September 15, 2011 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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The Triple R rises again

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Dolores Park's personality

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''Mary Lou' plays the Castro

The

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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Pride ED departure uncertain

Vol. 41 • No. 37 • September 15-21, 2011

A somber remembrance

by Seth Hemmelgarn

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by Matthew S. Bajko

he head of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee told the Bay Area Reporter last weekend that his future with the organization isn’t settled.

He previously told the paper that there were no plans for him to stay with the nonprofit after his contract ends in December.

In August, Pride’s interim Executive Director Brendan Behan said, “No. Right now, the plan is no,” when asked whether he would stay past December. Behan has helped stabilize the organization, which has endured months of financial and leadership turmoil, and his departure could cause more hardship.

But at Pride’s annual general meeting Saturday, September 10, Behan said, “Nothing is definite at this point” in regards to his future with Pride.

He still wouldn’t say directly whether he wants to stay, though.

“I want to talk to the board about what

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See page 6 >>

Gay pioneer Arthur Evans dies

by Cynthia Laird

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ay pioneer, writer, and neighborhood activist Arthur Evans, who lived at the corner of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco since 1974, died Sunday, September 11 at his home. He was 68.

Naphtali Offen, a close friend of Mr. Evans and the executor of his estate, said that he suffered a heart attack around Rick Gerharter 4:30 a.m. Mr. Evans Arthur Evans See page 11 >>

Herrera criticized in housing fight

Steven Underhill

S

an Francisco Mayor Ed Lee spoke at a memorial marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Sunday, September 11 at Harvey Milk Plaza. The memorial, organized by freelance photographer Bill

Wilson, paid tribute to several LGBT victims of the attacks, including San Francisco Fog rugby player and public relations executive Mark Bingham and New York City Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge.

in 2010

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

he dispute over a controversial housing project for at-risk youth in the city’s Marina District has ensnared City Attorney Dennis Herrera, whose office has come under attack for allowing an appeal of the project to move forward.

Sponsors of the housing development, which is expected to benefit LGBT homeless youth and those aging Ashley Thompson out of the foster care system, sent out an City Attorney email Monday morning Dennis Herrera claiming Marina residents and Herrera “torpedo project.”

Their ire was due to five Marina and Cow Hollow neighborhood groups contesting the Planning Commission’s vote in July that the project did not require greater scrutiny under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Cow Hollow Association, acting on behalf of the quintet, requested a CEQA appeal Thursday, September 8, the night before a planned meeting with the project sponsors aimed at addressing lingering concerns about the development.

Despite claims from Community Housing Partnership and Larkin Street Youth Services, the two groups behind what is known as the Edward II project, that the CEQA appeal was three weeks late, on Friday Herrera’s office issued a memorandum stating that the neighborhood groups’ filing was “timely.”

Because the project was still under review by city leaders, Deputy City Attorney Marlena G. Byrne wrote in the September 9 memo that “the appeal is ripe for review.”

The decision meant that the Board of Supervisors, which was set to hear an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of a special use district for the housing project at its meeting Tuesday, could no longer take up the matter. The board’s land use committee did vote Monday to send the matter to the full board without making a recommendation on the issue. The supervisors are now expected to hear both appeals in early October.

The delay prompted consternation from leaders at the nonprofits, who criticized the neighbors for “an extremely bad faith move, behind our backs and with no advance notice” in the email. They also stated that they were “extremely disappointed” with Herrera.

“While the actions of a handful of neighbors and the city attorney are beyond disappointing, See page 13 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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Friends mourn gay SF man hit in crosswalk

by Seth Hemmelgarn

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riends are mourning a gay San Francisco man who died after being struck by an SUV while he was crossing a Duboce Triangle area street last week.

William “Bill” Cox, 59, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital after the Tuesday, September 6 incident. He died later in the day, according to police.

Officer Albie Esparza, a San Francisco Police Department spokesman, said the driver of a Ford SUV headed south on Noe Street was turning left onto 14th Street when he hit Cox, who was in the 14th Street crosswalk.

Esparza said the driver stopped after striking Cox, and hasn’t been cited or charged with anything, pending completion of the investigation. Esparza said he couldn’t share the driver’s name, since he wasn’t arrested.

Just before he was hit, Cox had visited with his friend David Douma, who lives near the intersection.

Douma, who said that Cox was gay, said that on most weekday mornings, Cox would walk from his Mission District apartment and hang out at a Peet’s coffeehouse, work on a crossword puzzle, and socialize.

Then, he would head to Douma’s apartment, where he’d help with housework or use the computer.

Last Tuesday, Cox had planned to help another friend and left Douma’s apartment before he finished his coffee. Douma said that Cox was hit sometime between 9 and 9:30 a.m. on his way to the N Judah Muni train. A police summary of the incident indicated it occurred at about 10:40 a.m.

‘A perfect gentleman’ Douma agreed with someone who he said referred to Cox as “a perfect gentleman.”

“That’s kind of what he was,” Douma said.

Courtesy David Douma and Claude Wynne

William “Bill” Cox

Joseph Liston, the friend whom Cox had planed to see last Tuesday, said he would most remember Cox’s “kindness and generosity.” Cox had been on his way to help Liston move furniture and other items at his home when he was hit.

Douma said Cox was “profoundly deaf,” but “he had a hearing device that allowed him to hear just about everything.” He added, “He wasn’t the kind of person to just step out into a crosswalk if it wasn’t safe.”

Douma said that he is worried about traffic in the neighborhood.

“This is all related to the ongoing and identified problems with pedestrian safety here ... that are not being addressed by the city at all,” Douma said.

Out gay Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose District 8 includes the area where Cox was hit, said he’s concerned about the stretch of 14th Street from Castro to Church streets.

He said it’s “a fast street” that’s commonly used by people traveling from the Buena Vista and Haight areas to Market Street.

“We need to take a look about how we slow down traffic on 14th Street, and what physical changes we might make, particularly at Noe

and Sanchez to improve visibility so people see pedestrians more readily, and just to have a better pedestrian experience,” Wiener said.

Wiener’s requested that the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency conduct an evaluation of that part of 14th Street “to see what changes may be appropriate and to see what the accident history is,” he said.

Wiener also said he’ll be meeting with neighborhood residents about “what they think might be appropriate in terms of traffic calming and pedestrian safety on that stretch.”

MTA spokesman Paul Rose said there are about 4,500 vehicles a day in the area where Cox was hit, but there’s only been one reported incident of a vehicle hitting a pedestrian there in the last five years.

He said the agency would work with the community and with Wiener’s office.

“Obviously, whenever there’s a major incident like this, we have to take a step back and see if there’s anything that can be done” to improve safety, Rose said.

Memorial In an email, Douma said Cox was an artist who produced a series of poster-size line-and-ink drawings and negative image renderings of San Francisco historic houses, churches, and other landmarks. He also said Cox was an active member of the Episcopal Church.

According to Douma, Cox is survived by brothers Clyde A. Cox and Darrel H. Cox, both of Hawaii, their families, numerous cousins, and friends. Cox’s brothers declined an interview request made through Douma.

A memorial celebration is being planned, and a page has been set up at www.claudesplace.com.

Witnesses to the incident are asked to contact police Inspector Clifford Cook of the hit and run unit at (415) 553-1641. The case number is 110 715 579.▼

Magazine seeks photos for ‘A Day with HIV in America’

by David Duran

and other non-AIDS illnesses like cancer and cardiovascular disease.”

I

n this year that marks the 30th anniversary of AIDS, a magazine aimed at those living with HIV is seeking photographs of people for its second annual “A Day with HIV in America.”

Positively Aware is inviting people across the country to snap a digital photo of themselves on Wednesday, September 21, as part of the project.

People can be with friends or family, at work or at play, or at any moment that helps the world better understand life with HIV. The stigma behind HIV has gotten much better than it used to be, mostly due to activism that has taken place since the early days, as well a lot of advances in treatment that have progressed over the years.

“But the stigma is still there, unfortunately, at times it’s just more subtle,” said Jeff Berry, editor of Positively Aware.

Approximately 50,000 new HIV infections are seen each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Berry feels it’s because people either don’t want to know their status, or are unaware of their status, or unaware of the risks or how to protect themselves or their partners,

Beginnings

Chris Knight

Positively Aware editor Jeff Berry

or at least reduce risk.

Many people are also afraid that treatments will cause side effects that will add to the stigma of living with HIV, but this is not necessarily the case anymore. The treatments are easier to take and not nearly as toxic as they used to be. Most people are living much longer, especially if diagnosed early and placed into treatment. But as Berry pointed out to the Bay Area Reporter, “It’s still a lifelong treatment, and it’s a huge commitment, and as people live longer we are now dealing with issues such as premature aging

In 1987 a group of 16 individuals were seeking support and information for people living with HIV, and only found organizations for people with AIDS. They decided to create the Test Positive Aware Network. TPAN is an HIV service organization located in Chicago that offers information, support, testing and referrals for people living with HIV and those at risk for HIV. TPAN also published the bi-monthly magazine Positively Aware, the leading nonprofit HIV treatment publication in the U.S., with a circulation of over 100,000.

Berry tested positive in 1989 and heard about TPAN at the clinic where he was receiving services. He began attending support groups, which later led to volunteering. He joined the staff full time in the fall of 1992.

He became editor of Positively Aware in 2005. Last year, a website promoting a simple but powerful project was created. A Day with HIV in America was founded with the simple idea of portraying a “day in the life” of HIV. “On one single day, September 21, people both HIV-positive and See page 12 >>

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

Volume 41, Number 37 September 15-21, 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 • Raymond Flournoy David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble 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

GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita DISPLAY ADVERTISING Colleen Small Scott Wazlowski CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING David McBrayer

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • events@ebar.com Advertising • advertising@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com A division of Benro Enterprises, Inc. © 2011 Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

Advertising rates available upon request.

Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

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ENDA is a jobs bill T

he U.S Census Bureau reported this week that poverty has reached a new high – 46.2 million people are living below the official poverty line – which indicates a distressed economy even though we are not officially in a recession.

Meanwhile, the fiery President Barack Obama, who delivered his much-touted jobs speech before a joint session of Congress last week, has once again receded into the background as it becomes clear Republicans won’t support a number of his proposals, including tax increases on the wealthy to pay for his $447 billion American Jobs Act. Obama was absolutely right when he said, “But the millions of Americans who are watching right now, they don’t care about politics. They have real-life concerns. Many have spent months looking for work.”

Yet Republican congressional leaders, fearful of the tea party politicians and activists, are unlikely to do much – if anything – to help move Obama’s plan forward.

That’s a shame, and they ought to pay for their inaction and inability to come up with their own jobs plan by next year’s election. But, as the president said this week in pushing for his plan, those who are unemployed don’t have 14 months to wait for something to happen.

The census bureau’s report is brutal, and illustrates what one economist is calling the “lost decade.” “We think of America as a place where every generation is doing better, but we’re looking at a period when the median family income is in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s,” Harvard University economist Lawrence Katz told the New York Times.

That poverty in the U.S has reached a 52year high also reveals, not surprisingly, that minorities are among the hardest hit, with blacks experiencing the highest poverty rate at 27 percent, up from 25 percent two years ago, the Times reported. High rates were also reported for Latinos and Asians.

What about LGBTs? While we are not specifically categorized in the census bureau’s

report, we have experienced joblessness right along with the rest of society. In fact, it has been well documented for years that the transgender community suffers from significant unemployment or underemployment even when the economy is good. But even now LGBT Americans are feeling the pinch, with many going more than a year without a steady job.

Despite these grim economic markers, the president missed a prime opportunity during his speech last week to call for passage of one piece of legislation that won’t cost millions of dollars: the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. While an inclusive ENDA won’t by itself create any jobs, it will help those LGBTs who have jobs to keep them as it would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

When Obama addressed Congress last week and kept imploring them to “pass this jobs bill – pass this jobs bill ...,” we kept saying to ourselves, “pass this employment non-discrimination bill

too,” because LGBT people can’t get jobs if they are discriminated against (as they are in 29 states, 38 for transgender people), and they can’t keep their jobs if an employer decides to fire someone because they are LGBT. Yet the Human Rights Campaign has not lobbied for ENDA as a jobs bill. In fact, we’re hard-pressed to recall any recent lobbying for ENDA by the country’s largest LGBT rights organization. And now that its president, Joe Solmonese, has announced his resignation, it’s unlikely HRC will step up and expend political capital for a bill it perceives as dead on arrival.

To us, however, it’s all about framing the issue.

And if HRC’s leadership would tailor the argument for ENDA to these tough economic times – a jobs bill without a million-dollar price tag – it could gain some traction on Capitol Hill.

American businesses are already prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race and a host of other categories, so it won’t increase their costs to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their list.

Lobby for ENDA now, HRC. Pass ENDA now, Congress.▼

Building strong LGBT elder communities

by Ray Rudolph

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here may be scores of reasons why it is indeed time both to cultivate a regional as well as a global climate that is supportive and responsive to the very notion of meeting the housing and health care needs of LGBT elders and to move forward with practical grassroots plans and policies that can accomplish the task of designing and building LGBT senior living communities and service networks.

On the LGBT Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, we established an Elders Workgroup last year and are continuing to actively pursue addressing the needs of our aging community.

For example, we hosted a panel on ageism, adultism, and intergenerational connections last fall. Another panel on LGBT elder issues is in the planning stages for January, to be held at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. We continue to work with other stakeholders, such as the San Francisco Commission on Aging and Adult Services, where we are seeking to establish a more permanent LGBT Advisory Committee specific to that group, and San Francisco-based Openhouse, that aggressively advocates for LGBT elders, because the dialogue must continue and we must all engage with it. The HRC LGBT Advisory Committee is currently preparing to begin recruitment for new members to continue on with the work next year, and all members of our community are encouraged to participate and learn more.

We all know that the general U.S. population is growing older, and many of the first boomers (1946-1964) are now in their 60s. LGBT baby boomers will soon reach a critical mass. The need for cost-effective building programs for LGBT elder housing communities and the need for affordable housing and health care will only grow more critical, too. If we set up the models for this now, we put in place a belief system that acknowledges LGBT elders, and from which we can only grow and learn and be enriched over time.

Focusing attention in the LGBT community on the needs of elders will help make the LGBT

community at large more intergenerational, by reaching out to and involving younger members of our communities – and that is a good and necessary thing. The kitchen table wisdom of passing stories down from generation to generation has always been an invaluable tool for creating LGBT identities.

Facilitating systems that keep LGBT elders visible, viable, and accessible will enable our stories to be passed down. This is not a little thing. Take away our stories and you take away our history and our hope. All LGBT baby boomers remember some feelings of isolation, confusion, even despair as youths, coming of age in a culture not nearly ready to acknowledge them. Coming out of the closet can be one of the most difficult, yet one of the most defining and positively affirming experiences, to many if not most LGBT people.

Aging LGBT men and women often fear discrimination and even abuse in mainstream health care facilities and may even have to go back into the closet; to hide and live in fear again. Why structure a community where you must return to the closet as an LGBT senior – where LGBT elders return to the shadows and are no longer fully integrated into the larger LGBT community? Everyone suffers if that happens.

The needs of LGBT elders are not being addressed or met by the general society or in the mainstream political arena. LGBT elders have specific housing and health care needs, and these could range from issues of trust with health care providers and landlords to lifestyle choices and accessing needed services. Many topics about aging, such as long-term care options, are still discussed in whispers or in private; the dialogue on ageism is not a favorite topic for anyone, LGBT or straight.

Even in these tight economic times, establishing models for building strong LGBT elder communities within our larger communities, and for acknowledging our elders, is critical. Just one example of how

a model program can have positive and lasting ramifications is evidenced in how San Francisco initiated health care models for AIDS prevention and treatment 30 years ago – these models have been studied and adopted by other cities across the country.

Attention to meeting the needs of LGBT elders, especially housing and health care, is the next logical step in creating our collective identities. LGBT baby boomers have much experience in creating things. We boomers created as we went along, fashioning ideologies and communities here and there, post-Stonewall (1969), and connecting them over time and distances. LGBT baby boomers literally created neighborhoods that served as safety zones in virtually all U.S. cities.

We conceptualized the LGBT press, newspapers and magazines. Circuit parties, LGBT cruises, LGBT businesses, fashion, music, movies and culture are all imagined efforts and products of the LGBT boomer generation. LGBT politics and literature were richly enhanced and highlighted by boomers too. Every LGBT generation has benefited from what baby boomers have planned for, hoped for, and devised.

All the progress and inroads made in establishing LGBT identities and communities, in essence, now ride on how we acknowledge and administer to the housing and healthcare needs of LGBT elders. It is the final imprint on a lasting LGBT participation and leadership in our society and our culture. If we don’t do this, who will? We should do this because we can do it. It is our duty. It should be our legacy.▼ Ray Rudolph is chair of the Elder Issues Subcommittee of the LGBT Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. He is also a volunteer for Openhouse. He is retired from UCSF, where he was graduate program director in medical sociology, and is a resident of San Francisco for over 35 years.

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Letters >>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Flag creator weighs in The rainbow flag that flies so proudly over Harvey Milk Plaza was my creation. It took me 10 years of work to get it there and was dedicated on November 7, 1997 to commemorate the election of Harvey Milk to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I share credit for this accomplishment with then-Mayor Willie Brown and Jeff Sheehy, then-president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.

This was never a community flagpole; it is there for one reason, to fly the rainbow flag. Now a blowhard bully with zero knowledge of the flag’s history is determined to wreck a landmark work of art by making it a turf war and a posthumous popularity contest. One day it’s Elizabeth Taylor the next day it’s Ruth Brinker, perfectly nice heroes, but the flag should not be lowered for them or anyone else. It is a beacon of hope and symbol of liberation that should always be flown full staff 24/7, 365.

The Merchants of Upper Market and Castro people started this craziness when they allowed the leather flag to be flown there during the Folsom Street Fair. Nothing against leather folk or their flag but it does not belong there, nor does any other flag.

Let the rainbow flag fly free and proud.

Gilbert Baker New York City

Nudists deserve thank you from gays In yet another political move to rally his conservative base, Supervisor Scott Wiener is attempting to legislate nudity in San Francisco. It would be nice to see Mr. Wiener do something to expand the rights of San Franciscans or help the most vulnerable among our citizens but he would rather put laws on our bodies, arrest homeless queer youth (sit/lie), and take away our rights to pass ballot initiatives (Prop E). What Wiener doesn’t understand is that nudists do a great service to our queer community. Their bravery to express themselves in their most vulnerable form makes it safer for all of us to express our own selves how we see fit. By engaging in the biggest societal taboo, they epitomize queer and sexual liberation. We owe them our admiration.

Mark Daniel Snyder San Francisco

Grateful no wars on U.S. soil As an American whose consciousness doesn’t end at American borders, the emotion that I feel strongest each September 11 is gratitude. I feel grateful that I live in one of the few countries that hasn’t experienced war by an invading army on our own soil. The 20th century

was an unending series of large-scale wars in nearly every country except ours. Every time the U.S. invades a country, Americans have no idea of the impact it has on those people. For one morning in 2001 we had an introduction. Considering U.S. foreign policy and our record of armed intervention around the world, I feel grateful that we haven’t reaped what we have sown.

Joe Kempkes Oakland, California

Rodeos are bad for animals Six years ago I was given a freelance assignment to write a story about the gay rodeo for the Bay Area Reporter. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to write a story for the gay newspaper of record. In doing research for the news story, I found out only a few mildly disturbing things in mainstream sources. But what I didn’t find information about was the “routine suffering” to which rodeo animals are subjected.

