FEATURE ISSUE DERICK DANIELS
rocky comes to the shell
CLUB UE
everybody's talking 'bout it
FAVES THIS MONTH
my guardian angels
ISSUE 1
2010
N o v e m b e r
Table of Contents Nov. 2010 Issue
1
3 Derek Daniels Productions
Derek Daniels Brings Rocky to the Shell
5 Club UE
You don’t want to join this club
13 Faves This Month
My Featured Photos
16 Here’s the Deal
by Twan Matthews
CREATOR, PRODUCTION, WRITER, TECHNICAL, MULTIMEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHER, ETC. (UNLESS OTHERWISE MENTIONED) Jeanne Wynne Herring PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS Erich Steinwandt, Stefani Roberts and Scott Cozza LOGO DESIGN Chad Burch
T
Excellence Happens
through endurance, perseverance, hope, love and blessings.
Excellence isn’t given to
you, you have to fight for it.
MODELS Seen Here - Twan Matthews, Erich Steinwandt, Anthony Acosta, Jr., Jeanne Wynne Herring Battle of the Minions - Bradon Agena, Danny Shin, and Kevin Won Angel of Rebirth - Cheryl Bartlett
DEREK
GIVES
ROCKY
DANIELS
BIRTH AT
WAIKIKI
TO
THE
SHELL
During the depression, the
on stage. “That was very cool!” Jennifer was one of the fans in the crowd. She was dressed like her favorite character, Magenta. “I went to the live show at Manoa Valley Theatre, I went to one at Bar 35 in Chinatown, but I’ve never seen it with live actors performing with the movie. The choreography stuck with the movie but he (Derek) made it his own.”
Ziegfeld Follies filled the people with joy with his spectacular performances. Like Ziegfeld, Derek Daniels brings happiness to this generation’s struggles. With his outrageous fashions, and laugh a minute antics, Derek gives his audience a couple hours of joy that will last in their hearts for days. This year’s first annual The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Waikiki Shell “This was a dream come true.” Lymari was just another way to remind Hawaii that Graciano is the biggest fans of Rocky She was cast as one of the dancers in the show, life is fun after all. but she isn’t a dancer. “I think it’s because “It as been a good ride,” Derek smiles as he I showed up to auditions, and I knew every reflex on his glorious years as a performer. word (of the show). I was perky, and I tried to keep up. It was fun.” Derek Daniels Production has been in Hawaii for over 11 years delighting audiences. “We perform at all the catastrophic entertainment. Now to be in the first annual Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Waikiki Shell is honorable and very prestigious.” “Derek is the bomb!” Sole of Sole Productions decided to produce Rocky at the Shell after her friends, Steve and Denise, planted the idea in her head. “I came to Derek, and said, ‘can we do this in four weeks’ and he said ‘yes!’ Oh my God! Of course, yes!”
Don Richards have been with Derek for around five years. It wasn’t a surprise to see Don in one of the favorite rolls of Rocky. “It was a great honor being Riffraff. I loved it. It’s an honor to be a part of the first cast.” The Rocky Horror Picture Show truly was spectacular! “I’m super happy with everyone and the show. We are going to do it again next year” Sole tells me, full of excitement.
Derek beams, “We will have a bigger cast, have more elaborate costumes, and add more “We had reservations about doing it on numbers to the show.” Halloween,” Derek remembers, “but there really was nothing going on between the time “It was just fun and exciting,” Jennifer of 5:30 PM and 10 PM. From here, they go giggled, “it really was. It made you want to straight to the party, and they’re all revved jump up and down and scream, and we did!” up you know...rrrrrreved up.” He laughs. He was right on. The audience was wound up! To book Derek Daniels Productions email Derek at derekderekaol.com his web site The audience was shocked to see live actors www.derekdanielsproductions.com
Hearing
a person is unemployed is not much of a shock today. It is not uncommon to walk into the unemployment office and see a friend or two holding a ticket waiting to be called. I recently lost my job one week after a good friend of mine lost his. I went to the unemployment office, a few days later, and hung out with another friend of mine. That wasn’t the only time I ran into a friend there. I made new friends and listened to their stories; I watched people reunite with friends and family they hadn’t seen in a long time and I listened as the ladies at the counter welcomed returning claimants. My friend and I joked that the office was a “club”. (I even had a remarkably good-looking guy try to pick me up after seeing me across the crowded room.)
Sadly you can say it is a “club”. These are the times. Everyone is joining this “club” of struggle and despair. It doesn’t have to be this way in your heart. If it isn’t in your heart, then it will not sit in your mind. You can move beyond this depression and find hope and opportunity. I spoke with Tony, Christopher and Beth. All who, through endurance and perseverance, are pushing their way through this recession with determination, relentlessness and silliness.
