presided over New York and Hollywood memorials for her old friend. Despite consistently fine work for nearly four decades, Loy was never nominated for an Oscar, but in 1991 received an Honorary Academy Award, a belated tribute to a versatile and bright star.▼
“Being on the inside, you’re so busy working and trying to get it right, you don’t think about how it will play. But hearing that laughter from the audience was mind-blowing; you realize why you’re in the business.” Rivera chalks up her success to four elements, which she shares with aspiring young performers. “I’ve had the best company in the world, a lot of it is luck, you have to be ready to give it 200% – and believe in what you’re doing.” Sweet Charity “When I first saw the musical starring Gwen Verdon I fell in love with it, and with her. Then I played Charity in the national touring company, then I did the film with Shirley MacLaine. We were old friends; we’d studied together. Gwen was the first to breathe life into the character, so she really owned it. But Shirley was adorable.” The Rink What was it like to star opposite (insert gay gasp here) Liza Minnelli? “We’d always wanted to work together and play girlfriends. Fred Ebb and John Kander called
and said they had a new show, and would I star in it? I jokingly said, ‘Let me think about it.’ Then they said, ‘How would you like to work with Liza Minnelli?’ I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ “They said it’s about a mother and daughter. I said, ‘Who plays the mother?’” But her role as the mother opposite Liza Minnelli in The Rink earned Rivera her first of two Tony Awards. She would win again for Kiss of the Spider Woman. Chicago Rivera played Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon’s Roxie Hart in the original 1975 production. “Gwen was always one of the performers I looked up to, and one night I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m sharing the stage with Gwen Verdon!’ The two of us worked so well together; we were both of the same school, both workhorses, and the whole show had such style.” Twenty-two years later, director Rob Marshall cast Rivera in a cameo role (as a tough female prisoner) in the film version. “Rob was in the
chorus of The Rink, and he was determined to have me in the film. When I saw it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I look like Cher in drag!’ But I loved the movie, and Catherine ZetaJones was wonderful.” Rivera has since received the highest honors a performer can hope for. She was the first Latina to be a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2002, when a new generation of performers re-created her greatest numbers. “It reminded me of all the things I’ve done, and that I really represented all the dancers in the theatre. All those wonderful chorus kids came down and danced for me, and I jumped up and one of my diamond earrings popped off. I thought, ‘Oh my god – they’re not mine!’” She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. “You have to have humor in your life, and when someone tells you you’re getting the Medal of Freedom from Obama, I thought, ‘Why?’ Then I saw my whole family there and all these amazing people.
“There was an adorable Marine there, and I wondered, ‘What if he leaned in to me and said, ‘We’ve made a mistake.’ But the award is really saying thank you for being an example to young kids. “It really was breathtaking, especially since I’m from D.C. I looked down from the Oval Office window at the Washington Monument, and saw the lawn where I ran around as a kid.” Rivera jumped at the chance to narrate Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the San Francisco Symphony. “It’s another lovely stone in my brooch, another bright moment to give an audience some enjoyment. And San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the entire world, but you guys must hear that all the time.”▼
in editions Noone has painstakingly crafted from manuscript sources in libraries and monasteries throughout Europe, and i’s are dotted and t’s crossed about the music’s provenance. Yet what emerges is music of such freshness that there’s never a sense of correctness for its own sake or scholarly point-making. While there are certainly other things recordings can do – namely, preserving exemplary performances of individual works by front-ranking musicians – there’s a sense of this set’s carrying out one of recorded music’s higher purposes: creating access to music concert-goers are unlikely to hear live, and doing so in musical circumstances as close to ideal as possible. It is remarkable even for what it does not contain. After the Christmas motet “O magnum mysterium,” arguably the most famous of Victoria’s works is his Requiem, widely recorded in its revised 1605 version for six voices (the go-to recording of which is Paul McCreesh’s, also on Archiv). Seemingly for that reason, Noone’s set includes only the first, four-voice Missa pro defunctis, published in
San Francisco Symphony performs Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Chita Rivera. Sat., Dec. 10 at 1 & 4 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, SF. Tickets ($15-$57) at www. sfsymphony.org or (415) 864-6000.
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34 • Bay Area Reporter • December 8-14, 2011
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December 8-14, 2011 • Bay Area Reporter • 35
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