Since then I have adopted my first (second, third ... sixth) rescue animal, volunteered for the Oakland municipal shelter, and volunteered with Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, which is a nonprofit that cares for neglected and abused farm animals. Through talking with the people on the ground who work in animal rescue, and through doing my own research, I have learned about many things that are considered normal by many, but cause routine – and completely unnecessary – suffering to animals.

Ever wonder why the rodeo horses jump and kick to begin with? It’s not because they have “gone wild.” A strap is cinched around their midsection in such a way that the horse feels the need to jump and kick to get it off.

This isn’t your standard saddle belt, but a tightly cinched strap designed specifically to antagonize the horse and make him angry.

The next event? Baby cows are chased, teased, and harassed before being violently slammed to the ground.

All the while there is a circle of people jeering, taunting, and yelling at them. Chute dogging is another rodeo event, and involves wrestling an animal, twisting its neck, shoving it around and forcing it into submission.

Reminds me of high school.

Bullying animals to prove that we are tough? For a thrill? For a laugh? These are not the values I want to see perpetuated in my community. If you went to last weekend’s gay rodeo in the Bay Area, consider doing something different next year that will help animals rather than harm them. Visit an animal sanctuary such as Harvest Home, Animal Place, or Farm Sanctuary. All are just a short carpool away. See where compassion takes you.

Ian Elwood Oakland, California

Kors to receive TLC’s Ally Award compiled by Cynthia Laird

The board noted that if 2012 pledging is increased by $30,000 MCC-SF could be deficit-free by January.

The community is invited to the ceremony, which will feature MCC moderator the Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson and other special guests.

F

ormer Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors will receive the Transgender Law Center’s Ally Award at its ninth anniversary celebration Friday, September 16.

The benefit takes place at the EndUp, 401 6th Street (at Harrison).

A VIP reception will be held from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by the main event from 7 to 9.

Local celebrity and community activist Tita Aida returns as mistress of ceremonies. The party will feature music, dancing, food, and drinks.

Performers include Josh Klipp and the Klipptones and the Rice Rockettes.

TLC will recognize Alexandra Byerly and Dr. Nick Gorton with its Vanguard Award. Along with Kors, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund will receive an Ally Award.

Tickets are $150 (VIP), $100 (general), and $50 (low-income).

The event is for those 21 and older. For more information, visit www. transgenderlawcenter.org.

TLC is a civil rights organization advocating for the transgender community.

MCC-SF to hold groundbreaking for pathway Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its “Miracle on Eureka Street” brick pathway on Sunday, September 18 at 3 p.m. at the church, 150 Eureka Street in the Castro.

While church officials had hoped

Estate planning for singles and DPs

Rick Gerharter

Geoff Kors will be recognized by the Transgender Law Center with its Ally Award.

to have the bricks installed in time for this Sunday, they are continuing to work with the city to ensure that the path fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for public sidewalks.

According to the church’s newsletter, the brick campaign raised just over $63,000. That, coupled with increased giving by congregants, has resulted in the church’s finances stabilizing considerably. A majority of the funds will go toward covering the sidewalk replacement ($20,000), erasing outstanding bills ($20,000), and cover the cost of the church’s running shortfall through the end of the year ($10,000).

Hospice by the Bay and San Francisco attorney Deb Kinney will hold a free seminar on estate planning for singles and domestic partners Monday, September 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street. Kinney will offer information on how the latest estate planning regulations might affect people, as well as cover information on probate, trusts and trustees, and how charitable provisions can reduce estate and capital gains tax.

For more information and registration for this and other free seminars in Marin and Sonoma counties, visit www.hbtb.org and check out the upcoming events calendar or call (415) 526-5580.

Tenderloin Health to honor early AIDS activist Tenderloin Health will honor early AIDS activist Ernest Andrews, co-founder of the Third World AIDS Advocacy Task Force, at its Celebration of Community fundraiser Thursday, September 20. The event takes place from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Steet in San Francisco.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will also be recognized for their See page 12 >>

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<< Community News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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Trikone turns 25 T

rikone, an organization of LGBT people of South Asian descent, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a party September 10 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Dancing under blue light and enjoying themselves were Rusheel Curryous, front, and James Raven, left. The organization has taken on a more visible role in recent months, with members speaking out against antigay comments made by an Indian health minister and visiting the consulate in San Francisco to express their disappointment.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Former owner reopens Russian River Resort

by Lois Pearlman

L

ike renewing wedding vows – or maybe a recommitment ceremony – the Russian River Resort is reopening under autumn skies, with its old owner and manager, a new name, and optimism borrowed from past times when it was the center of gay tourism on the River in Guerneville.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Ray Allen, who owned the former Triple R, now called r3, during its heyday, from 1992 through 2005. “Every business we go in, we get applause.”

“People run up to us on the street to thank us,” added Jeff Bridges, who managed the resort when Allen first owned it and is back at the helm again.

The 23-room hotel, bar, and restaurant has been closed for a year, since Sterling Savings Bank of Spokane, Washington, foreclosed on former owner Ray Shahani, and padlocked the big front gate.

After the foreclosure it was listed by Keegan and Coppin in Santa Rosa

Lois Pearlman

Manager Jeff Bridges, left, and owner Ray Allen take a break from working on the Triple R in Guerneville, slated to reopen later this month as the r3.

for $1.25 million.

According to Allen, who has homes in both Palm Springs and Guerneville, several potential buyers had made offers since that time, but none of them were accepted. Allen was expecting escrow to close on his offer this week, but it was only a technicality, he said, and the resort is definitely back in his hands.

Allen said he sold the resort in 2005 because he was tired of living upstairs and working 24/7. But now, after a taste of retirement, he and his partner Paul McBride are finished remodeling their home and ready for a new adventure.

And “it was terrible having the place closed for a year,” he said.

On Monday, the place was a happy mess with furniture, bar utensils, pots and pans, bedding, everything piled all around, ready for the carpet cleaner and kitchen sanitizer to work their magic.

“We’ve happily put a lot of locals to work this week,” Allen said, adding that many of the workers will stay on as new employees.

Allen has hired an old friend,

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SF Pride

From page 1

our mutual plans are” as well as “our vision for our organization, and the role for each of us in getting the organization to the best place it can be,” he said.

Asked whether anyone’s asked him to stay, Behan said, “The board said they want to talk to me about the future.”

Asked whether there were any reason he wouldn’t want to stay, Behan said, “If I’m not going to be what this organization needs to move forward in the strongest and most advantageous way, then that would make sense as a reason.”

He said he doesn’t have a Plan B if

Patrick Helton, a retired chief steward for a government ship, to run the restaurant. It will offer American comfort food, including the fried chicken served at Molly Brown’s, a popular gay bar in Guerneville that closed several years ago.

“We have the recipe,” Bridges said.

In addition to dinner, the restaurant will feature Sunday brunch and “a good wine list,” Allen said.

He is also bringing back one of the most popular features of the Triple R, the piano bar, with pianist/ singer Momi Starr coming out of retirement in Hawaii to make a return appearance.

In the main bar, there will be a karaoke night “at least once a week,” a show tune night, and a video bar format featuring a “highly addictive” trivia game that pits bar patrons against each other, and players in other parts of the world. And there are plans to revive Comedy Night, with performers from the Bay Area and beyond.

Some new features that will bring the old resort into the technological age will include free Wi-Fi, and towers to boost cell phone transmission.

Meanwhile, the rest of the tourism community on the Russian River is thrilled that r3 is back in business.

“I’m elated,” said Michael Preaseau, who owns the Woods Resort less than half a block away. “It will bring more people to the river.

I think everybody’s business will go up.”

For the rest of the week, Allen and his crew will continue to work around the clock, with plans to open the rooms next weekend for the Jazz and Blues Festival. He expects to open the bar and restaurant October 1, serving only beer and wine during the week and a full bar on the weekend for the first couple of months. After that there will be a full bar every day.

This Friday the resort will be open for two hours for a cake and champagne party “for people in the neighborhood,” he said.▼

he doesn’t continue as executive director.

In an interview Tuesday, September 13, Behan said nothing’s changed since the last time he spoke with the B.A.R. about his job.

However, he said that during the August interview, “I had been trying to express that the status quo was that I was on a contract, and no decision had been made either one way or another.”

Board members who spoke with the B.A.R. on Saturday expressed strong support for Behan.

Pride board Chair Lisa Williams said that she “absolutely” wants Behan to stay, saying he’s got what it takes to be a “great” executive director for Pride.

See page 12 >>

▼

Politics>>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Dufty loses Alice endorsement fight

by Matthew S. Bajko

O

ut mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty failed in his attempt this week to win a first place endorsement from the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

Instead, the former supervisor ended up with the moderate political club’s second-place ranking as its members voted to give City Attorney Dennis Herrera the club’s first-place endorsement. Interim Mayor Ed Lee rounded out the club’s ranked-choice list in third place.

The vote Monday night September 12 upheld the recommendations from Alice’s political action committee, which last month narrowly voted in favor of Herrera over Dufty in the contentious fight for the club’s backing in the race.

But Dufty vowed to overturn the PAC decision and waged an intensely personal campaign to convince Alice members to vote for him. Over the weekend he sent out an email titled “Unbought and Unbossed” in which he harangued Herrera for not agreeing to seek a dual endorsement from the club and criticized Alice’s co-chairs for calling the PAC vote a “consensus decision” when it was split 25-23 in Herrera’s favor.

“This vote and conflict was unnecessary and should not have happened,” Dufty said of the PAC process. He added, “I wanted to avoid this fight hurting the club, and certainly this has been painful for me.”

An 18-year Alice member, Dufty argued that he not only has stood by the club’s candidates and causes, but as “the only viable, strong LGBT candidate for mayor” deserved its backing. He also signaled, though, that he faced an uphill battle as it is rare for Alice members to reject their PAC’s endorsement decisions.

“I can accept the possibility of losing this vote. What I won’t accept is a recommendation that reflects political pressure rather than my viability as an LGBT candidate fighting to break a barrier in our city’s political history,” wrote Dufty in his email.

During an editorial board meeting with the Bay Area Reporter, Herrera said he “would have been fine” with a dual endorsement but was informed

by Alice leaders “there was no provision for it.”

He also rejected the notion that he had caused strife within the club due to the endorsement fight.

“I don’t think I put the club through anything,” said Herrera. “I am going to compete like anyone else.”

On Tuesday Herrera wrote on his Facebook page that he is “honored to have the support of the oldest LGBT focused Democratic Club in the nation.”

Several Alice members involved in shaping this year’s endorsement process told the B.A.R. that the club had discussed earlier this year doing a dual endorsement in the mayor’s race. Ultimately, doing so was ruled out and club members adopted having a ranked-choice option.

Last year the club had suspended its bylaws to do a dual endorsement in the District 8 supervisor race. But supporting two candidates proved to be challenging in terms of allocating resources and members’ time, said several Alice members.

Club co-chair Reese Aaron Isbell added that the situation was unique due to the fact that the two endorsed candidates, Scott Wiener and Rebecca Prozan, had been past Alice

Steven Underhill

Mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty and his supporters were out in full force before the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club’s endorsement meeting Monday night.

co-chairs themselves.

“It was never a precedent-setting activity,” said Isbell, adding, “There is no provision in the bylaws for a dual or triple endorsement.”

As for complaints from Dufty’s camp that Alice was ignoring a gay candidate with a credible shot at becoming San Francisco’s first LGBT mayor, Isbell retorted that is not the case.

“We did endorse Bevan Dufty in the race. He did receive an endorsement for mayor last night as our second rank,” said Isbell. “Bevan Dufty, as an LGBT candidate for mayor, has our full support as the second ranked choice in our endorsement.”

When asked if there would be any bad blood between the club and Dufty stemming from the endorsement fight, Bentrish Satarzadeh, Alice’s other co-chair, said “absolutely not.”

She added that, “Bevan has been part of the Alice family a long time.

We support him, obviously, for mayor; we endorsed him as our second rank candidate. We will represent and fight for him as Alice has traditionally done for all of its endorsed candidates.”

As for Dufty, he told the B.A.R. that he has “no regrets” in waging a fight for the club’s nod.

“I am just moving on and campaigning,” he said. “I am fine. I am happy. I still have the second place endorsement.”

What impact, if any, his inability to sway the club’s endorsement vote will have on Dufty’s ability to connect with voters remains unclear. Former B.A.R. political editor Wayne Friday said it would negatively hurt Dufty’s campaign.

“It is a setback for him. He should have had that group,” said Friday, whose first choice in the race is Herrera and second is Dufty but has donated to both. “He just didn’t get his votes out. Herrera’s people got their people out.”

Democratic Party Chair Aaron Peskin said that one political club’s endorsement does not a winner make.

“If you want to win the mayor’s race, no one club makes or breaks it for you,” said Peskin.

Despite polls showing Lee leading the pack in the mayor’s race and Herrera a distant second, Peskin said it is still too early to call it a twoperson race.

“I think there are a number of top tier candidates who are still in the running,” he said. “I would say it is still a wide open race.”

And Dufty’s supporters argue that Alice’s snub for first choice does not signal a lack of support among the city’s larger LGBT community.

“The clubs are a different ball of wax

and it’s been packed. Unfortunately, it is not the community’s candidate,” said Dufty backer Joyce Newstat.

“Frankly, the endorsement process is seriously flawed.”

AIDS quilt creator backs Herrera Also throwing his support to Herrera is AIDS quilt founder Cleve Jones. A longtime LGBT activist and a current organizer with the hospitality industry union UNITE HERE, Jones officially endorsed Herrera for mayor this month.

“Dennis Herrera will be a mayor who fights for regular San Franciscans, not power brokers,” stated Jones, who lives in the Castro and was a confidante of the late Supervisor Harvey Milk. “He has been a committed and effective advocate for the LGBT movement and for working families. His See page 13 >>

ebar.com

<< Community News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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Dolores Park rehab

A park with personality

by Tony K. LeTigre

I

t is easy to see in Dolores Park a symbolic microcosm of San Francisco as a whole, with all the city’s history and diversity contained in one 14-acre space in the Mission District.

The way different demographic groups arrange themselves in seemingly arbitrary turfs makes a fascinating study.

“I actually have a friend who wrote her master’s thesis in sociology on that topic,” said San Francisco resident Catherine Cole, 30, an out lesbian. “It is fascinating, but I just want the best view with the most sun.”

A poster on Yahoo Answers humorously listed the park’s denizens: “Hippies, yuppies, families with kids, skaters, orators, green-smokers, gay

couples, Hispanic BBQ-ers, hipsters, jocks, drum-circle dancers.”

Dolores Park is now in the midst of a multi-million dollar renovation project that is being overseen by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.

Steve Cancian, facilitator for the project’s community workshops, told the Bay Area Reporter, “I’ve always thought of Dolores as the park that best represents San Francisco. Not just the traditional demographics, but people who enjoy all sorts of diverse activities right next door to each other. You take a few steps and you’re in another world. It’s just like in the city, where you walk one block and you’re in another neighborhood.”

Inevitably, the different groups occasionally clash, and never more so than now, with a major renovation of the park in progress in which some groups are bound to lose ground while others gain.

A blog post on SFist following the fourth community workshop at

Rick Gerharter

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department installed warning signs at Dolores Park, such as these at the 19th and Church Street entrance. The park is in the midst of a renovation project that will affect everything from dogs to kids to the Gay Beach.

the end of August seemed to stoke infighting with the headline, “New Dolores Park Plan Features Huge Kids’ Soccer Field, Slightly Smaller Gay Beach.”

Robert Brust, chair of nonprofit park advocacy group Dolores Park Works, offered his perspective.

“I don’t think the gays are going to lose a lot of space, except for where the super slide cuts into the hill,” he said. “The new design has it coming up the hill and it will sit on top of the terrace, which is the most obvious encroachment.”

The park is very popular, especially among residents and visitors-in-the-know rather than tourists.

“The crowd seems to be primarily San Francisco and Bay Area residents, although that may be changing,” Brust told the B.A.R. “The other day I was riding the J [Church] and there was a guy leading a tour group on the train.

He was telling them about the park and what a hip hangout it was.”

As parks go, Dolores is about as liberal and permissive as it gets.

But some say that permissiveness has gone too far and corrective measures are needed.

Lindsay Kefauver of nonprofit group Dolores Park Dogs, which organizes a park cleanup on the first Saturday of every month, expressed irritation at “Hipsters who leave their trash on the hill for the rest of us to pick up.”

In summer of 2010 Dolores Park Works organized a volunteer cleanup effort, installing garbage and recycling bins and portable toilets in the park. At the same time, new signs forbidding alcohol and smoking in the park appeared.

Former Dolores Park Works Chair Robert Lord posted a disclaimer on the organization’s website, denying responsibility for the signs, which were installed

by Rec and Park. “Casual daytime drinking and smoking has scant correlation to violent late-night crime,” Lord wrote. (A stabbing and robbery had occurred in the park a short while before.)

The park’s popularity is not universal even now, and at times in the past it has waned to the point of neglect.

Miguel Chavez, a bartender at the Hole in the Wall on Folsom Street, told the B.A.R., “I don’t hang out in Dolores Park, it’s too trendy.”

Another gay San Francisco resident, Daniel Ponce, avoids the park out of safety concerns.

“Over the years I’ve read too many stories – most in your very newspaper – concerning robberies and homophobic or gang-related violence occurring in its vicinity,” Ponce, 42, told the B.A.R.

Flashback: History in a nutshell The Spanish missionaries who built Mission Dolores in 1776 – putatively San Francisco’s oldest surviving structure – shared the land with its original occupants,

the Ohlone Indians. A Jewish congregation purchased the land on which Dolores Park now stands in 1861 and made it a cemetery.

In 1904 the city outlawed burials and purchased the land back (the Jewish remains were transferred to Colma), creating a municipal park for the first time, inspired by the contemporary city beautiful movement.

Then came the earthquake and fire of 1906, and Mission Park, as it was then known, became a refugee camp for hundreds of families made homeless by the disaster, as documented by a number of black and white photos from the period.

The J Church line started running in 1917. By 1929 the first playground was in use. Ramon Rodriguez was convicted of murdering a 16-yearold girl by the park bandstand (now the Clubhouse) in 1952, and there was a sensational murder trial. A 1964 photo shows a wading pool (where the playground is now, according to Kefauver).

Beatniks had made a big enough blip on the city’s radar by 1958 for Herb Caen to name them in the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Beats’ hippie progeny were right around the corner – countercultural forerunners of the trendy young people who today hold court on Hipster Hill. Parks like Dolores and the Golden Gate Panhandle were perfect platforms for sports events, rallies and protests, and performances by civic groups like the San Francisco Mime Troupe, which debuted The Dowry in 1963 in Golden Gate Park. By the mid1960s black civil rights activists, feminists, and anti-war protesters were all causing a scene and claiming their spot in the sun – and along came the gays and sat down beside them.

The gays got an excellent spot, at the southwest corner of the park near the outbound J Church stop: the hilltop roost known as Gay Beach, or alternatively as the Fruit Shelf, Fairy Prairie, and Queens Corner. As the crown of a park offering the best people-watching in the Bay Area (according to this year’s San Francisco BayList Awards), Gay Beach is a prime perch indeed, symbolizing the dramatic cultural ascension of a once-maligned, and still embattled, minority.

“Gay Beach is the best part of the park, in my opinion,” said Brust. “It gets the cool breezes, lots of sun, great views, and it’s reasonably safe.”