Tony
Tony, his boyfriend and I took his
today, and they had me do a third one while I was there. So,” he shrugs, “we two dogs to the dog park to discuss his will see.” He smiles at me as if to say recent termination. He was let go one “everything will be fine” though I knew week before I. We had been spending that wasn’t what he was thinking. some time together playing with his animals trying to keep our spirits up. “In the mean time I take odd jobs. Like I painted someones ceiling for $100 for 10 As he watches his dogs run wildly hours.” He rolls his eyes remembering through the park, Tony draws from the hell. “Uhg! It was so hot and the his straw trying to get that last bit of paint kept dripping on me! I didn’t like blended coffee from the bottom of that too much,” he laughs. I bartended his cup. “I’m 26, and since I started for someone’s gallery opening for $300 working at age 15, I have never which wasn’t bad, but I think I should been unemployed. I worked retail, have gotten more since the time he I managed a photography company, quoted me was for two hours one day a coffee shop, and I bartended for and three hours the next. I ended up a couple of years. I lost my job as staying four and six! a bartender at a gay bar on August 16th, and I have had trouble finding “Let’s see...I took a couple of beds from work since. next door that they didn’t want and sold it on Craig’s list. Um...I’m at home “I was denied unemployment playing with the animals,” he giggles. insurance, so I have no income. I’ve “I have two dogs and two cats. been spending my time searching. I’m finding that there are no jobs out there “My dad and my friends help me get that will pay my expenses, but at this by, but I’m using the rest of my savings point,” he shrugs, “I don’t care. I just to pay rent. If I don’t get a job by next want a job, but too many people tell month’s rent I’m going to have to hook,” me I’m over qualified. If the job is in he laughs. my price range, they say I’m under qualified because I have no college. Tony did get that job with Maui Divers Jewelry just in time to pay rent. So, he “I go out on plenty interviews,” he didn’t have to become a hooker. chuckles ironically. “In fact, I went to a second interview for Maui Divers
Christopher and I relaxed on the
myself a lecture about getting up and lanai of the world-famous Hulas Bar having courage. and Lei Stand in Waikiki. We chatted about how “lucky we lived Hawaii” as “One time I was touring Europe, we watched the ocean crash against the and I had been in the Middle East. sand. Hard to be sad about losing our I landed in Greece, and I was going jobs in such beautiful surroundings. back to England and I lost my ticket.” With his think British accent, he begins He grabs his head remembering the telling me what gets him through his horror. “I don’t know how I did it. I lost my bloody ticket! I was stuck in current situation. Athens I had no money for a ticket. “Sometimes I have to lie down and give But some how, I don’t know why, the myself a good lecture, and remember bus driver let me back on the bus to go things that are very important to me from Athens back to Victoria Station.” about life and living. When things come unexpected like getting a call one day “I was petrified the whole time, and I from your employer. You love your remember, when we crossed the English job, it’s your dream job, you’re doing channel, and the bus trip to Victoria well, you’re getting paid well, you’re was over, I kept seeing these signs on paying your bills, you’re paying off the road, and they said ‘take courage, your student loans...I even had money take courage...’ It was all along the way to spare. All of sudden they call you up to London. What it really was, was a and say, ‘well, we love your work, you beer advertisement for Courage Beer. are a great employee, but we are going ‘Take courage, Take Courage Beer.’ But to have to lay you off because of the I took it as my motto, and I never forgot economy’ and such. With no warning that I need to get up, take courage, and just move on. That compels me to go at all. forward ...that insists me to go forward. “If I were in my 20s, it would have devastated me because I didn’t have “When I lost my job, I found another much experience. But now my gut for 16 hours a week, so I thought, ‘huh, feeling is that it is horrible. In my I’ve never been on unemployment mind, I say ‘well you know, alright, I’ll before. I’m going to go down and apply make lemonade out of lemons’ to use for unemployment’ and I did. Then I the phrase ‘and I work at that’ and I started looking for work, and I thought, just lie down and concentrate. I give ‘what a grand opportunity’!
Christopher
“I decided to go back to school and study Hawaiian. I always wanted to study the Hawaiian language. I was raised here but I never had the opportunity, so I’m doing that now. “I’m looking for work that interests me, and I have confidence that I will find something that stimulates my mind my heart and my spirit. I have that belief and I’m feeling great about that.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christopher currently works on a job where he enjoys doing what he is best: going above and beyond to bring joy to others. Not only is he learning the Hawaiian language but he also dances Hula and is learning belly dancing.