The park hasn’t always been a safe space for LGBTs to congregate, however. A “Dolores Park Timeline” available on the website Mission Multimedia refers to “homophobic violence” that impacted the park in 1980, when gays were moving en masse into the primarily Latino neighborhood.

That was one year after the first appearance of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, whose annual Easter celebration draws gays from all over.

Thus began one of the park’s dark See page 13 >>

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

<< The Sports Page

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

▼

A legacy in cleats

by Roger Brigham

T

en years ago this day I stood on a pair of crutches in the drizzle of a San Francisco playing field, watching men sloshing about in the muck as I thought about the final moments in the life of a man I had never met.

It had been four days since the jolt of 9/11, the plumes of smoke long dissipated into the clear blue sky of that Tuesday morning but the national wounds of anger, anguish, and numbness were still fresh and lingering; they even ache a decade later. The evening of 9/11 several friends had gathered in our home to talk about what it all meant, talk about our friends back east dealing with it all, and a day later we had attended an impromptu solemn ceremony on what was supposed to be a happy occasion: the promotion of our friend Becky Campbell to sergeant in the Oakland Police Department. But you didn’t laugh much that week and your voice, usually subdued, was more likely to be raised in anger than mirth, so we lit candles on the lawn and thought quiet thoughts and spoke of hope and courage and resolution.

But four days later on that Saturday the weight was still heavy in my heart and I felt a desperate need for some other connection. Never had I felt so cut off from lifelong friends in New York City, never so helpless. I wanted to punch holes in walls, I needed ...

I needed ... I needed to be around ... jocks. My people.

I needed a testosterone and adrenaline fix. I had started getting mysterious pains in my hips earlier that year, pains which nothing relieved, pain that deepened and worsened until I needed crutches to

walk. My hips had been subjected to X-rays and MRIs and thumping and poking until the verdict was finally rendered that I would have to have them both replaced with titanium rods.

It seemed a lifetime ago but it had only been a few weeks before that I was walking with relative ease at the Oakland Pride Festival with Eddie and our dog, Bessus. We were about ready to head home to get the dog out of the sun when a husky young man came running up to me in a Fog rugby jersey.

“Are you a rugby player?” he asked me.

Indeed, I was wearing a rugby jersey but, unlike so many wannabes, I had actually played rugby in my shirt. I told him I was and he asked me what position. Fullback.

That got him very excited. He had just switched positions to fullback and wanted advice on how to play it. So as we stood there, Bessus drooling and looking as chipper as he ever did and significant other getting the come-on stares he so often does from passersby, as I chatted about the times a fullback must peel off and charge the front, the times to deploy deep, and so on.

And that was how I met Derrick Mickle, a founder of San Francisco Fog Rugby, and learned about the club. And it was that chance encounter – that and the planes crashing in New York and Pennsylvania – that led me to the world of LGBT sports and extended my athletic life another decade.

So when post-9/11 Saturday rolled around, I packed up Eddie and the dog into the car and drove to a Fog rugby practice. The weather was cruddy, in other words perfect for rugby. We wandered over to the sidelines and watched.

Me watching. Not doing: watching. Which, as an athlete, really

gnawed at me.

In years past, I would have run out on the pitch and joined the action. Now I knew I could not run out there and be part of it all. And I thought about all of the tragedies and disasters I had covered as a news reporter and it slowly dawned on me that if I were in New York City right then, not only would I not be able to help with the rescue efforts, I would not even have been able to outrun the cloud that billowed out from the twin towers.

The day after 9/11, newspapers and TV stations ran extensive color coverage of the victims, including profiles of the families of people on United Flight 93. For Mark Bingham the San Francisco Chronicle noted merely that he had played on national championship rugby teams at UC Berkeley a decade before and had a mother. Period. Ten years of his life were not worth mentioning.

It was not until later in the week that the mainstream media began to tell the world more about Bingham: to tell the world as much about this out gay man’s life as they had already told about the heterosexual passengers with him on that fatal flight. Didn’t tell them until the sense of immediacy had diminished ever so much.

I had spent the week leaving messages with the papers and TV stations castigating them on their double standard of coverage. And when I saw a TV reporter on the field interviewing players, I hobbled up to her and read her the riot act once more.

“Now is the time to tell the story,” she said to me condescendingly.

“No, the same time as everyone else was the time,” I said. “That would have been the right time to let the world know that a gay man fought as a hero and others were willing to fight alongside him.”

In the anger and the drizzle, I fumed and I grieved, then I vowed that somehow and some way, I

Mark Bingham, right, shares a moment with his mother Alice Hoagland; Bingham died on 9/11 aboard Flight 93.

would play sports again.

Flash forward a decade and this is a different world in so many ways.

Bessus is gone but we have his great, great nephew, Heracles. I never have been able to run again but was able to trot my titanium replacement hips out onto the wrestling mats for a fair number of matches and have become immersed in volunteerism in LGBT sports. The Fog and the International Gay Rugby Association and Board launched the biennial Bingham Cup in 2002 to commemorate the fallen hero. I met his mother Alice Hoagland at that inaugural tournament and our paths have crossed periodically since as she has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights.

IGRAB has flourished and the Bingham Cup has become a major international event, with the next one scheduled for 2012 in Manchester.

The Fog still thrives and has a bold introductory statement on its Web site: “The San Francisco Fog RFC is committed to an ethic of inclusion.

The vision of the club is to be the preeminent rugby club in the world that actively pursues the participation of people of color, gay men, women, and other groups traditionally underrepresented in rugby.”

On the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 this year, the Fog players and friends gathered at the Lone Star

Saloon to watch the coverage of the rugby World Cup and remember Bingham. The highlight was a showing on the NBC broadcast before the U.S.-Ireland match of a moving and well-done video tribute to Bingham. The video is buried deep within the NBC Sports Web site but can be seen at www.universalsports. com/video/assetid=35e0f696-563d49b1-bfdc-c29248f9786b.html profile+hero+mark+bingham.

And the Fog has a video of the reading of an inspiring letter Bingham wrote to the club just weeks before his death upon the team’s acceptance into the Northern California Rugby Football Union.

It is a battle call for excellence and acceptance that goes to the heart and soul of what LGBT sports are all about. A determination to be second to none in competition and compassion.

That’s a call the Fog and other Bay Area LGBT clubs answer every time they practice and play. It’s a battle I am proud to be part of.

The video of the reading of Bingham’s letter may be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QLc8IagGk8.

More information about the Fog is available at http://www.sffog.org.

For information about other local LGBT teams, visit http://www. teamsf.ning.com.▼

Legal wrangling over DADT ahead of repeal taking effect

by Lisa Keen

T

he military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy will be off the books Tuesday, September 20, but there is still concern among some advocates that the removal of that specific law barring gays from serving openly in the military will not stop discrimination.

In a related matter, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, one of the primary organizations involved in fighting the ban, is warning active duty troops to be aware of rules affecting them if they choose to be openly gay in uniform.

And on the legal front, attorney Dan Woods, representing Log Cabin Republicans in its lawsuit against

DADT, reminded a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at a September 1 hearing that congressional repeal of DADT is not enough to end discrimination against gays in the military.

Woods noted that, before passage of DADT in 1993, there was a military regulation – not a federal law – that banned homosexuals from the military.

“That ban had existed for decades,” noted Woods.

And if the 9th Circuit panel does not affirm a district court decision finding DADT unconstitutional, said Woods, “the government will be completely unconstrained in its ability to again ban gay service in the military.”

Woods noted that, even though the repeal was passed by Congress last December, there is a new Congress now, and there has already been a House vote to de-fund implementation of DADT repeal.

There are “multiple candidates for president promising, as part of their campaign platforms, to repeal the repeal,” he said.

One member of the panel, Judge Barry Silverman, suggested the latter concern, about presidential candidates, seemed a bit “speculative.”

“Well, there’s an election next year,” responded Woods.

“Come back next year,” the judge shot back, with a barely stifled laugh.

“If any of these things come to pass, it’ll be a different story. But in the meantime, this is the situation we’re faced with.”

The situation is that the Department of Justice is urging the

Log Cabin attorney Dan Woods

federal appeals panel to declare the Log Cabin Republicans v. U.S. lawsuit moot. That lawsuit, which won a powerful decision from U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips last September, was largely responsible for prompting Congress to finally pass a bill repealing DADT in December.

Phillips had ordered the military to immediately stop enforcing DADT and, though the 9th Circuit put that order on hold pending appeal of the decision to the 9th Circuit, military officials began warning Congress that it seemed inevitable the courts would strike down the law. The military wanted a smooth transition to a DADT-free force, and Congress agreed.

Henry Whitaker, an attorney for the Department of Justice, urged the panel to declare the litigation moot. He said the government would submit a motion after September 20 to vacate the ruling and have the

case sent back to the district court for dismissal. He said that, if the 9th Circuit does affirm the lower court ruling, the government might even consider appealing it to the U.S. Supreme Court. And he stated several times that, until repeal takes effect, the government “is defending” DADT on its merits.

Woods said that, if the federal appeals panel agrees with the government and vacates the lower court decision, and then a new president or Congress reinstates the policy, “we’d have to start all over again to prove again that laws banning open gay servicemembers are unconstitutional. This case took seven years to get here today. And it would be inappropriate to have to have people go through that all over again.”

Woods also noted that affirming Phillips’s ruling would remedy “collateral consequences” caused by DADT. Among those concerns, he said, were loss of benefits under the G.I. bill and benefits from the Veterans Administration, inability to be buried in VA cemeteries, and a requirement that discharged servicemembers pay back their student loans.

The DOJ’s Whitaker said Log Cabin’s fear that a future Congress or president might re-enact DADT “does not pass the straight face test.” And, he added, individuals discharged under DADT could seek remedies to these collateral forms of discrimination through individual lawsuits.

Woods argued that it “ought not be necessary for every one of the thousands of people who have been See page 12 >>

▼

Obituaries >>

Father Dismas Corde-Dolorosa-Marie December 23, 1943 – August 16, 2011

Peaceful and surrounded by close friends and angels, Dismas left us quickly as he was “hurrying to Heaven.” A practicing ordained Orthodox Christian priest, skillful artist, lover of nature, gardener and true friend, he

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Arthur Evans

From page 1

had been diagnosed with a large aortic aneurysm in October 2010 and was not expected to live more than a few months, Offen said.

“He spent his last year pursuing his pleasures: translating ancient Greek, playing chess with his best friend, going to the Castro Theatre, dining out, writing letters to the editor, and visiting friends,” Offen said. “He remained chipper to the end.”

Mr. Evans was a complicated man, working for gay liberation in its earliest days, but supporting local quality of life measures to the consternation of progressives in his later years.

“It’s not hard to remember the Arthur Evans who embodied the defiant spirit of gay pride that was born at Stonewall (no, he wasn’t among the cast of thousands claiming to have been there). Or the tireless activist of the 1970s and 1980s, who shouted down homophobes and protested outside drug companies because of their price gouging of AIDS medications,” said longtime housing activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca. “Or the gentle man who did extensive research into faeries and gay male involvement in spiritual traditions in the west because he didn’t believe in the hyper-masculine Castro clone identity that so many gay men were drawn to during the disco era.”

But Avicolli Mecca and others opposed Mr. Evans on several local issues, including last year’s sit/lie ballot measure, which bans sitting or lying on city sidewalks during certain hours.

In recent years, Mr. Evans often clashed with progressive LGBTs. His support for the sit/ lie measure provoked intense criticism from many of the city’s self-styled progressives. To which, he replied: “Neighborhood safety is a progressive issue. How can we make the world a better place if we neglect improving our own neighborhoods?”

Avicolli Mecca, for one, broke with Mr. Evans on quality of life issues.

“Though in the last decade Arthur and I were on opposite sides of many issues, I never stopped respecting him for the work he did in the 1970s and 1980s to challenge the still-entrenched homophobia in this country. He remains a giant of gay liberation,” Avicolli Mecca said.

The Reverend Jim Mitulski, a former pastor at Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco in the Castro, also disagreed with Mr. Evans on the homeless issue.

“He was a complex and creative person,” Mitulski, now pastor at New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley, said. “As he aged he seemed to me to embrace positions that seemed counter to his early days as a social and political radical with deeply spiritual roots. Though I was puzzled and even disappointed by his apparent animosity toward the homeless, for example, I admire his contribution to our movement, especially during the early years.”

Joey Cain, who was a neighbor of Mr. Evans’s, said that for the last 15 years or so, Mr. Evans “wasn’t about

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

was loved by many people in various communities. He served God by helping others with cooking, sharing whatever he had, advocating for the vulnerable, giving spiritual counseling and celebration, creating beautiful icon paintings, and more. He cared for and was loved by many animals.

With him we laughed, debated, worked, worshiped, played, shared love, wonder, and pleasure.

For memorial information and anyone owning his art who is willing to lend it for a tribute art show, call (415) 759-5880.

rational dialogue.”

“I think he was very harmful in terms of politics in the HaightAshbury. He actively worked to defeat programs that helped kids.”

According to Cain, Mr. Evans was known as the “Ann Coulter of Haight Street,” in spite of his progressive roots and work with early gay activism.

“I did have an affection for Arthur,” Cain said, but the two usually avoided discussing political issues when they saw one another.

Early days In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr. Evans played a pivotal role in the newly emergent gay liberation movement in New York City.

A few weeks after the famous Stonewall Riot of June 1969 (which he missed), Evans and his lover, Arthur Bell, joined the Gay Liberation Front, a new group that proudly proclaimed itself to be gay, countercultural, and revolutionary.

A number of GLF members, including Mr. Evans, soon became dissatisfied with the organization, complaining that it lacked a coherent, ongoing program of street activism. At the suggestion of GLF member Jim Owles and Marty Robinson, about 12 people met in Bell’s Manhattan apartment on December 21, 1969, and founded the Gay Activists Alliance. Mr. Evans wrote the group’s statement of purpose and much of its constitution.

Through GAA, Robinson, Evans, and Owles developed the tactic of “zaps.” These were militant (but non-violent) faceto-face confrontations with persons in authority. Mr. Evans was often arrested in such actions, participating in disruptions of local business offices, political headquarters, local TV shows, and the Metropolitan Opera.

In November 1970, Robinson and Mr. Evans, along with Dick Leitsch of the Mattachine Society, appeared on the Dick Cavett Show.

They were among the first openly gay activists to be prominently featured as guests on a national TV program.

It was a big change from Mr. Evans’s earlier days in York, Pennsylvania, where he was born on October 12, 1942. His father worked most of his life on assembly lines, the last in a chain factory. His mother ran a small beauty shop out of a front room in the family house.

When Mr. Evans graduated from public high school in 1960, he received a four-year scholarship from the Glatfelter Paper Company in York County to study chemistry at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. While at Brown, Evans and several friends founded the Brown Freethinkers Society, describing themselves as “militant atheists” seeking to combat the harmful effects of organized religion.

The group picketed the weekly chapel convocation at Brown, then required of all students (even though Brown is a secular institution) and urged students to stand in silent protest during the compulsory prayer. National wire services picked up the story, which See page 13 >>

<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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SF Pride

From page 6

Board member Lou Fischer told the paper she’s “absolutely in favor” of Behan staying, too, but “I can’t say what his role will be.” She said she hadn’t yet discussed it with him, but possibilities could include him remaining on an interim basis.

“I want to see what he wants to do,” she said.

Behan said he’d be open to staying on as something other than executive director.

Daniel H. Ryan (a.k.a. Jokie X Wilson), 45, also said he wants Behan to remain with the organization.

Ryan, who’s been a voting member for about 12 years, quipped, “I think we should chain him to the office, with a comfortable cot.”

Theme selected Also at Saturday’s meeting, which was held at the W Hotel, Pride’s membership selected “Global Equality” as the theme for the 2012 event, which is set for June 23-24.

Behan wrote on Pride’s website that Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda and the Reverend Canon Albert Ogle of San Diego submitted the theme. Senyonjo has been visiting California to raise awareness of the plight of LGBTs in Uganda and other countries that criminalize homosexuality, according to Behan.

The theme will hopefully be more fortuitous than last year’s, which was “In Pride We Trust.”

Problems had already started to

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News Briefs

From page 5

activism around HIV/AIDS, as will Estela Garcia, executive director of Instituto Familiar de la Raza.

Tenderloin Health Executive Director David Fernandez praised the honorees, noting that they have all made “an enormous difference in our clients’ abilities to survive, to get the services they need, and to have dignity in their lives.”

The party will include a live performance by LaToya London, an American Idol finalist, along with a silent auction and raffle for a 2011 Vespa.

Tenderloin Health’s Pamela Fitzgerald said Monday that a special discounted ticket price of $100 would be offered to friends and supporters in the nonprofit sector. VIP tickets are $160 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at www.tlhealth.org.

Tenderloin Health’s mission is to improve the health and well-being

emerge for the Pride Committee when that slogan was chosen at the September 2010 annual general meeting. Community partners were complaining that they had been shortchanged for their work on last year’s festival. At the meeting, thenboard President Mikayla Connell announced the organization faced a deficit of about $99,000.

About a month after the “Trust” slogan was selected, Connell and Executive Director Amy Andre announced their resignations. In December, the city controller’s office revealed that Pride’s debt was $225,000.

Behan, who once served as Pride’s deputy director, rejoined the organization in April. Last Saturday, he told the crowd of about 60 people that it had been “a challenging year,” but it had also been one of the organization’s most successful years.

Among other items, last year’s community partners were all paid off before June’s events. Last month, Pride paid all the 2011 partners, who help put on the event, in full.

Almost $170,000 was distributed to those organizations.

At Saturday’s meeting, Treasurer Bill Hemenger said Pride would have a net surplus of $95,000 for the fiscal year that ends September 30, and that that figure would increase as the month draws to a close.

Behan was less optimistic.

Tuesday, he said, there would “certainly be a modest net profit for 2011.” However, “With some time to go, I would rather wait on finalizing the number until all our invoices are

of underserved, vulnerable, and poor and homeless residents living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS in the Tenderloin and surrounding areas of the city.

SFPD Pride Alliance to host candidates The San Francisco Police Officers’ Pride Alliance will host a meet and greet with candidates running for elected positions – mayor, district attorney, and sheriff – in the city in November.

The event takes place Thursday, September 22 at Trigger, 2344 Market Street in the Castro. Doors open at 6 p.m., the meet and greet starts at 7.

Pride Alliance officials invite everyone with a vested interest in the future of San Francisco to attend. There is no charge and hors d’oeuvres will be served. The Pride Alliance will also hold a silent auction.

The SFPD Pride Alliance represents openly LGBT employees of the Police Department. It is the next-to-

Jane Philomen Cleland

Pride interim Executive Director Brendan Behan counted ballots for the board vote as Ric Giardina, left, assisted and advisory committee member Joey Cain looked on.

in and settled,” he said.

Behan said that what remains of Pride’s debt for 2010 is $26,000 to the city’s Recreation and Park Department.

He said Saturday that the organization has about $77,000 in the bank. Pride’s budget this year has been $1.7 million.

Since last year’s meeting, several board members have left Pride, while Lou Fischer, Reggie Johnson, Bill Hemenger, Lord Martine, and Eric Rosswood have joined the oversight panel. All were elected Saturday to remain on the board, in addition to Williams, who joined in

2006. Incumbent Joshua Smith was not up for election and remains on the board. Davace Chin also was elected to the panel. He said he’s been involved with Pride work for years and he hopes to bring some longevity, stability, and experience to the board.

Mandatory entry fees?

Pride organizers have typically suggested donations for entry to the event – this year, they were asking for $5 – but for years, some have talked about the possibility of requiring payment to get in.

The idea came up again at

largest police organization in San Francisco, second only to the Police Officers’ Association. For more information, visit www.sfpopride.com.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), and Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro and surrounding areas.

SF HRC to hold hate crime forum

Road to AIDS 2012 town hall

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission will hold its September meeting in the Castro to discuss trends in hate crimes and anti-bullying efforts. The meeting will be held Thursday, September 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood Street.

Those expected to be in attendance include gay lawmakers state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco),

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Magazine

From page 2

negative, will take a photo to show the rest of us what it means to live in a world with HIV,” said Berry. “By creating a community of individuals, who all come together on this one, single day, we can help to tear away at the stigma of living with the virus.

And by so doing we can show that yes, we are all affected by HIV, but we’re also able to overcome the challenges it presents by joining forces and coming together.”

Locally San Francisco resident Jason Villalobos, who is gay and HIVpositive and has been featured in the Greater Than AIDS campaigns, plans

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DADT

From page 10

discharged under this law to have to do that.”

“If you vacate the judgment and take away the case,” added Woods, “the government is unconstrained and simply might do it again. History might repeat itself.”

Preparations For now, SLDN is trying to prepare gay and lesbian active duty service members for the historic change that is about to take place September 20.

That’s the date on which a 60-day review period will have ticked away

▼

Saturday’s meeting.

Hemenger, who spoke of increasing what the Pride Committee receives from corporate sponsors, also said people “have got to dig a little deeper” at the gates.

He said only 4 percent paid the $5 suggested donation.

After former board president and current community advisory board member Joey Cain asked Hemenger whether the board would rule out a mandatory admission fee, Hemenger said, “Honestly, in the financial situation we’re in, I wouldn’t take anything off the table right now.” He said even a $1 required entry fee could be helpful.

Most people that the B.A.R. asked about the idea of a mandatory fee, including other board members, expressed opposition.

In an interview Monday, September 12, openly gay Supervisor Scott Wiener said he didn’t want to pretend he’s a legal expert on the topic, but he said, “My understating is that you can’t charge a mandatory fee to enter public streets.” He also said, “I don’t want to increase barriers to Pride, so I’m not sold on that, but I’m of course willing to listen if someone wants to try to make the case to me.”▼

On the web Online content this week includes an article on the recent bisexual study. www.ebar.com.

The HIV Prevention Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health will hold a community town hall to solicit input leading up to next year’s XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. Road to AIDS 2012: An HIV/ AIDS Town Hall takes place Friday, September 30 at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. A reception will be held from 5 to 5:45 p.m. in the rotunda, followed by a community discussion from 6 to 9 in the North

Light Court.

Organizers said that anyone can stand up and speak their mind about battling HIV. The town hall is an opportunity for people to share their thoughts with federal, state, and local leaders on the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy that President Barack Obama unveiled last summer.

The town hall is the first of 15 scheduled for a nationwide Road to AIDS 2012 tour to ensure that community voices are heard in the development of a domestic platform for the AIDS conference.

The project is sponsored by a grant from the Merck Company Foundation.▼

to take part.

“I’m really excited for the opportunity to tell my story by way of a photograph because it gives me the opportunity to show the world a group of happy, healthy young men living with HIV in a way that isn’t lonely or depressing,” he said of his plans to gather with other young people for a group photo. “We’re sexy, hip, and we’re confident, attributes not normally associated with the disease.”

A Day with HIV in America’s website is full of tips, examples, and ideas for shooting a photo. Anyone can get involved by taking a picture on September 21 and submitting it online.

Berry suggests talking with friends and family for support and ideas. There is a Facebook page and the official Twitter hashtag will be #adwhiv. Selected photos will run in the November/December issue of Positively Aware, and all of the submitted photos will appear on the website. The photo essay will be showcased at the United States Conference on AIDS in Chicago in November. A music video, “I Will”

by Marshall Titus, which was directed by photographer/videographer John Gress, and inspired by A Day with HIV in America, has also been created.

For more information please visit www.adaywithhivinamerica.com.▼

following certification of military readiness to implement repeal and, not surprisingly, some organizations, including SLDN, plan to celebrate the end of the 18-year-old ban.

“Many service members want to attend these celebrations, and some might want to speak at them,” noted SLDN on its website, adding that “no special rules apply to attendance at or participation in such events.”

But SLDN did warn gay service members not to criticize their commanders – past or present – or elected officials, and not to urge defeat of any particular elected official or candidate. And the organization warned service members not to wear

their uniform to an event that is partisan in nature.

Locally, SLDN and gay veterans are planning two events in San Francisco on September 20. The first will be at 12:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue with members of the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion.

At 5:30 p.m. there will be a celebration at the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street. Both events are open to the public.

For more details on what’s allowed and disallowed for active duty service members in uniform, see www.

SLDN.org.▼

▼ <<

Community News >>

Political Notebook

From page 7

leadership as city attorney has been nationally recognized for excellence, integrity and professionalism. That’s exactly the kind of real leadership San Francisco needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century – to

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Herrera

From page 1

we are proud of the manner in which our staff, supporters, and youth have conducted themselves over the past two years,” stated Gail Gilman and Sherilyn Adams in the email.

Gilman is executive director of CHP, which is overseeing the housing project, while Adams is executive director at Larkin Street, which will be providing staffing and support services at the building. Once opened, it is expected to house up to 24 youth aged 18 to 24.

Herrera spokesman Matt Dorsey, who is now working full-time on his mayoral campaign, said the city attorney does not have the power to deny a CEQA appeal if city officials

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Dolores Park

From page 8

chapters.

“There was a time the park wasn’t used much, in the 1980s,” said Nancy Gonzalez Madynski of the nonprofit Friends of Dolores Park Playground.

“That was a time of much crime and drug-dealing.”

Brust said of this time, “It seemed people didn’t realize that it’s one of the great parks of the city.”

By 1993, when the first Dyke March kicked off in Dolores Park, it was clearly undergoing a renaissance. In 1998 the Mission Economic Development Agency created a survey for park users aimed at improving Dolores and other parks.

Ten years later, when voters passed the Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, Dolores’ brighter future was assured.

Community spirit and strife To date, four community workshops – not to mention countless committee and subcommittee meetings – have taken place, inviting public comment and participation in the matter of the Dolores Park Improvement Project.

“We’ve had at least 100 people

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Arthur Evans

From page 11

appeared in a local York newspaper.

As a result, the Glatfelter Paper Company informed Mr. Evans that his scholarship would be canceled.

For help, Mr. Evans turned to Joseph Lewis, the elderly millionaire who headed the national Freethinkers Society. Lewis threatened the paper company with a highly publicized lawsuit if the scholarship were revoked. The company relented, the scholarship continued, and Mr. Evans changed his major from chemistry to political science.

Gay life In 1963 Mr. Evans discovered gay life in Greenwich Village and in 1964 became lovers with Bell. In 1966 he was admitted to City College of New York. He participated in his first sitin on May 13, 1966, when a group of students occupied the administration building of City College in protest against the college’s involvement in the Selective Service System. A picture of the students, including Mr. Evans, appeared the next day on the front page of the New York Times.

In 1967, after graduating with a B.A. degree from City College, Mr. Evans was admitted into the doctoral program in philosophy at Columbia University, specializing in ancient

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

create jobs, to protect working people, and to advance civil rights for all San Franciscans.”

He is the latest person with ties to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind the federal lawsuit against Proposition 8, California’s ban against same-sex marriage, to endorse Herrera. Like

Jones, who sits on AFER’s advisory board, the group’s co-founder Rob Reiner is also supporting Herrera for mayor.

The actor, best known for his role as Meathead on the 1970s CBS sitcom All in the Family, sent out a fundraising appeal in late August on Herrera’s behalf. Fellow AFER board

members Dustin Lance Black and Bruce Cohen, the screenwriter and a producer, respectively, of the Milk biopic, have also raised money for Herrera’s mayoral bid having gotten to know him through the legal battle over Prop 8.

As with the Alice Club, though, AFER’s leaders are also divided

between Herrera and Dufty in the mayoral race. Another AFER advisory member, Stuart Milk, the openly gay nephew of Harvey Milk, has been a vocal supporter of Dufty. And Black has said Dufty would be his second choice in the race.▼

are still considering the project.

“Under CEQA, as long as the project is under discretionary review, people have the right to file an appeal,” said Dorsey.

He added that Herrera is supportive of the project overall but also believes the neighbor’s have “legitimate concerns” that should be addressed.

“The reality of San Francisco is that project sponsors and neighbors often disagree. But even when the planning process is contentious, it usually ultimately delivers a better project for everyone,” said Dorsey. “So it is important to respect the process and the law requires it.”

Cow Hollow Association President Lori Brooke told the Bay Area Reporter this week that she believes the appeals have led to changes that

not only address residents’ objections but will benefit the youth who will be housed in the building, a former bed and breakfast on Lombard Street.

“I think we have improved the project for the youth,” said Brooke, adding that she believes the young adults “will be fine” residents once they move into the area.

The two sides have continued to try to negotiate a compromise to avoid legal action against the project and lead to final sign off by the supervisors. Over the weekend the project sponsors agreed to several conditions they have outlined in a memorandum of understanding.

The list includes reducing the number of monthly overnight guests from 14 to 10; more handicap accessible units; increased staffing;

and expanded community space in the basement level. They also plan to convene a community advisory committee for at least two years that will help oversee the building operations.

CHP and Larkin have asked the neighborhood groups to sign on to the MOU and withdraw their appeals of the project by 5 p.m. Monday, September 19.

“Based on the meetings we had with them, I think that there is a 75 percent chance they will be able to come to the table,” said Gilman. “The challenge they have is their representatives have to get their constituencies on board.”

Asked if the five Marina groups would meet the deadline, Brooke declined to say so affirmatively, as each board needs to review the agreement

and vote on it individually.

“I can’t say. There are too many moving parts,” she said.

As for the attacks against Herrera, who is in the midst of a mayoral campaign, Gilman maintained they are not politically motivated.

“We just have a difference in opinion with City Attorney Herrera,” she said. “We would have raised the same concerns regardless of the mayor’s race.”

Allowing the CEQA appeal to move forward creates more delay and more work for the city to defend the development, said Gilman, as the Mayor’s Office of Housing supports the project.

“We needed to explain that to our supporters,” said Gilman when asked about the tone of the email.▼

sign in for each of the workshops,” said Cancian. “Originally the August 25 meeting was going to be the last, but we’re extending it for two more now. People aren’t accepting the first answer, they’re saying, ‘No, that’s not good enough for this park.’ And I think that’s great.”

Kefauver, who has a long history working with Rec and Park on various projects, described the department as “reactionary, inflexible in certain areas, schooled in the 1950s and 1960s,” but added, “I have to give them credit for really making an effort this time to be more modern and do outreach to the community.”

Kefauver praised Cancian for his deft facilitation. “The meetings have been enjoyable, and that never happens. They’ve been highly organized throughout, very well run. Steve knows how to win over a crowd, and he has some tough people to deal with.”

Madynski said she valued the fact that anyone could have a say in the plans, although some suggestions were outrageous. “We had one person say, ‘Why don’t we charge people to come to the park?’” she recalled.

Still, some remain unsatisfied.

“In the first few meetings, there

was a lot of public interest in preserving the existing character of the park,” said steering committee member and gay Castro resident Harry Clark, 58. “But now, having overlaid all the requirements

by Rec and Park and ADA and maintenance, our concerns have been placed on the back burner.”

Clark was referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements that have resulted in a wide central road planned for the park (see www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=6030).

Cancian denied that anything was strong-armed into the design.

“The park needs to be accessible, which it never has been, except where it meets the street level,” Cancian said. “And it needs to be maintained. But we didn’t start with a design and then ask for public input. We didn’t draw anything until the third workshop, and every part of the design has been open to community discussion.”

Cancian added that nothing so far – including the proposal to combine the universal access path with the maintenance road as one 12-foot-wide central road – is set in stone, and anyone can attend the next meeting and have their say.

Brust told the B.A.R. he hadn’t

seen a strong LGBT presence at the community meetings so far.

But Cancian indicated the LGBT presence was distributed throughout the group rather than concentrated in one phalanx. There are, after all, gays who own and love dogs, gay couples who raise children, gay hipsters, gay tennis players (they are involved on the project’s tennis committee).

One item of interest to the boys of Gay Beach, is the proposal to install a pissoir – “a tastefully designed outdoor urinal,” in Cancian’s words – on the Southwest ridge, in addition to the two new bathrooms that will grace the tennis courts and playground.

“Our intention was to have enough restrooms in the park that on a sunny weekend day we wouldn’t need Porta-Potties, except during the huge events, like Easter with the Sisters,” Cancian clarified.

“It made sense to place them on opposite ends of the park. But when you try to be equal, the reality you wind up with is an unfairly long line for the women’s restroom. The same thing goes for an area like Gay Beach where beer-drinking is common.”

Kefauver said one of the park’s two off-leash dog areas – on the north side of the park between Hip-

ster Hill and the old soccer field – is currently “up for grabs,” since other groups are vying for the space. She expressed hope that people would attend the next meeting and voice support for keeping the second offleash area.

Madynski was optimistic that differences could be worked out.

“If everyone in the park can get along and co-exist side by side, then everyone at the meetings can get along too,” she said. “It takes magic to make that happen, but I believe in magic, and Dolores Park definitely has it.”▼

Greek philosophy. His doctoral adviser was Paul Oskar Kristeller, then the world’s leading authority on Renaissance humanist philosophy.

Mr. Evans participated in many anti-war protests during these years, including the celebrated upheaval at Columbia in the spring of 1968. In the same year he also participated in the protests at the Democratic convention in Chicago. During this time, the poetry of Allen Ginsberg had a powerful influence on the formation of his values. While at Columbia, Mr. Evans joined the Student Homophile League, founded

by Nino Romano, although he was still closeted.

In 1971 Mr. Evans and Bell, by then a columnist for the Village Voice, separated. Bell later died from diabetic complications in 1984.

By the end of 1971, Mr. Evans had become alienated from urban life and the academic world. With a second lover, Jacob Schraeter, he left New York in April 1972 to seek a new, countercultural existence in the countryside.

Using Seattle as a base, Mr. Evans, Schraeter, and a third gay man formed a group called the Weird Sisters Partnership.

In 1973 he began publishing some of his findings in a gay journal called Out and later in Fag Rag. He also wrote a column on the political

strategy of zapping for the Advocate, a national gay newspaper.

his friend Offen opened a small Volkswagen-repair business, which they named The Buggery.

In the late 1970s, Mr. Evans became upset at the pattern of butch conformity that was then overtaking gay men in the Castro. Adopting the nom de plume of “The Red Queen,” he distributed a series of controversial satirical leaflets on the subject. In a leaflet of 1978, entitled “Afraid You’re Not Butch Enough?” he facetiously referred to the new, butch-conforming men of the Castro as clones, initiating use of the now widely used term “Castro clones.”

In 1984 Mr. Evans directed a production at the Valencia Rose Cabaret in San Francisco of his own new translation, from the ancient Greek, of Euripides’s play Bakkhai. The hero of Euripides’s play is the Greek god Dionysos, the patron of homosexuality. In 1988, this translation, together with Mr. Evans’s commentary on the historical significance of the play, was published by St. Martin’s Press in New York under the name of The God of Ecstasy.

As AIDS began to spread in the 1980s, Mr. Evans became active in several San Francisco groups that later morphed in ACT UP/ SF, although he himself was HIVnegative. With his good friend, the late Hank Wilson, he was arrested

San Francisco In 1974, Mr. Evans and Schraeter moved into an apartment at the corner of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco. Schraeter returned to New York in 1981 and died from AIDS in 1989.

In the fall of 1975, Mr. Evans formed a new pagan-inspired spiritual group in San Francisco, the Faery Circle. It combined countercultural consciousness, gay sensibility, and ceremonial playfulness.

In 1976 he gave a series of public lectures, entitled “Faeries,” on his research on the historical origins of the gay counterculture. In 1978 he published this material in his groundbreaking book Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture. It demonstrated that many of the people accused of “witchcraft” and “heresy” in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were actually persecuted because of their sexuality and adherence to ancient pagan practices.

Cain said the book “was incredibly influential.”

At this time, Mr. Evans also was active in Bay Area Gay Liberation and the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, which later became the vehicle through which Harvey Milk rose to political prominence. He and

A longer version is online at ebar.com.

The next community workshop for the Dolores Park Rehabilitation Plan is scheduled for Thursday, October 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Mission High School, 3750 18th Street. To check the project’s status, or submit comments online visit sfrecpark.org/doloresParkProjectPage.aspx.

Correction In the September 8 article, “Dolores enters rehab, gets makeover,” the given name of Robert Brust was incorrect.

The online version has been updated.

twice while demonstrating against the drug-maker BurroughsWellcome, accusing it of pricegouging, and once against a local TV station, charging it with defamation of people with AIDS. In 1988, Mr. Evans began work on a nine-year project on philosophy.

Thanks to a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, it was published in 1997 as Critique of Patriarchal Reason and included artwork by San Francisco artist Frank Pietronigro.

The book is a monumental overview of Western philosophy from antiquity to the present.

It shows how misogyny and homophobia have influenced the supposedly objective fields of formal logic, higher mathematics, and physical science. Kristeller, Mr. Evans’s former doctoral adviser at Columbia University, called the work “a major contribution to the study of philosophy and its history.”

Mr. Evans is survived by his brother Joe Evans of Durand, Michigan, his best friend Offen, and a host of longtime friends. A memorial service is being planned for mid-October.

For details contact Offen at lamda23@yahoo.com.▼ Mr. Evans wrote his own obituary prior to his death, much of which has been included in this article.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 • Bay Area Reporter • September 15-21, 2011

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SEPT15,22,29,oct.6,2011 statement file A-033807000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ZHANG’S MOVING CO.,1671 40TH Ave., SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Andy Zhang.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 09/07/11.

SEPT15,22,29,oct.6,2011 statement file A-033813600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LEE PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES,582 Market St.,Suite 708, SF,CA 94104.This business is conducted by an individual, signed William.Lee. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/09/11.

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This business is conducted by an individual, signed Rebekeah Kouy-Ghadosh.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/07/11.

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Fax Infrom: the matter of the application of AMY RAPHAEL E34

HANSEN for change of name. The application of AMY RAPHAEL HANSEN for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that AMY RAPHAEL HANSEN filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to AMY RAPHAEL CORSO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 218 on the 3rd of November, 2011 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEPT15,22,29,oct.6,2011

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Legal Notices>> nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN for change in ownership of AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGE License To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : CJQUAN LLC. 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 5716 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94121-2112. Type of license applied for:

41- On-sale Beer and wineEating place sept. 15,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : MISSION BOWLING CLUB LLC. 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 3176 17th St., San Francisco, CA 94110-1331. Type of license applied for:

47- On-sale general - Eating place SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033766200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE UNLUCKY RABBIT, 575 Cole St.,Apt. 208,SF, CA 94117.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Ryan Garwin & Jacqueline Supman.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 08/17/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033765000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BEYOND MEDICINE,2037 Irving St.,# 212,SF, CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Frederick Lee.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/17/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033767300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as IRVING TRADING CO.,1409 Irving St., SF, CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Sonny K. TAM.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033758000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as STYLEXCLUSIVE,4287 26th St., SF, CA 94131.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Jaya Gali.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 08/15/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033770400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LA BOULANGE De CALIFORNIA,465 California St., SF, CA 94104.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jean-Pierre Lachance.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033770500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LA BOULANGE De SUTTER,222 Sutter St., SF, CA 94108.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jean-Pierre Lachance.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033775200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE LARGO GROUP,55 Madrone Ave., SF, CA 94127.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Ryan Largo.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/20/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/22/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033755200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAMPUS,2241 Chestnut St., SF, CA 94123.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Richard Howard.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 08/12/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : DOUBLE RAINBOW LLC. 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 398 12th St., San Francisco, CA 94103. Type of license applied for:

48- On-sale general public premises sept. 08,15,22,2011

nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : INDIGO PIE LLC. 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 687-689 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102-3111.

Type of license applied for:

47- On-sale general eating place sept. 08,15,22,2011 statement file A-033779200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as AMERICAN EAGLE CONSULTING & BOOKKEEPING, 22 Battery St., Suite 202, SF, CA 94111.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Dale RJ Peronteau.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 08/24/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033777200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as K.O. KOMBO,2110 Irving St., SF, CA 94122.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Barry Yeung.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033741600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MYER’S HAULING, 1951 Oak St., #4, SF, CA 94117.This business is conducted by an individual, signed A Haley Myer.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/15/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033779600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOURTH WAVE, 1356 Polk St., SF, CA 94102.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Bernard J Curran.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 08/24/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033772100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KATE’S KITCHEN,471 Haight St., SF, CA 94117.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Hasan Khader.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033783100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EIGHT LIMB YOGA, 555 Mission Rock., #618, SF, CA 94158.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Stephanie Rubinstein.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/30/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033789300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KEIKO A NOB HILL, 1250 Jones St., SF, CA 94109.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Eiko Takei.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 08/30/11.

SEPT.8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033800400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as INFIELD DESIGN, 499 Carolina St., SF, CA 94107.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Marc Infield.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/04. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/11.

SEPT.8,15,22,29,2011 In the superior court of the state of california in and for the city of San Francisco Case # Pes 11-294955 In re: the Ludwig M. Gruber Revocable Living Trust Dated October 1,2003 Notice is hereby given to the creditors and contingent creditors of the above-named decedent, that all persons having claims against the Decedent are required to file them with the Superior Court at 400 McAllister, San Francisco, California 94102, and mail or deliver a copy to Ming Y.Suen,as trustee of the the LudwigM. Gruber Revocable Living Trust dated October 1,2003,of which the Decedent was the Settlor, at 4477 Mission Street, San Francisco, California 94112 within the later of 4 months after September 15,2011(the date of the first publication of notice to creditors) or, if notice is mailed or personally delivered to you,60 days after the date this notice is mailed or personally delivered to you, or you must petition to file a late claim as provided in Probate Code 19103.

For your protection, you are encouraged to file your claim by certified mail, with return receipt requested.Dated August 31,2011. Signed, Ming Y.Suen, Trustee of the Ludwig M. Gruber Living Trust dated October 1.2003.

Sept.15,22,29,2011

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September 15-21, 2011 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

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18

Friends remember Kuchar

20

24

22 LGBT in SF Latino Film Fest

Judy Collins live

O&A

Out&About

The

Vol. 41 • No. 37 • September 15-21, 2011

www.ebar.com/arts

A DREAM CALLED ‘MARY LOU’ Director Eytan Fox on his pop-music miniseries

by David Lamble

H

Ido Rosenberg as Meir in his dressing room, in Eytan Fox’s Mary Lou. Nancy Fishman Film Releasing

ow do you top a Castro Theatre summer that has given us sing-along Grease, The Sound of Music and The Little Mermaid? Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox, a man of all genres, has an answer. Beginning Saturday, you will thrill to the sight of a skinny boy/drag diva, Ido Rosenberg, introducing an ABBA-worthy musical melodrama that features a pop-besotted mama.

“My mother was always a fan of Svika Pick, ever since she was a child. Throughout her modest life, one with few sprinkles and a lot of dust, his music became the melody of her dreams.”

Because it’s hard to sing along to even the most infectious tunes with Hebrew lyrics, here we offer you an exclusive cheat sheet to the movie Mary Lou’s title showstopper.

“Always the same dream, a dream called Mary Lou. So where are you now? Tell me, Mary Lou. She fools around behind fake lights, still shining bright. One day she might change, See page 29 >>

Vital vaudevillians ACT’s ‘Once in a Lifetime’ heads to Hollywood

by Richard Dodds

D

espite the fact that Once in a Lifetime was the first Kaufman and Hart collaboration, a big Broadway hit, and comes with a fascinating back story, it is very rarely produced by major theaters. There is the case of economics; the original production had a cast of 37 actors.

And while Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take It with You and The Man Who Came to Dinner are frequently revived – their somewhat less huge casts notwithstanding – Once in a Lifetime can trip up a production that can’t navigate the wisecracking satirical style born in a different era.

Mark Rucker, who has been itching to direct the play since he was 16, is aware

of the comedic pitfalls that almost sank the show before its 1930 opening on Broadway. “George S. Kaufman almost gave up on it because during out-oftown tryouts, audiences started out loving it, but as it went on, the laughter began dying off,” Rucker said. “That was when Moss Hart realized it needed a little more heart, a little more narrative so it wasn’t just joke after joke. It’s the story of these three vaudevillians who are like a family, and two of them are romantically connected, so those are things they had to bring to the play and that I have to be mindful of.”

These minor-league vaudevillians head to Hollywood to strike it rich posing as See page 29 >>

Kevin Berne

Vaudevillians Jerry Hyland (John Wernke, left), George Lewis (A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program graduate Patrick Lane, center), and May Daniels (Julia Coffey) see a moneymaking opportunity when the silent movie stars are forced to speak on camera with the advent of the “talkies” in Once in a Lifetime.

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

▼

Gayest galas ever!

by Roberto Friedman

S

an Francisco socialites call it “Hell Week,” but really, for classical music-lovers, last week, with its twin San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera opening-night galas, was a type of heaven on Grove Street.

The Symphony pulled out all the stops for its 100th season opener.

Music director Michael Tilson Thomas was on fire from the opening bars of the “Star-Spangled Banner” through his specialty Aaron Copland, to two star soloists showcased in concertos, to a great, gay Benjamin Britten piece and John Adams encore. The guest stars, pianist Lang Lang and violinist Itzhak Perlman, shone, for sentimental reasons and on the merits. The celebration afterwards, in a platinum party tent and out on the street, was unprecedented in its gaiety.

Out There goes to a lot of performances and arts events, but

no presenter has given us more unalloyed pleasure over the years than the SF Symphony. Its offerings are one of the great gifts of living here. Full disclosure: we worked for the SFS in the late 1980s, copy editing its programs before it all went digital.

We read the program notes by the great late musicologist Michael Steinberg closely while listening to the pieces they described, and this became a big part of our musical education.

Our interest in classical music has paid off tenfold. The SFS’ centennial season is chock-full of extraordinary music, and you’d be foolish not to sample at least a concert or two.

The next day, the Symphony with Lang Lang performed a free Noontime concert in front of City Hall, reprising much of the gala concert. It was a generous gesture on the part of the musicians, and heartening to be part of a large and enthusiastic audience.

That evening, we stayed overnight

in an urban suite at the newly renovated Hotel Abri off Union Square, courtesy of Larkspur Hotels.

Pleased to see a rainbow flag flying over the entrance, we had cocktails in the lobby, a tour of the historic property, then dinner at the adjacent Puccini & Pinetti Italian restaurant with the Abri’s charming general manager Rob Brehant and other lucky pressies. Our celebratory week continued in earnest.

The next night found us at the opening-night gala for the San Francisco Opera’s 89th season, beginning with the Bravo! Club’s cocktail reception and dinner in City Hall. The main event was a reprisal of British artist David Hockney’s colorful, vibrant production of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, conducted with flair by SFO music director Nicola Luisotti. Principal singers included Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin in the title role, tenor Marco Berti as Calaf, and Adler Fellow Leah Crocetto as Liu. The staging of this fairy-tale opera was appropriately fanciful, with Hockney’s eye-popping sets and Ian Falconer’s spectacular costumes.

The principals were strong, the SFO Orchestra and Chorus (under Ian Robertson) gave their superb all, and there was an added bonus in a passel of bodybuilder supernumeraries who strutted around in tight black shorts and little else.

We were astonished to find SF Mayor Ed Lee and his wife Anita seated on the orchestra aisle directly across from us. Coming back from one of the intermissions, he approached us, shook hands, and remarked, “It’s my first Turandot!”

Ours too, Mr. Mayor, and we’ve been mispronouncing its title all these years!

Many thanks to the SFS and the SFO press liaisons, who hosted generous receptions for us scriveners

Cory Weaver

Iréne Theorin (Turandot) and Marco Berti (Calaf) with Joseph Frank (Emperor Altoum) in San Francisco Opera’s Turandot.

in their green rooms, and have always been terrific; to our fellow music mavens in the press, for their collegiality; and to our fellow first-nighter Phil Campbell, so instrumental in showing us the ropes.

He regaled us with tales of a bygone opera parody, Jeopordot!, in which the Chinese princess lures suitors to their deaths with a Sphinxian riddle that they must “answer in the form of a question, please!” We’ll take our chances with the home game.

Correction: In the B.A.R.’s preview of upcoming dance performances,

the star of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dido and Aeneas was misidentified as Amber Darrow. The artist’s name is in fact Amber Star Merkens. We regret the error.▼ San Francisco Opera’s Turandot plays in repertory through Oct. 4. Tickets: www.sfopera.com. It will also be simulcast live at AT&T Park, from a matinee performance at the Opera House, on Sun., Sept. 25, at 2 p.m.

Visit www.sfopera.com /simulcast to register.

Recalling George Kuchar

by David Lamble

T

he late George Kuchar may have been the single most important filmmaker most Bay Area buffs have probably never heard of. Credited, along with his shyer identical twin brother Mike, with having inspired the likes of John Waters and David

Lynch, Kuchar was an irrepressible guru whose work is as wacky and indispensable as 1950s TV pioneer Ernie Kovacs. He invented a campy, DIY film style that was a logical precursor to YouTube’s billions of mini-video bites. We remember Kuchar in his own words and the stories of three friends.

Joe Graham is a talented member of San Francisco’s next wave of beyond-queer film artists. Graham describes how George Kuchar changed his artistic life.

“He taught by saying, ‘Here’s a camera: John is a patient, and these guys are the doctors, and I need you get a shot through the window, the doctors are taking the patient out of the room – and you’re the second unit, OK, so just go!’

“When he saw what I shot, he said, ‘You come back next week,’ and I said, ‘George, I don’t go to this school.’ He said, ‘Just come back anyway.’ I stayed a whole semester, and I didn’t pay a dime at the fucking Art Institute.”

Pacific Film Archive curator Steve Seid recalls when George created his series of sets in his Oklahoma Tornado Alley Weather Diaries.

“The festival was renovating this giant space South of Market, we had this huge bay that was sheetrocked but kind of raw. George and I bought all this stuff from Goodwill: we created a mock motel room with an old, beat-up couch, a console TV, and some clothesline across the space with dirty underwear on it.

“To see the Weather Diary, you’d sit on this beat-up old couch and watch this bad TV clip of George talking about his intestinal problems.”

Bay Area film publicist Karen

Filmmaker George Kuchar, RIP.

Larsen has worked for decades out of a funky old South of Market suite of offices, the site of the legendary Ritch Street Baths. This became a great hook for a George Kuchar short film.

“He had me at my desk answering the phone, but when he did the finished film, he had interspersed images of men bumping and grinding in-between me talking.”

David Lamble: “He was saying that you were worthy of a George Kuchar film.”

Kuchar on Hold Me While I’m Naked: “My most popular picture really put me on the map. It was my first 16mm sound picture. It was all my voice because, by the time I shot it, I was too tired to dub the other actors’ voices. So I played my mother and all the guys in the picture. It was going to be a lurid drama about a mother and daughter vying for the same man, but my star got ill, so I turned the picture onto myself, about a filmmaker not being able to make a movie.”▼

▼

Music >>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Olaf Heine

Pianist Lang Lang performed with the San Francisco Symphony.

Kicking off 100

by Philip Campbell

T

he San Francisco Symphony opened its centennial season last week with a tastefully elegant gala, Fanfare for a New Century, that filled Davies Symphony Hall and surrounding environs with glamorously dressed patrons, festive spirits, lavish refreshments and a smorgasbord of wonderful music.

On the podium, beginning his own 17th season, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas led the stalwart and beloved orchestra through a long concert that was being recorded for Public Broadcasting’s Great Performances and for later release on DVD. There were two big-name guest artists and a mixed-bag concert program that obviously aimed to please all segments of an up-foraction audience, and the formula proved mostly successful throughout the night. There may have been minor quibbles with the repertoire and a few moments in the performances along the way, but an exhilarating encore ultimately tied the entire show up with a big and gaudy bow, and all complaints were happily quashed.

Opening the bill with a piece by a composer close to MTT’s heart, Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid Ballet Suite, looked good on paper, but the disjointed nature of the piece and the raw (if evocative) sounds of the open prairie made a confusing lead-in to a program that celebrated a Northern California institution. Still, the orchestra sounded crisp and buoyant, and the point of including the piece was probably never meant to be specific about what part of the West Copland was depicting, but rather as a salute to an American composer who wrote for American musicians, and managed to create a uniquely American sound.

In a quick about-face to the music of Central Europe, Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang finished the first half of the program with a surprisingly restrained (for him) and almost too well-modulated performance of Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. The hype and PR that surrounds Lang Lang should make the showy and fast-moving Concerto No. 1 a natural choice, and he is always very good with scores that do not ask for much in the way of subtlety. Still, there is no denying his prowess, and I found myself admiring if not agreeing

with his decision to take some of the air out of Liszt’s tires. The crowd was understandably enthusiastic.

The pace of the evening slowed almost to a halt after intermission when legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman appeared to give a surprisingly generalized performance of the endlessly endearing Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor. Perlman (a great friend and constant visitor to the SFS for more than 40 years) was greeted with a heartfelt and well-deserved standing ovation, and he left the stage with the crowd on its feet once more. His playing remains sweet and vibrant, and his technique is unwavering.

Still, he seemed a tad underpowered after starting well, and his handling of the usually thrilling finale was only accurate. It was wonderful seeing him anyway, and if his interpretation was a little off, he is still the real deal.

Benjamin Britten’s take on a theme by English composer Henry Purcell, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, was a droll selection for the concert’s conclusion. But make no mistake; Britten was not dumbing anything down for youthful or inexperienced listeners. The theme and variations that culminate in a mighty fugue were a great showcase for all sections of the orchestra, and MTT secured some divine playing throughout. Reason enough to include the piece on the Centennial Gala bill, but leave it to our gang to go one step further and show us what a delightful piece it is in itself.

I must confess that, up to this point, I was having some difficulty in connecting the dots on the program, but MTT returned to the stage for an encore, and what an encore it proved to be. John Adams, a great American composer, Bay Area resident and lifelong friend and associate to the SFS, was in the audience. MTT introduced him, then launched the orchestra into a rip-roaring rendition of the composer’s fabulous Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Suddenly, colorful projections of various San Francisco neighborhoods (Chinatown, the Financial District, the beautiful Victorian “Painted Ladies,” etc.) started whizzing all over the walls of Davies Hall, and the musical temperature rose high enough to break the thermometer. It was just what I had been hoping for in a 100th anniversary bash, and it was the right start to a promising new season.▼

<< Music

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

▼

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes Folk icon Judy Collins returns to San Francisco

by Adam Sandel

W

www.ebar.com

ith a voice as clear and pure as her sky blue eyes, Judy Collins was arguably the voice of the folk/pop music renaissance of the late 1960s and early 70s. Collins is an accomplished and prolific singer/ songwriter, but when she sang other writers’ songs, her versions became definitive, including Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” Pete Seeger’s “Turn, Turn, Turn,” the Beatles’ “In My Life,” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”

With a career spanning more than 50 years, the 72-year-old singer, her eyes just as blue and her flowing hair

Folk music legend Judy Collins: ‘I know I’m unusual.’

a snowy blonde, is still going strong.

Collins returns to San Francisco for a two-week run at the Rrazz Room, from Sept. 20 through Oct. 1. On Oct. 18, Collins will release the new CD Bohemian (on her Wildflower Records label); the children’s book When You Wish Upon a Star; and her seventh book, the memoir Sweet Judy Blue Eyes. (Her romance with Steven Stills inspired the Crosby, Stills and Nash classic “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”)

This prolific output of music and books has not slowed down her concert appearances – and the soothing, mellow tone of her music did not prepare me for the lively, energetic woman I spoke to during a recent phone interview.

“I do about 110 shows a year around the world,” she says. “A lot of them are in the U.K. and Australia and Taiwan and Korea. The U.K. is having a great renaissance of folk music, with festivals that feature new artists as well as performers like me. They’re really filling the seats.”

Collins is constantly listening to and promoting new artists via her Wildflower Records label, including Kenny White, who performs a duet with her on Bohemian, as does Shawn Colvin and the country/ blues group Ollabelle.

While many in the music industry bemoan its artistic demise, Collins has a much more optimistic view.

“In the music industry, there are always some good things and some terrible things,” she says. “Artists come and go, and you never know who will stay. I know I’m unusual by staying in the industry for 50 years.

“The difference is, most groups

have to tour now, and there’s a very healthy, invigorated audience for music. We’re all touring, and people come out to see us – except for some of the overblown acts that people can tell are out to rip them off. But the industry itself is very healthy.”

Originally inspired by music ranging from Rodgers and Hart to the traditional Irish ballads that her father Charles (an Irish baritone and radio pioneer) used to sing, Collins took piano lessons from Antonia Brico, who would prove to be a major influence in her life. Collins later co-directed the 1975 Academy Award-nominated film about Brico, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world.

As a young woman, Collins found her musical home in the Denver folk community. Folk icons Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger had a great impact on her, and she would famously bring their style of music to a mass audience. She earned a 1968 Grammy Award for “Both Sides Now,” and her version of “Send in the Clowns” earned Sondheim a Song of the Year Grammy in 1975.

A long-time social activist for causes including UNICEF, landmine abolition and suicide prevention, Collins is delighted to be returning to the city that changed the world during the Summer of Love. “I’m very privileged and honored to be performing in San Francisco. I love the city, and I can’t wait to be there.”▼ Judy Collins plays the Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. in SF, Sept. 20-Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($50-55) at www.therrazzroom. com or call (800) 380-3095.

▼

Music >>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Slowly showing ‘Heart’

by Jason Victor Serinus

H

eart of a Soldier, based on a true story of love and heroism that culminates in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center, had its San Francisco Opera world premiere less than 12 hours before the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Despite a somewhat dreary first act whose music rarely rises above the commonplace, the opera finally reveals its own heart in its secondact love story. This belated show of tenderness, which the audience so longed for that it even applauded the brief cameo by the most adorable dog, made for a standing ovation on opening night.

In basing their opera on the book of the same title by James B. Stewart and the life stories of Vietnam war and 9/11 hero Rick Rescorla (baritone Thomas Hampson), his army buddy and cherished friend Daniel J. Hill (tenor William Burden), and Rick’s late-in-life wife Susan Rescorla (soprano Melody Moore), composer Christopher Theofanidis and librettist Donna Di Novelli compact several decades of personal history into a single, hour-long first act. Wagner’s Ring cycle this is not. Attempting to say so much in such a short time period, the score soldiers on rather than probing beneath the surface. Events are painted in broad strokes, with music that rarely if ever illuminates the inner workings of the characters.

There is vulnerability and passion beneath the gritty surface of wartime combat and man-to-man wrestling, but we rarely if ever hear it. Instead we get a few potentially gripping scenes, especially the death of medic Tom (the gifted Michael Sumuel) and humor of the drug-charged Dex (Daniel Snyder), that miss the opportunity to be emotionally wrenching.

We read in the program notes about key events – Rick’s hard drinking, his first marriage to the wrong woman, his parting kiss to Dan on the forehead – whose psychological underpinnings remain buried under musical notes.

Slaps on the back and pledges of eternal comradeship hardly explain how Rick managed not only to defy orders, but also scramble reinforcements from 200 miles away and save Dan’s life. We want to know and care more about these men than their re-creators allow.

Part of the responsibility lies with the libretto, whose rapid succession of episodes seems almost cartoonish at times in its treatment of complex events. Dan’s post-Vietnam War conversion to the Muslim faith is given especially short shift. So much could have been said here. Instead we witness an Imam’s (Mohannad Mchallah) amplified chanting in a minaret, hear Dan’s few lines of explication that make sense in head alone, and the conversion is complete. At least on paper.

Cory Weaver

Thomas Hampson in San Francisco Opera’s Heart of a Soldier.

Light in darkness Heart of a Soldier comes into its own in its moving second act. Here, Rick and Susan’s mutual discovery of love at first sight brings out the best in Theofanidis, eliciting music of touching simplicity and warmth.

Their flirting and courtship are beautifully executed, with Moore and Hampson making a most believable couple. The heart opens at last, rendering Rick’s death after heroically leading 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees out of the WTC all the more tragic.

Hampson does his best to cope with a part whose low tessitura finds him half-speaking some lines, reaching for his few high notes, and too often gravel-voiced. The high point of his portrayal is his beautiful second-act aria, perhaps the only aria in the extremely accessible score. Burden and Moore (the true heart of the opera) shine in roles ideally suited to their instruments and personae, with Burden’s beautiful, cutting instrument and Moore’s passion on top and two repeated high Cs cutting straight to the heart. Vocal projection is hardly helped by a set that seems to absorb a voice as big as Hampson’s, and Patrick Summers’ committed and impassioned conducting of the superb San Francisco Opera Orchestra does little to make allowances.

Of the bevy of Adler Fellows onstage, special mention must be made of soprano Nadine Sierra, whose Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-winning voice shines above the throng. We learn

Cory Weaver

Melody Moore and Thomas Hampson in San Francisco Opera’s Heart of a Soldier.

little about her character, Maria.

The San Francisco Opera Chorus is rock-solid, and Francesca Zambello’s direction succeeds in embracing both grit and tenderness in an opera whose treatment of love and war remains unbalanced.

In the end, the ever-looming presence of the Twin Towers, which remain visible through all but S. Katy Tucker’s short and effective projections, finally cuts to the quick.

Despite its flaws, the opera at last finds its way home.▼

ebar.com

<< Film

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

▼

Latin-flavored love stories

by David Lamble

T

ebar.com

he San Francisco Latino Film Festival offers three queerthemed features in a run (Sept. 1625, mostly at Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas) that boasts a 35-film roster.

Soulbound Brazilian director Caio Soh sets his fable, about an improbable yet intoxicating affair between two men, on one of his country’s most beautiful beaches.

Gil, a shaggy-headed, lost-puppy musician, is evicted from his beloved aunt’s flat by a cruel step-uncle who can no longer abide the kid’s boozy, pot-smoking ways. Refused another drink at a beachfront bar, Gill literally stumbles across another dislocated soul, Otavio, a 50something record producer fleeing a sour marriage with a much younger man.

Baring more than their souls, the men’s night ends with a powerful kiss. Gil flees the implications of “this fag thing,” running back to his recently abandoned life. A jumpcutting scene finds Gil and Otavio in bed the next day.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is strange. But I don’t regret it, I’m just lost!”

“You look scared.”

“I am, a little. It’s as if the Gil inside of me packed his things and left. Then I wake up and there’s already another inside who likes other things, has other wishes, other desires!”

“You’re feeling bad, aren’t you?”

“It’s not that, man! It’s just that I would never do what I did. But since I’ve already done it, I’m no longer the one who wouldn’t do it.

So I don’t know if I feel bad about betraying the Gil that I was, or feel good about being here with this guy who likes all these new things. Do you understand?”

Whether you wind up surrendering to this Spring/Fall affair will depend on your not allowing the long arm of coincidence to spoil the film’s dreamscape logic.

Set in a punky youth-music scene and framed by home-movie footage, Soulbound feels like the Brazilian vacation few of us can afford, but most of us need. (O.P., 9/17, 18) Photos of Angie Director Alan Dominguez provides a touching backdrop to the senseless murder of a young Colorado trans woman, in the process tenderly observing how Justin morphed into Justine, and finally and most enchantingly, Angie. Angie’s short life is captured through photos she took to chart the evolution of her personal fabulousness, and through the memories of her grieving family.

We see the justice dealt her killer, and the good news that hate-crime laws work. (Mission Cultural Center, 9/24) Blattangelus Director Araceli Santana guides us through the teeming crowds at Mexico City’s Gay Pride celebration to demonstrate the power of a small but vigorous congregation. The Church of

San Francisco Latino Film Festival

Scene from director Caio Soh’s Soulbound.

San Francisco Latino Film Festival

Scene from director Alan Dominguez’s Photos of Angie.

Maya Indie Film Series

Corina Calderon and Joseph Julian Soria in All She Can.

Reconciliation, much like its U.S. cousin the Metropolitan Community Church, has become a sanctuary for a largely queer male community’s need to consecrate their unions and affirm their value as human beings in a still largely intolerant society. Plays with a short, Three Drops of Water,

by Jose Alfaro and Marco CastroBojorquez. (O.P., 9/17) Maya Indie Film Series This traveling film festival seeks to give seven Latin-flavored indie films a shot at reaching art-house crowds in seven cities. Besides SF’s Opera Plaza Cinemas, the collection screens for one-week runs in NY, LA, Chicago, San Diego, Miami and San Antonio. With Hollywood brandname casts and hot-button themes clearly pitched to an assimilated, English-speaking Latino audience, the quality of the films screened approximates Showtime cable shows of a few seasons back.

All She Can Director Amy Wendel’s powerlifting girl drama is set deep down in the heart of a South Texas that bears the stamp of Old Mexico. With summer temps peaking at 98 in the shade, it’s hard to imagine anyone trying to lift more than twice her body weight, but that’s Luz Garcia’s mission. Luz wants to get out of her hometown without taking a detour through Afghanistan like her big brother. She knows there’s no scholarship money to redeem her UT/Austin acceptance letter.

While grounded in believable

dilemmas, Wendel mixes in a few too many trendy topics: we see kids stripsearched during senior English, and there are drug-sniffing dogs, pushy Army recruiters, bedraggled illegal migrants, superstitious grandmas invested in the juju-killing powers of raw eggs, and steroid-cheating female powerlifters.

All She Can soars with an able, attractive supporting cast (remember Jeremy Ray Valdez as a beleaguered gay boy in La Mission?), but newcomer Corina Calderon is a tad too passive as the girl who will do anything to escape her small-town fate. One odd scene, considering the horrendous blazes now engulfing Central Texas, is the sight of our heroine setting an abandoned house on fire as a desperate plea for help.

(O.P., 9/16-23) Forged Director William Wedig wrestles all kinds of edgy angst out of a rust-belt Pennsylvania setting that finds a badly abused teen (brooding, tight-lipped David Castro) searching out his dad (Manny Perez) recently sprung from the slammer. The meet, over pie a la mode at a Scranton, PA greasy-spoon, is not at all cute. The kid accuses dad of shooting his mom in the head before his then-sevenyear-old eyes. Wedig tries to purge his bad-dad melodrama of the most risible clichés, with middling success.

Try this one to see if even a downbeat ending can seem unearned. Can you spot Rocket Science’s Margo Martindale as a hard-drinking grandma, no eggs? (O.P., 9/16-23)▼

▼

Music >>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Digging in the rubble

by Tim Pfaff

I

understand there’s a 9/11 opera open at a theater near you, and I’m guessing it’s a more uplifting event than anything you’ll find on the prattling tube. We’ll be digging indefinitely in rubble more vast than Ground Zero to dredge meaning from the 21st-century event as yet unparalleled in its capacity to shock, dispirit, and breed fear – and, given the treachery of the response to it by the people we empower to keep us safe, it’s best we turn, as ever, to the artists.

That makes it the greater pity that Steve Reich’s remarkable new composition, WTC 9/11, originally due out on CD Sept. 6, still awaits its any-day-now official release on CD (though hearing it now is a snap).

No one is saying in so many words that the reason for the delay is the CD cover – change of cover, that is – but neither has anyone offered a better reason. What may sound like a trifling matter soon presents itself as yet more proof of the worst news of all: how little things have changed since 9/11.

What is clear is that Reich – whose edgy, haunting, genrestretching composition is clearly the best piece of music to have emerged from a larger crisis since gay composer Thomas Ades’ America: A Prophecy, which predated 9/11 by two years – had his artistic freedom stifled by the hounds of opinion who currently guard the Western gate. When Nonesuch – known as the plucky little label for its sagacity and derring-do from the time I started collecting LPs to the present, and Reich’s parent label – revealed the packaging for the CD months ago, the cover was met by howls of protest from the no-name influence-peddlers who are our new Big Brothers.

Reich has praised Nonesuch for its grit in standing behind his original cover choice, Masatomo Kuriya’s iconic photograph of the second plane approaching the already smoldering twin towers, graphically enhanced to a sickly yellow/sepia raked with horizontal striations of grime. Such as there was identifiable content in the calumny heaped on that design, it was that the image was being used to manipulate – as if this were the first time an image of the 9/11 attacks were being used to that end.

It was Reich, too, characteristically down to earth and gentlemanly, who agreed to the change of cover – a design by composer Timo Andres, a fellow Nonesuch recording artist – a true-color tight shot of the smoke that suggests clouds as much as inferno. Reich’s reason: “As a composer, I want people to listen to my music without something distracting them.”

It’s not music from which a sentient listener could readily be distracted. The first and shortest of its three movements, “9/11,” scrapes its way into your consciousness with a sound like a phone off the hook – in fact three string quartets, all of them Kronos, one real-time overdubbing two prerecorded tracks, stabbing away with mounting intensity – overlaid with gritty audio of the actual 9/11 NORAD air-traffic controllers responding to the spectral sight.

(Kronos had asked Reich for a piece incorporating pre-recorded voices in 2009, and Reich, who was blocks away from the twin towers when they fell, eventually settled on this subject.)

The insistent pulse that is a trademark of Reich’s music never lets up over the course of the

Nonesuch

The pulled cover for Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11.

BARTABSF.COM Nonesuch

The revised cover for Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11.

15-minute piece, but the tone becomes increasingly more somber, reflective, and ritual as it unfolds.

The second movement, “2010,” features recordings Reich himself made of neighbors, a fireman, and the first ambulance driver to arrive at the scene, recalling what they witnessed (sounds electronically manipulated by the composer to maximize their musicality). The third, “WTC,” enshrines voices of volunteers guarding the bodies until burial in a Jewish tradition called Shmira, and a cantor from a New York synagogue. But by the work’s tensely tingling end, the offthe-hook phone has reasserted its chafing dominance.

This is not Picasso’s “Guernica” or Britten’s War Requiem. Yet, against all odds, it’s music that begs and bears hearing again and again.

No one’s saying that Reich, Kronos, or Nonesuch is hurting over the late CD issue of music cocommissioned and underwritten by a dozen-plus entities from Carnegie Hall to Duke University, where WTC 9/11 had its March 19 concert premiere. Yet it’s a disturbing signal from the corporate giants that seemed under attack that day that a carefully timed new release that can’t even be downloaded on other legal commercial entities can be, right now, from omnipotent, muscle-flexing iTunes.

Before taking a bite from that Apple, try a free First Listen to the complete CD at npr.org/music. As your reward, you also get Reich’s Dance Patterns of 2002 and the toe-tapping Mallet Quartet of 2009, with So Percussion, a hypnotically patterned, exuberant, life-affirming work for vibraphones and marimba only Reich could have written.▼

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<< Out and About

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

Night Over Erzinga @ Magic Theatre

Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup

Hafiz Karmali’s new commissioned play about Armenian immigrants to the U.S. Previews Sept 15-17. $20. Opening night gala Sept 18, 5pm, $100. Reg $20-$36.

Thu 8:30pm, Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm.

South Side Theatre, Fort Mason, Narina St. at Buchanan. 345-7575. Thru Oct. 9. www.fortmason.org www.goldenthread.org

O&A Out& About

Show biz

by Jim Provenzano

S

hows about show business can be especially theatrical. Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup at Berkeley Rep is not only fascinating, but highly entertaining. Tony Taccone wrote and directed Moreno’s must-see solo show about her life and times; with music, two very handsome back-up dancers, and a four-piece band. $14-50-$73. Tue, Fri-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Thu, Sat, Sun 2pm. Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org Larry Blum, a veteran musical theatre performer (A Chorus Line, Xanadu) may not be a household name like Moreno, but you’ve seen him, if not momentarily. Blink & You Might Miss Me, his solo tell-all show, shares inside gossip on what it’s like to work with A-list celebrities. It’s part of the SF Fringe Festival. $10-$13. Sept. 15, 10:30pm, Sept 17 at 6pm, and Sept 18, 1pm. 156 Eddy St. While you’re Fringing, consider Mercy Buckets at Exit on Taylor. Gay Larry Blum playwright Jerry Metzker’s autobiographical solo show isn’t about show biz, per se, but surviving adventures, from travel mishaps to 9/11. $10-$13. Sept 17. 7:30pm. 277 Taylor St. Other gay plays include Fit and On a Bench, Sept 17, 1pm, at Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy St. Fest runs thru Sept. 18. www.sffringe.org Be a clown, or just laugh at one at Show Ho at New Conservatory Theatre Center, Sara Moore’s comic solo show about a quirky clown’s life in a low-rent circus. $20-$32. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sara Moore Sun 2pm. Thru Oct. 9. 25 Van Ness Ave at Market. 861-8972. www. nctcsf.org If you think you’re show biz-obsessed, see Christophe Coppens’ exhibit at the Highlight Gallery. The Belgian artist’s self-portraits, videos and installation examine his life-long obsession with Barbra Streisand. Wed-Fri 2pm6pm. Thru Oct. 30. 3043 Clay St. 529-1221.

Christophe Coppens www.highlightgallery.com

Fri 16 >>

3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff @ The Garage Edward Crosby Wells’ comic 2000 hit Off-Off-Broadway play about Diva, Lillian and Tink’s yard sale, performed by –you guessed it– three guys in drag. One critic called it a “’Grey Gardens’ garage sale.” $20. 8pm. Fri & Sat thru Sept. 19. 975 Howard St. www.975howard.org

Art and Design Show @ Fort Mason Fourth annual showcase and sale of hundreds of artists’ works in various media.

Proceeds benefit SF Museum of Modern Art. Preview gala Sept. 15, 6pm-9pm. $150-$5,000. Show and sale Fri & Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. $15. www.sf20.net

Chanticleer @ SF Conservatory of Music Grammy-winning choral ensemble performs Love Story, a concert of seductive music by Victoria, R. Strauss, Durufle, Whitacre, Tavener, Arlen, Ellington and more. $20-$44. 8pm. 50 Oak St. Also Sept 21. Sept 17 at Mission Santa Clara; Sept 18 at St. Francis Church, Sacramento; Sept 20 at Lesher Center, Walnut Creek. 392-4400. www.chanticleer.org

A Delicate Balance @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Edward Albee’s brutal comedy of manners about responsibility to others. $10-$55.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Tue & Sun 7pm, also Sun 2pm. Previews thru Sept 7. Opening night Sept. 8. Thru Oct. 9. 2081 Addison St. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Diana Ross @ Golden Gate Theatre Iconic pop star returns to San Francisco after decades, with fabulous costumes and

Kevin Berne

The People: San Francisco @ Z Space YBCA presents the New York-based Big Art Group’s site-specific outdoor projected performance, composed of interviews with Bay Area residents voicing their thoughts about democracy, war, terrorism and justice. No chairs. $10. 8pm. Also Sept 17. 450 Florida St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Project Bandaloop @ Great Wall, Oakland The pioneering aerial movement dance company celebrates its 20th anniversary with the premiere of Bound(less) ; featuring six dancers, a live band and three free outdoor performances. Thru Sept. 17.

Grand & Broadway streets, one block from BART 19th St. station. www.projectbandaloop.org

The Tempest, The Complete History of America @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre The Shakespeare classic about an exiled king, and the comic three-man romp about US history, play in repertory. Fri & Sat 8pm.

Sun 4pm. Thru Sept 25. $20-$75 (season tix). 1475 Acacia Ave., Dominican Universaty, San Rafael. www.marinshakespeare.org

Thunder From Down Under @ The Rrazz Room Australian male strip dance troupe returns for their sexy shows. No full nudity, but still fun, and yes, men are welcome. $35$55. 7pm & 9:30pm. 2-drink min. Thru Sept. 17. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 3941189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Transgender Law Center Anniversary @ The Endup Gala benefit celebrating the law center’s 9th year, with MC Tita Aida, and Josh Klipp and the Klipptones performing. $50-$150 and up. VIP 6pm. Main reception 7pm9pm. 21+. 401 6th St. at Harrison www.transgenderlawcenter.org www.endupsf.com

Unveiled @ Brava Theater Rohina Malik’s solo show portraying five Muslim women in a post-9/11 world. $10$25. 7pm. Thu-Sat 7pm. Sun 3pm. Thru Sept 17. 2781 24th St. at York. 647-2822. www.brava.org

Waiting for Giovanni @ New Conservatory Theatre

Exit, Pursued By a Bear @ Boxcar Playhouse

Jewelle Gomez’ and Harry Waters, Jr.’s much-anticipated play inspired by a time in the life of gay author James Baldwin when he struggled with completing his novel Giovanni’s Room. $22-$40. Thu-Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. Thru Sept. 18. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Lauren Gunderson’s hilarious revenge comedy about domestic abuse. $15-$35.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Thru Sept 17. 505 Natoma St. 255-7846. www.crowdedfire.org

Sat 17 >>

Bay Area Now 6 @ YBCA

Lea Salonga @ Venetian Room

Group exhibit of local visual artists in varied media. Exhibit thru Sept. Special events on several nights. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 978-2700. www.ybca.org

sets, and a live strong and horn section. $55-$250. 8pm. 1 Taylor St. at Market.

(888) 746-1799. www.shnsf.com www.RBPconcerts.com

Tony-winning actress and singer ( Miss Saigon, Disney’s Aladdin and Mulan I & II ) performs her acclaimed cabaret show, premiered recently at New York City’s Café Carlyle. $40-$50. 8pm. Also Sept 17, 5pm.

Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. 392-4400. www.bayareacabaret.org

Marga Gomez @ The Marsh 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. Thru Oct. 23. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Maya Indie Film Series @ Opera Plaza Cinemas Seven films in seven days, in rotating schedules, all dealing with Latino themes, all unusual, with familiar and popular TV and film actors Mark Ruffalo, Eva Longoria, Christian Slater, Laura Linney, Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis, Eric Mabius and Peter Coyote. Thru Sept 22. 601 Van Ness Ave. at Turk. (see article, page 22) www.maya-entertainment.com

Midnites for Maniacs @ Castro Theatre Enjoy three great scifi flicks! Aliens (7pm), Starship Troopers (9:30) and Dark Star (11:59). $12-$15 for all three. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm.

Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/ wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Bring Your Own Queer @ Music Concourse Bandshell Third annual outdoor performance and music mini-festival, with Juanita More!, Honey Soundsystem, Bus Station John, Vagine Regime, La Chica Boom, and others; plus fashion designers showcasing their wares and Queers for Gears offering valet parking and on-site bike repair. Donations benefit LYRIC. 11am-6pm. Golden Gate Park, 50 Tea Garden Drive. www.juanitamore.com

Good Vibrations Erotic Film Fest @ Various Venues Celebrate independent sexual cinema at the festival of features, shorts, panels, workshops and parties. Opening night tonight at the Victoria Theatre with Susie Bright’s How to Read a Dirty Movie (2961 16th St.). Sept 18, Erika Lust’s Explicit

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Erotic Shorts at the Roxie ($10, 7:30pm, 3117 16th St.) Sept 20, gay-themed films and discussion at the LGBT Center, 1800 Market St. ($10. 8pm). Thru Sept. 22. www.gv-ixff.org

plus a five-course dinner, and a lot of fun. $117-$145. Saturday 11:30am “Breve” show $63-$78. Wed-Sat 6pm (Sun 5pm).

Thru Oct. 9. Pier 29 at Embarcadero Ave. 438-2668. www.teatrozinzanni.com

Line Dance Classes @ ODC Dance Commons

Tina Kane @ de Young Museum

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

Former Metropolitan Museum of Art Textile Conservator discusses her three decades of work spent restoring the monumental medieval tapestry Christ is Born as Man’s Redeemer, which now hangs in the Cloisters Museum. $5-$10. 10am. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. 750-3600. www.deyoung.famsf.org

Mary Lou @ Castro Theatre U.S. premiere screenings of a new musical film by Israeli director Eytan Fox (gay and Israel-themed The Bubble, Walk on Water, Yossi & Jagger). 2pm, 5:15, 8:15. Sept 17 thru Sept 21 (2pm shows only on Wed & Sun). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Michael Moore @ Books Inc. Opera Plaza Celebrated and outspoken filmmaker and author reads from and signs copies of his latest Here Comes Trouble: Stories From My Life (no memorabilia-signing or posed photos; must have Books Inc receipt for signing line). 2pm. 601 Van Ness Ave. 776-1111. www.booksinc.net

SF Hiking Club @ Bay Trail Loop Join LGBT outdoors enthusiasts on a 12mile hike through residential areas with a paved path along the Bay. Well-behaved dogs welcome. Carpool meets at the Safeway sign, Market St. at Dolores, 9:30am.

(650) 763-8537. www.sfhiking.com

Sundance Saloon @ Beatbox The popular country-western line-dancing night adds a special event at the new nightclub. $8. 6pm (lessons); open dancing 7-10pm. 314 11th St. www.sundancesaloon.org www.beatboxsf.com

Teatro Zinzanni @ Pier 29 Joan Baez returns to Teatro in Maestro’s Enchantment, the theatre-tent-dinner extravaganza, with Ukranian illusionist Yevgeniy Voronin, clown Peter Pitofsky, aerialist Bianca Sapetto, trapeze artists The Collins Brothers and many others,

Sun 18 >>

Classical Music @ SF Conservatory of Music Rossini’s Overture L’Italiana in Algeri ; Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2, BB. 117; Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21. $15-$20. 2pm. Also Sept 19, 8pm. Cello master works, Sept 20, 8pm. Free. Clarinet recital Sept 22, 8pm. $15-$20 50 Oak St. at Van Ness Ave. www.sfcm.edu

Dot429 Luncheon @ Ma(i)sonry, Napa Join the LGBT business professionals group for wine tasting, art viewing and sun soaking, with food prepared by chef Dominique Crenn ( Esquire Chef of the Year 2008, Iron Chef America finalist). Proceeds benefit Face 2 Face, the North Bay youth services organization. $50-$60. 10am-5pm. 6711 Washington St. Yountville. www.face2face.org www.dot429.com

Heart of a Soldier @ War Memorial Opera House World premiere of Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli’s opera based on James B. Stewart’s story about Vietnam War veteran Rick Rescorla, who died after saving thousands during the World Trade Center attacks. $21-$389. Sept 18 (2pm), 21 (7:30), 24 (2pm), 27 (8pm) & 30 (8pm).

301 Van Ness Ave. 864-3330. www.sfopera.com

Book ’em

G

ay-themed literary events take place at diverse venues throughout the city this week.

Vincent Meis, author of Eddie’s Desert Rose, reads from his novel about a man’s search in Saudi Arabia for his lost brother.

Free. Friday, Sept. 16, 6pm. Galeria de la Raza. 2857 24th St. at Bryant. www.vincentmeis.com www.galeriadelaraza.org ü Gregory Peters’ Gay musician Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar) discusses his new memoir See a Little The Dark Side of Light, in conver- Decorating sation with visual artist Shephard Fairey. $17-$27. Tuesday, Sept. 20. 8pm. The Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. Afterward, the two co-DJ a party at the Rickshaw Stop. $5 (free w. lecture ticket). 10pm-2am.

155 Fell St. www.cityboxoffice.com www.rickshawstop.com Author and poet Michael Montlack reads from his new collection, Cool Limbo, along with guest writers and musiBob Mould cians Kirk Read, Baruch Porras-Hernandez, Wonder Dave, Cole Krawitz, Richard Loranger and MC Crumbsnatcher. Tuesday, Sept. 20. Free. 7pm. Magnet, 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org Then, on Thursday, Sept. 22 at the San Francisco Public Library, Montlack and literary luminaries Kevin Killian, Randall Mann and singer Montana Rose also read some Cool Poetry. Free. 6pm. James C. Hormal Gay & Lesbian Center, 3rd floor.100 Larkin St. at Grove. www.sfpl.org Wednesday, Sept. 21, accomplished poet DeWayne Dickerson is the featured guest Michael Montlack performer at Kirk Read and Larry-bob Roberts’ Smack Dab, the monthly eclectic and frequently queerthemed open mic series. Free. 8pm.

Magnet, 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org Décor dish! Gregory Peters, author and notable home designer, reads from and discusses his book, The Dark Side of Decorating; Mischief, Mayhem, Makeovers. Free. Thursday, Sept 22. 7:30pm.

Books Inc, 2275 Market St. 864-6777.

DeWayne Dickerson www.booksinc.net

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Stephanie Berger

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Out and About>>

Fri 16 Mark Morris Dance Group @ Zellerbach Hall Cal Performances presents the amazing dance company performing one of Morris’ masterworks, Dido and Aeneas, a dance adaptation of Henry Purcell’s opera, with live accompaniment by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, and several solo vocalists, including mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe; a must-see for dance fans. $30-$110. 8pm. Also Sept 17, 8pm; Sept 18, 3pm. UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org

Jonathan Poretz @ The Rrazz Room Vegas-style crooner returns with his fun act. $30. 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Paul Morin @ Blush Wine Bar Opening reception for the artist’s exhibit of oversized portraits in oil and silver leaf, based on vintage imagery. 6pm-8pm. 476 Castro St. www.blushwinebar.com

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

Sunday Skool with Baby D @ Academy of Ballet D’arcy Drollinger (Enrique) returns to SF with a campy aerobics weekly workout set to music from the 80s-today. Retro Spandex and Solid Gold gear encouraged.

Dance by donation. Sundays at 11am. 2121 Market St. at Church.

Mon 19 >>

Arturo Cozenza @ Magnet Exhibit of creative photo portraits of Personalities, i.e. local drag performers. Thru Sept. 4122 18th st. at Castro. www.magnetsf.org

Comedy Night @ El Rio

Tue 20 >> Extinction Burst @ California Academy of Sciences

A Dance of Lost Movement, Chris Black’s dance-image work about extinct species, will be performed in various areas of the museum during its weekly nightlife event. $10-$12. 7:30pm. 21+. Other shows: Free-$29.95. Sept 20 (11am), 22 (2pm), 27 (2pm) and 29 (11am). 55 Music Concourse Drive. www.calacademy.org

Judy Collins @ The Rrazz Room Veteran folksinger performs in a rare series of shows. Also Sept 21-24, 27-29. $50-$55.

2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Skinnyfat DVD Party @ The Lookout Meet Andy Bydalek, writer-director of the independent film about queer body image; plus a screening of The Rise & Fall of Jeremy Starr and its star Suppositori Spelling; T-shirt and DVD giveaways, drag shows and general fun. No cover. 8pm.

3600 16th St. www.skinnyfatmovie.com www.lookoutsf.com

Soulful Stitching @ MOAD Patchwork Quilts by African (Siddis) in India, a new exhibit of 32 colorful handcrafted works. Thru Sept. 18. Wed-Sat 11am-6pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. at 3rd.

358-7200. www.moadsf.org

Musical duo perform variations on classic American songbook ballads. $30. 8pm.

2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Marga’s Funny Mondays @ The Marsh, Berkeley Marga Gomez brings her comic talents and special guests to a weekly cabaret show. Tonight, the ‘Funniest Man in Berkeley 2011,’ with Chris Garcia, Miles K, Al Gonzalez. Winner gets $50, or a tank of gas; whichever’s greater by then. $10.

8pm. Thru Oct. 31. 2120 Allston Way. (800) 838-3006. www.margagomez.com www.themarsh.org

Rex Ray @ Gallery 16 Exhibit of colorful graphic abstract paintings by the local artist-designer. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat 11am-5pm. Thru Oct. 29.

501 3rd St. 626-7495. www.gallery16.com

San Francisco Cocktail Week @ Various Venues Seven-day upscale drink-tasting events, including dinners, panels, and parties, celebrating the art of the mixed drink. $35 individual to $700 full pass. Thru Sept. 25. www.sfcocktailweek.com

Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist performs. $30-$85. 8pm. UC Berkeley campus, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org

Julie Salamon @ Jewish Community Center Author of Wendy and the Lost Boys, the biography of playwright Wendy Wasserstein, disccuses her book and the late playwright. $10-$20. 7pm. Kanbar Hall, 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org/arts

Our Vast Queer Past @ GLBT History Museum See the new mini-exhibit about the Alice B. Toklas San Francisco LGBT Democratic political organization as it celebrates its 40th anniversary; part of the popular exhibit from the GLBT Historical Society, with a wide array of rare historic items on display. Free for members-$5. Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Thu 22 >> Charles Gatewood @ Robert Tat Gallery

New exhibit of prints by the popular photographer. Tue-Sat 11am-5:30pm. Thru Nov. 26. 49 Geary Suite 410. 781-1122. www.roberttat.com

The classic Laurents/Styne/Sondheim musical about burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee’s show biz life is given a local staging. $24-$50. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm (also Sat Oct 2pm). Thru Oct. 9. 2215 Broadway St. at Winslow. (650) 579-5565. www.broadwaybythebay.org

D’Agostino & Lacy @ The Rrazz Room

Beautiful array of large and intimate paintings of countrysides and forests by more than a dozen artists. Mon-Fri 10am-6pm.

Sat 10am-5pm. Thru Oct. 8. 750 Post Post St. 441-1138. www.johnpence.com

Herbie Hancock @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Gypsy @ Fox Theatre, Redwood City

Host Lisa Geduldig welcomes Veronica Porras, Nathan Habib, Josh Healey, and Conrad Roth. $7-$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. (800) 838-3006. www.elriosf.com

Landscapes @ John Pence Gallery

HIV, taken on Sept. 21, and submitted by Sept 26. www.adaywithhivinamerica.com

Leon Mostovoy @ LGBT Center For bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

Wed 21 >>

Death of my Daughter, a diptych photo series of female-to-male transgendered people with symbolic poses and imagery.

Thru Sept 29. 1800 Market St. www.leonmostovoy.wordpress.com www.sfcenter.org

Alternative Visions @ Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley

Picasso @ de Young Museum

Weekly series of unusual experimental, and strikingly visual short and feature films. $9.50-$13.50 (double-bills). Usually 7:30pm. Thru Oct 26. 2575 Bancroft Way. (510) 642-1412.www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Masterpieces from the Museé National Picasso, Paris, a new exhibit of classic early modern works by the Spanish master painter. Free (members)-$25. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Wed 9:30am-8:45pm (the Aug). Thru Oct. 9. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

American Buffalo @ Actors Theatre of SF David Mamet’s intense drama about three petty crooks. $26-$38. Wed-Sat 8pm. Thru Oct 8. 855 Bush St. at Taylor. 345-1287. www.ActorsTheatreSF.org

Blue Room Comedy @ The Stud Comic David Hawkins has moved his popular bawdy laughfest to the historic nightclub; No cover. 8pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

A Day With HIV in America @ Online Positively Aware’s campaign requests submissions of photos of people living with

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.

www.ebar.com

<< Society

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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Elegance incarnate

by Donna Sachet

G

racious gentlemen elegantly suited in classic tails and graceful ladies swathed in gorgeous gowns streamed into the War Memorial Opera House as the 89th season of the San Francisco Opera opened last Friday night.

With great thanks to Director of Communications and Public Affairs Jon Finck for all the special attention, we arrived on the arm of dashing Richard Sablatura, greeted Mayor Ed Lee and his wife Anita, then chatted with General Director David Gockley, the SF Chronicle’s Catherine Bigelow and Carolyne Zinko, and celebrity photographer Drew Altizer.

Hundreds of Stanlee Gattiarranged red roses in the lobby, and red carnations adorning the boxes, welcomed guests to the openingnight performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot. It was the perfect vehicle for an openingnight gala, with stunning sets, colorful costumes, eye-popping supernumeraries recruited from Gold’s Gym, an easy-to-follow plot, and glorious singing. Among the pre-show crowd were Wells Fargo’s Tim Hanlon & Anthony Klatt, Robert Gallo & Lisa Stevens, Mario Diaz, Vera Carpanetti, Mark Rhoades, Gelane Pearson, and ever-attentive veteran usher Bill Repp. During the first intermission, we accepted the kind invitation of the B.A.R.’s own Tom Horn to have a glass of champagne with him upstairs in the North Box Bar while surrounded by the likes of Charlotte Schultz, Bob Hill, Joy Bianchi, Dede Wilsey, Boaz Mazor, Maria Manetti Farrow, Lewis Sykes, and Bulgari’s Daniel Diaz, seemingly confused but nonetheless dazzled by our 6-inch crystal earrings.

We spent the second intermission admiring fashions in the lobby with Sean Martinfield, Victor & Farah Makras, John Rosin, Veronica LaBeau, and Leah Garchik, with whom we agree that the art of dressing well includes

Steven Underhill

Donna Sachet emcees a Bare Chest Calendar event at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel: ‘We relished in the wonder of San Francisco.’

knowing what parts of one’s body are best covered rather than exposed.

Upon the rousing conclusion of Turandot, we strolled the red carpet, joining Deepa Pakianathan, Barbara Kaufman, Paul May & Frank Stein, Tom Fontch & Milton Mosk, and many others in the VIP tent, richly designed

by Robert Fountain with yards of scarlet fabric, gold Asian figurines, a lively dance floor, and scattered seating amongst dessert and after-dinner drinks.

As we sauntered off into the chilly night accented with flaming outdoor heaters lining Van Ness Avenue, we once again relished in the wonder of all that is San Francisco.

We danced into the late hours of Saturday night at BeatBox, the new

club at 314 11th St. Event producer Locoya Hill warmly greeted everyone, DJ Lee Decker relentlessly energized the dancers, Sister Roma toyed with the handsomest men, hot fire-dancer Bunny mesmerized us all, and drag performer Mahlae dazzled the audience with her wild energy and spot-on lip-synching.

Here is a venue painstakingly designed to please, with a spacious dance floor and sizeable stage, high vaulted ceilings and spectacular lighting, cozy upstairs VIP room accessed by a sweeping staircase, and the first sound system of its kind on the West Coast, by Danley Sound Labs. Stop complaining about the waning SF nightlife, and get yourself over to this fabulous club now!

The Imperial Court’s Mr. & Miss Golden Gate concluded with the See page 27 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Sep. 15: Boy Auction at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom) featuring MC Sissy Parker. Win a dinner for two with the boys. Benefits Visual Aid. 9 p.m.-Midnight. $5 cover, $1 well drinks from 9-10 p.m. Go to: www. powerhouse-sf.com.

Fri., Sep. 16: Men in Gear Pre-Folsom Party at Kok Bar. No cover. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., Sep. 16: Edging with Michael Brandon at The Edge (18th & Collingwood). Celebrate leather with gogo studs, specials, demos, and bondage by Brent Ganetta. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.edgesf.com.

Fri., Sep. 16: Pec Night at The Powerhouse. Drinks specials for the shirtless. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www. powerhouse-sf.com.

Sat., Sep. 17: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef & Co. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Sat., Sep. 17: Beatpig at the Powerhouse. Juanita More! spins saucy grooves, dudes cruise. 9 p.m.2 a.m. Go to: www.beatpigsf.com or www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Sep. 18: 20th Annual Leather Walk (Castro & Market), official kick-off of Leather Week. Leather flag raising over Harvey Milk Plaza at Noon. Walk begins at 1 p.m., two miles to The Powerhouse, Hole in the Wall, Kok Bar and Lone Star. Benefits AEF/BCEF. Go to: www.mamasfamily.org.

Sun., Sep. 18: 14th Anniversary Party at the Powerhouse. Drink specials and hot leather/fetish/kink/gear folks. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Sep. 18: Sunday Oasis hosted by Miss Bee at the SF Citadel. $10 when you bring a potluck dish to share (feeding 20 people or more), or pay $20 reduced price.

Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sun., Sep. 18: Night Cruise Sundays at Kok Bar SF. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Sep. 18: Castrobear presents Sunday Furry Sunday at 440 Castro. 4-10 p.m. Go to: www.castrobear.com.

Mon., Sep. 19: Dominant/sub Discussion Group at the SF Citadel. $5-$15. 7:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Mon., Sep. 19: Night of Lust: Explicit Erotic Shorts

by Erika Lust at Roxie Cinema (3117 16th St.). 7:30 p.m.

Go to: www.roxie.com.

Tue., Sep. 20: Mind & Body Image in the SM Lifestyle presented by Queen Cougar at the SF Citadel.

Self-esteem and self-image are pivotal areas in the SM lifestyle. $20. 8-10 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Tue., Sep. 20: A Celebration of Sleaze! at the LGBT Center (1800 Market). Presented by Good Vibrations.

Discover what goes on behind the scenes and onscreen with filmmakers and talent from porn studios. $10. 8 p.m. Go to: http://gv-ixff.org/.

Wed., Sep. 21: Leathermen’s Discussion Group 8th Annual Fetish Fair at the SF Citadel. A dozen-plus demos of male-on-male kink. Non-male allies are welcome, too! Free, with $10 suggested donation. 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Go to: www.sfldg.org.

Wed., Sep. 21: Folsom Bear Welcome Party at Kok Bar. Bear organizations on hand. 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Wed., Sep. 21: Dirty Alley at the Powerhouse. Mr. S Leather is hosting demos, styles, toys and instructions. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Wed., Sep. 21: Joint Leather Buddies & Underwear Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), the official play space for Folsom Street Fair. Open 8 p.m.-12 a.m.

Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

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Karrnal >>

September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Cummer buds

by John F. Karr

I

’m a huge fan of Bryan Slater’s penis. It’s one of the world’s best.

Sure, he’s attractive and has less body fat on his astoundingly lean frame than one would think humanly possible. But oh, that dick.

It affects me like a salt lick does a deer. You can check out its shapely, solid splendor in hot photos at www.BryanSlaterXXX.com. Or in his films. He’s made two for Titan, and several more for Ray Dragon Video. Natch, being the ultimate cock connoisseur, I’ve seen em all.

Which can be frustrating. He’s not a naturally effusive performer, and needs a good partner, or better yet, a good director to jack him up. Could that be Joe Gage?

Dragon Video, a curious company with a spotty track record, is the current home of Mr. Gage, whose track record has recently been similarly spotty. It’s a pity his multi-year and multi-movie relationship with Titan had run its course and ended not long ago; the company had supported him with big budgets and advanced technical support. Dragon Video just doesn’t have those resources. And Gage’s formula seems to need them.

So his work for Dragon Video can be rewarding, as in the nicely produced Jock Park, with my man Slater in several scenes, plus the estimable Spike, a beefier than ever Ty LeBouef, and über-manly Colin Steele. And his work can be maddening, as in the listless Sex Files #5: The Night Before the Wedding.

There’s some effective sex in Sex Files #7: Doctors and Dads, but its production values have dribbled to the scrawniest minimum. It seems sometimes Gage is into it, and sometimes he ain’t. I’m thinking that his latest, Joe Gage Sex Files #8: Divorced Men’s Support Group, is one of those ain’ts.

I like upscale porn a lot – think the production value and technical finesse of Raging Stallion, Lucas, etc. And I like the directness of low-

Ray Dragon Video

Redhead and brunette: a melting moment before a dildo enters the picture in Joe Gage Sex Files #8: Divorced Men’s Support Group.

scale porn – think two guys and a bed at Randy Blue or Dominic Ford.

But I’m miffed by no-scale porn, and that’s the succinct description of Divorced Men’s Support Group.

The detriment of Dragon’s noscale production evokes a seeming no-effort from Gage. I can’t figure out whether he’s numb, his formula played out, or if the effect is intentional.

It could be, you know – the trappings of story porn stripped to the most basic. You’ll have to decide.

The first scene finds a sexy member of the support group arriving early and being ordered to jack off by the horny host, who lies in wait with hand on crotch. Yet script continuity is confusing or lacking.

Shouldn’t this scene come after the movie’s current second scene, in which Slater plays a plumber called to unplug the pipes before the men arrive? Oops, we’ve already seen at least one not only get there, but with time to get down. Slater’s scene begins jerkily, and the barren, haltingly delivered dialogue lets the actors appear lobotomized.

They survive this patchy stretch, of course, and while the action after Slater’s dick comes out may lack involvement, at least there’s something to look at. And though

the host’s cutie kid brother fucks rather mechanically, Slater as bottom does engender some deepbreathing passion.

The movie’s highpoint comes in the entirely worthwhile third scene.

A very handsome, lanky redhead takes on an even more handsome and deliciously hung brunette (a Jake Gyllenhaal lookalike), who thought that when his wife kicked him out he was grabbing belts and stuff to pack. Appraising the dildo that the brunette pulls from his “stuff,” the redhead remarks, “That’s not a belt, Pete.” Its presence propels them into sex, and their kissing and rimming and hole-stuffing are pretty hot – and are capped with redhead’s hungrily lapping up the cum brunette shoots in his mouth.

A concluding group scene for six guys is random and steamless, except for the last moment’s exciting wrap-up, when streams and streams of cum blast into a lucky cocksucker’s mouth.

Gage traditionally and necessarily brought more attention to the playing style of his cast, and had greater production support as well.

Yes, this time out, the condoms are so clear you think you’re watching barebacking. And yes, nifty editing swells the orgasms’ effectiveness.

But those don’t ameliorate the overly studied, uninvolving results of Divorced Men’s Support Group.▼

Steven Underhill

Gals at the Golden Gate Gaymes kickball/BBQ event in Collingwood Park last Sunday.

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On the Town

From page 26

Golden Gate Gaymes on Sunday, with hilarious outdoor games and bountiful food and drink in Collingwood Park, followed by the evening finale at Toad Hall, which we co-emceed with Emperors Jacques Michaels and John Weber.

The enthusiastic interest in this year’s competition (five teams, four contestants, and over $7,000 raised

for charity) is a credit to outgoing Mr. & Miss Golden Gate, Spike & Champagne Split, who were active and visible throughout their title year, and this year’s event producers, Empress Chablis and Miss Golden Gate 2009 Emma Peel.

We hope you were among the lucky couple thousand individuals to secure seats at the Golden Gate Theatre Friday night for the soldout, long-awaited return of Tony, Golden Globe, American Music,

Grammy, and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award-winning musical icon Diana Ross! Not since 1969 has this giant of the music industry performed in San Francisco, and you can bet that it will be a love-fest of mammoth proportions from a loving audience heavily weighted with our LGBT community. “Ain’t no mountain high enough” to keep us from being there to salute one of our truly deserving idols!▼

<< TV

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2011

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Tribute television

by Victoria A. Brownworth

T

V sears images into our heads on a daily basis. The fires in Texas, with the victims standing in the ashes of their lives, fighting back tears, holding some small remnant in their hands. The floods in Pennsylvania, with people being rescued by rowboats from the homes they’ve lived in for years,

because the rivers have crested over their neighborhoods and destroyed everything, leaving only new rivers of muddy water behind. The babies dying of starvation in Somalia and Kenya, with their skeletal mothers fanning the flies from their faces, and harried medical people trying to save who they can. The aftermath of car bombings throughout Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen,

Libya, with women keening and children crying, and men carrying torn-up bloodied bodies on makeshift stretchers in search of help as sirens wail and fires burn.

Yet when we turn on the tube, that’s not what we want to see: the horror and the disasters both man-made and natural. We are usually looking for escape: an absorbing drama, a hilarious sitcom, a compelling reality show, a surprising talent competition. We want to have a passive experience of relaxation. That’s what TV is for: to immerse us in languid enjoyment.

But it’s those other images that stay with us, the ones where TV takes us somewhere we would rather not be.

Ten years ago we were all watching TV at the same time, watching the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath, something we never wanted to see. But there it was on our TVs, inescapable and horrifying in a way we really couldn’t comprehend. We had never seen anything like this.

And we couldn’t look away. TV made us do that, even as it helped us through it. The past week has been all about commemoration, memorializing, and that day when we really were all one nation for just the briefest bit of time.

What made it happen was TV, because TV allowed us to see all the different vantage points of that day.

I worked in New York for years at a series of publications: OutWeek, QW, Spin, Poz. I also worked for a few mainstream newspapers for which I did investigative reporting that took me into parts of New York that most white girls don’t ever see. So New York was one of my special places. I’d been to the top of the World Trade Center, and stood outside on the top deck where the wind whipped you like crazy and you could feel the building sway, and it was both terrifying and exhilarating.

So on that impossibly blue-skied Tuesday morning, it was hard to believe what any of us was seeing.

Diane Sawyer, then the host of ABC’s GMA, tried to ascertain what was going on. Then the second plane hit. Then it was just nonstop TV for days, because you could barely stand to look away. We needed to hear those anchors as they tried not to cry, and ties got loosened and sleeves got rolled up, and suddenly we were all together: the anchors, the street reporters, the witnesses. Seeing the planes going into the buildings over and over never seemed to lessen the eerie unreality of it all. We were in an episode of Fringe and had gone through the portal into the other world. We were watching a movie like Apocalypse Now, where the planes fly in low, and fire erupts out of impossible places.

A decade ago, I wrote here about that day and how it was TV’s finest moment, keeping us grounded, sane and soothed. For those of us who had little faith in government,

CBS News anchor Scott Pelley toured the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero last week during extensive commemorative coverage.

we were able to have faith in TV. Because the newspeople were Americans like us, fearful, hurt, appalled and shattered like us. But they also had a job to do, and it took bravery to do that for days on end with no respite.

So this week, when the images came flooding back with some of the same people retelling the story, when they showed it all to us again, it was as vivid as if it had just happened.

I wasn’t sure how much of it I could listen to.

I’ve never understood the madness of killing innocents, or of thinking innocents are collectively guilty. I’ve never stopped being angry about that day and all it has led to: the killing that has peppered our TV news with blood over the ensuing decade, but which has not shown us a hint of resolution to either the carnage of that day or the carnage of our attempts at avenging it.

CBS News anchor Scott Pelley was a reporter until he became anchor.

He has a lot of the battle-weary tough guy about him. On the Sept. 9 evening broadcast, he got a glimpse of the new memorial to the victims.

I’d seen a lot in the 9/11 anniversary lead-up, interviews with the families of the dead, and with first responders. Sawyer did a moving piece on her Sept. 9 broadcast with the children of fathers who were killed on 9/11. The segment ended with pictures of the kids next to pictures of the fathers, and to a one, they looked exactly like their dead parent. Gut-wrenching. But it was Pelley in a hard-hat looking out over this remarkable memorial that reduced me to sobbing.

There is incomparable beauty in simplicity, and this is the most simple of memorials. But that implies rudimentary or limited, and it is neither. There is a wall of water and two empty spaces replicating where the towers would have been.

The names of the dead are engraved behind the water, and the feeling of absence that the designer wanted to convey is all too apparent.

What hasn’t been paid tribute to over the last week has been those anchors and reporters who in the days after the attacks kept us from

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freaking out. Some broke down: the late Peter Jennings talking about his kids; Dan Rather having a moment of disbelief; Tom Brokaw posing questions for which there would never be answers. But they all made us believe that we would get through this. That’s what TV is supposed to do for us: help us keep it together.

So I wanted to pay tribute to those people who helped me and millions of other Americans get through those days to this one, 10 years later.

That 9/11 reportage was a watershed moment, and everyone stepped up to the challenge with humanity. It was stark, raw, and Teleprompterfree, and that’s what we needed.

For the most part, this column is a paean to TV. I love its immediacy.

I am frequently frustrated by the news we’re not seeing, and if I have one complaint about the 9/11 tributes, it is this: 9/11 led us directly into wars that we are still in a decade later. (Yes, I know Iraq was not about 9/11, but its architects linked that war to the attacks.) The 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11 have been joined by thousands more: our own soldiers, and a huge cohort of Afghan, Iraqi and Pakistani civilians and soldiers. That’s the part of the memorializing that’s been left out of the coverage. The victims of 9/11 led inexorably to so many more victims.

TV has a job to do. It can create controversies where none really exist, like Chaz Bono joining Dancing with the Stars as the fattest contestant ever. (Oh wait, that’s not the controversy, never mind.) Or it can explore issues like the growing number of Americans dealing with hunger, as an ABC series has been investigating in vivid detail. Or it can present our queer selves in surprising roles, like Jane Lynch, who will be hosting the Emmys. Or it can stand our politicians up there and open them for examination, or merely derision. TV has such an amazing range. But as the commemoration of 9/11 starts to fade, we should remember this: Nothing can bring us together in the way TV can. Its immediacy takes us right there, wherever right there is. And for a time we will all be right there on that September morning, because TV doesn’t let us forget.

Just one of the reasons we must stay tuned.▼

▼

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September 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Nancy Fishman Film Releasing

Nancy Fishman Film Releasing

(Top to bottom:) Dana Frider (Shuli), Ido Rosenberg (Meir), and Alon Levi (Gabriel) in Mary Lou.

Director Eytan Fox, whose Mary Lou plays the Castro, Sept. 17-21.

<<

big budget – by American standards, it’s pennies – to make a musical.

Mary Lou

From page 17

Mary Lou. So where are you now?

Tell me, Mary Lou.” The film begins as a candycolored sugar rush, with an impossibly precocious 10-yearold boy embracing his beautiful if emotionally fragile mom’s love for the music of 70s Israeli pop star Svika Pick. Then it turns dark and moody, as that boy becomes a young man desperate to fabricate a soothing myth to explain his mom’s abrupt disappearance to follow her dream. Following a bizarre high school musical humiliation, Meir (Ido Rosenberg) runs off to Tel Aviv to join a family of drag performers.

He experiences the whiplash and heartache of an assortment of failed stabs at love. From Eytan Fox, the acclaimed director of Walk on Water, The Bubble and Yossi & Jagger, this flashy but solidly grounded survey of modern Israeli gay life reveals the price a talented young drag star must

<<

pay to turn his mom’s delusions into the basis for a satisfying grownup queer life.

Calling Tel Aviv requires radically resetting my internal clock: 8 in the morning is 10 at night hereabouts.

After a lot of digits, a jovial Eytan Fox calmly addresses my queries. Who the hell is this Svika Pick? And what gives with Mary Lou? “I don’t know what the American equivalent of Svika Pick would be.

He started as the lead in the Israeli version of Hair in the 1960s, which of course, for Israel the whole concept of Hair the musical was outrageous, because Israel in the 60s was so conservative.

“Pick started his career as the writer of Israeli pop/rock hits. My generation grew up on his music, the first time I ever danced with a girl was to Svika Pick tunes. Like ABBA, he’s been having these endless comebacks every few years. The Israeli National Theatre wanted to ride the current idea of taking songs by the same artist – like ‘Mamma Mia,’ the big ABBA

song – and turn them into a successful musical. Everyone was very critical of that: how can our national theatre, that’s supposed to do Shakespeare and Chekhov, deal with a musical with silly Svika Pick music?

“It turned out to be their biggest hit ever, people who never go to the theatre came to see this. While the play was enjoyable, the story was terrible. Three years later, I was contacted by Israeli’s biggest cable channel, Hot, they really do the best stuff in Israel: remember the HBO series In Treatment? Hot started it, and franchised it all over the world.

Even Russia has its version.

“They bought the rights to Pick’s music only, and decided to create a musical mini-series. As opposed to the very heterosexual play, Hot commissioned a great adaptation. I’ve never read such beautiful screenplays, I was so happy, I thought this could have been me writing this, these are themes I’ve been dealing with throughout my career. If you asked me my one dream, I’d say give me a

David Lamble: I love your lead actor, Ido Rosenberg. While watching it at the Castro, I thought: if this guy’s multilingual, he could be an international star.

He’s got charisma, acting chops, the whole package.

Eytan Fox: He’s a great guy, he hasn’t been doing a lot of film in Israel. One of the reasons is that in Israeli film and television, the male characters are, how would I put it?

Traditional Israeli men: you can see their army service written on their foreheads.

Kind of hypermacho?

He’s been going to all these auditions, and he’s not that character, obviously. He’s more sophisticated, some would say more effeminate?

I wouldn’t say he’s effeminate.

I think he has a kind of androgynous charisma, but I think he walks the masculine/feminine

fence very nicely. Like Germany’s Daniel Bruhl, he has the possibility of crossing over.

I met him when he just finished acting school, around the time of my film The Bubble, and I was considering him as one of the leads.

How are you and your longtime boyfriend Gal Uchovsky doing these days?

How do you say, hanging in there.

A week ago, we celebrated 22 years.

It needs a lot of maintenance. We’ve decided not to make films together anymore – living together, having a family together, and making films together is a little too much. We’ve decided to stay together as a couple, a family, and make films separately. So Mary Lou is actually the first film I’ve done on my own, without Gal. He’s become like a star in Israeli television: he has all these talk shows. He used to be a judge on Israeli Idol until he quit last season after five seasons.

He’s developing an Israeli Glee for Israeli TV.▼

Once in a Lifetime

From page 17

elocution experts to help silent-film stars make the transition to talkies.

Even though neither Kaufman nor Hart had ever been inside a Hollywood studio, they capture the ego-driven insanity of the industry, often through a parade of character roles.

“I’m having the actors look at pieces of old Hollywood films,” Rucker said. “We’re especially looking at character actors from the period to provide inspiration for those actors who are doing a lot of different roles.”

That would be much of the cast, since Rucker has 15 actors covering dozens of roles – “70 roles,” he said, “if you count every single person who speaks a line.” He’s also incorporating vintage film clips to provide, for example, the moving landscape during a scene that takes place on a train, and to cover the set changes. He’s filming some footage meant to represent the movie that is part of the play’s plot.

Rucker got a head start on how to make Once in a Lifetime work with a reduced cast when he directed a workshop production with students in ACT’s acting conservatory. It’s unlikely that ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff would have plucked this play from the ether had Rucker not directed the workshop that scored a hit with those who saw it.

And certainly a contributing factor was the passion Rucker has for the play. Rucker, a freelance director who has worked across the country for the past 20 years, joined the ACT staff last year as associate artistic director, and last season directed Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet. Now he’s part of the discussion as ACT’s

Kevin Berne New York Public Library collection

The original 1930 cast of Kaufman and Hart’s Once in a Lifetime starred, from left, Jean Dixon, Grant Mills, and Hugh O’Connell, as out-of-work vaudevillians who try to pass themselves off as elocution experts just as Hollywood is embracing the talkies. Charles Halton, right, played a studio executive so far unimpressed with their services.

seasons are assembled, and brought to the table Maple and Vine, Jordan Harrison’s offbeat and dark tribute to the 1950s that he will direct in the spring.

But going back to Once in a Lifetime, Rucker first became aware of the play around age 12, when he read Moss Hart’s autobiography Act One. A few years later, members of the drama club at his Newport Beach high school took a theater trip to England when the Royal Shakespeare Company happened to be presenting Once in a Lifetime.

“It was not great,” he said, “and I remember saying, ‘I could do better than this.’”

Even at that age, he aimed to be a director, an urge that perhaps began when he commandeered his third-grade production of The

Night Before Christmas when no one seemed to be in charge. “I was a bit of tyrant in high school as a director,” he acknowledged.

“Luckily, when I got to UCLA, there were all the other tyrants, so I got my comeuppance.”

Though in high school he was not out yet as gay, partly because he hadn’t figured out what he was, the drama department was still a refuge.

In some ways, his story mirrors that of Marcus, the teenage title character in Tarell Alvin McRaney’s play, who is recognized as gay by family and peers even before he realizes it himself.

“I did a play in high school where I played a gay character, and I camped it up and everybody laughed, and I got a lot of validation for essentially making fun of myself,

Once in a Lifetime director Mark Rucker, who recently joined the ACT staff, and who has wanted to direct the Kaufman and Hart play since he was 16.

even though I didn’t understand it that way yet. I remember a couple people saying, that really comes easily to you, doesn’t it?”

But the light bulb above his head began to glow when he was chosen as an intern at a summer theater in the Poconos. “There were lots of young actors from New York who were gay and were very comfortable with themselves. I had great mentors that way.”

After graduating from UCLA, he and several friends tried to start a tiny theater in downtown L.A. that didn’t take off. He headed east to the Yale School of Drama, and that began to open the professional doors. He has since directed at many of the country’s major regional theaters, but there is scant lure for him to enter the commercial theater that culminates on Broadway.

“I’ve witnessed my friends who got involved in things like that, and it looks terrifying to me,” he

said. “No thank you to the idea of producers and investors screaming at you to change things.”

Even so, he and fellow playwright Keith Bunin (The Busy World Is Hushed) are working on a show that will open in Pittsburgh in November that he thinks could move to a commercial off-Broadway run in New York. “It’s about a gay man in 1958, and it’s set in the West Village club called the Bon Soir, where Barbra Streisand later got her start. We’re calling it Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, and it’s sort of a cabaret theater piece that I’m very excited about. Who knows, before it goes to New York, maybe we’ll do it in San Francisco.”

After all, after 20 years on the road, it is now his hometown.▼ Once in a Lifetime will run Sept.

22-Oct. 16 at ACT. Tickets are $9.50-$85. Call 749-2228 or go to www.act-sf.org.

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