Beth and I chatted over coffee at a shop in a noisy shopping mall.An expressive
actor, she goes right into her nightmarish experience with unemployment. “ While I was laying in bed sick with MRSA, I got a knock on the door at my house. I opened the door and there was a guy with a certified letter saying I have two weeks then I’m done. Now, this (job) was something I always wanted to do so I was okay with the possibility the job would last only six months, or a year because I was taking the place of a guy who went to serve overseas. But I assumed I was going to know with more advance warning, and the people I worked for had told me earlier not to worry about being laid off because there was a job that was in the works for me.” She started shaking her head and scoffed remembering. “I’m not going to have a job, which means my insurance is going and I’m in bed with MRSA taking eight pills a day trying to kill this thing. I’ve never been in such a scary position in my life. “I had no idea how the system was going to work with unemployment. So, I started calling people. ‘It’s going to take 4-6 weeks before you get your first check for unemployment.’ But how am I going to pay rent. ‘Course you get scared, and the shit hits the fan, and you’re like, ‘what the hell.’ Then I couldn’t just jump up and do stuff because of the MRSA. It was just horrible. “The very month I went to unemployment and gave them my paperwork is when the jam up started happening. I’d talk to one person; they’d tell me one thing. I’d wait a week and nothing would happen. I’d go back. They’d look at my stuff on the screen. ‘Oh they put that in wrong. You really are this. We fixed it now, and everything should be okay.’ I’d go home and a week would go by. No check. Go back again. ‘Oh maybe this is the problem.’ The one hang up was that personel said I was fired and not just terminated, as if I did something wrong and got kicked off the job, and that wasn’t the case. Three, four, or five people were always looking at my file and doing different things. “Finally it was two days before I had to pay my rent, and I had no money. I swear, if I didn’t pray and believe in God, I wouldn’t be here because that was the only thing that kept me going. I was thinking ‘what did I do wrong, what are you trying to teach me? I can’t do this without you.’ I’m a 45-yearold person with a master’s degree in teaching. Why am I broke? Why am I
Bet
eth
unemployed, you know? So, I finally was at the end of my rope and I just went in and up to the counter! They started doing the usual song and dance. I just said, ‘I wanna talk to your supervisor!’ They tried to not let me talk to her. ‘I owe my rent in two days and I have zero money! I have done everything right! I have done the paperwork right! I have gone through the system the way I was supposed to. I have been kind, I have been nice and I’m still getting screwed.’ “So finally the supervisor came to the counter. She saw me. She knew I wasn’t full of shit. She went through the computer and just started shaking her head. She told me ‘I will call your landlord for you if this check doesn’t get to you by the first of the month.’ She gave me her number and direct line. I was, like, in tears. I knew I was going to break down in there cuz I was so, you know... you just get to the point where you just can’t take one more thing. It was just shear perseverance, and that’s when I realized that God was Number One. “Finally I got the check and I paid my rent on time. I did what I was told to do. I did the process. As it were, I was applying for jobs. I got in touch with the school I worked five years ago and they needed part-time help and that’s where I’ve been for the past year. If they needed subs I’d come in. Full-time, part-time, whatever they needed. I’m back on my feet. I’m still struggling. I’m working pay check to pay check. But I am back on my feet. I just can’t go out and spend money hangin out in bars-n-stuff. I’ve appreciated the hang-outwith-a-six-pack-with-my-friends life style,” she smiles. “Oooohh yeah! It’s on sale for $6.99. Let’s get that one.” She throws her head back and laughs. Beth continues to teach and make extra cash by following her passion as an actress and singer. Often you will see her on the Honolulu stage, in the opera or on/in the TV/films that roll through the islands. What is Mrsa - WebMD This tiny cluster of bacteria is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), seen under a microscope. This strain of the common “staph” bacteria causes infections in different parts of the body - including the skin, lungs, and other areas. MRSA is sometimes called a “superbug” because it is resistant to many antibiotics. Though most MRSA infections aren’t serious, some can be life-threatening
Faves this Month!
My Guardian Angels
The Angel Minions from “The Battle of the The past year has been touch and go for me as it has been for us all. What am I thankful for this year? I am thankful for getting through it all with the help of my family, friends and people I don’t even know. People God has blessed me with. We all have guardian angels, and they probably are not sent to us dressed in white wearing wings. This Thanksgiving think about those who have been your Guardian Angels and take time to thank them.
Angel of Rebirth Selections from my Soul Saviour series which were shot for Jeff Katts’ The Soul Saviors.
Who are these freaks?
H ERE’ S T H E D E AL by Twan Matthews
When I was first asked to write this article. I was so excited and honored. I was finally given a platform to dispense some advice and wisdom to my generation. This month’s issue is about the survivors of the jobless. I am here to let everyone know be quite inventive and creative, that you are not alone in this situation. I will when it comes to making money. tell you a bit about the situation that I am in at the moment. I cannot believe that I am actually Now before all you freaks go off the deep end. I did not do porn giving the world an inside look, as to what Twan or do some sort of fetish video. I Matthews is all about. decided, by a friend’s suggestion to pose nude for the art students at I was working at an exceptionally high-end the University of Hawaii. I know boutique two years ago. My life was fabulous. it is not the total ideal; but, hey, I had a bit of money, no real responsibilities Mama has got to get her cocktail and friends all around the world. I guess you money somehow. could call me a man about town, if you will. I know those who are probably I had paid off my car, and I was living at home. going to have a field day with Which to say in your thirties is a sad case within this. I would take my recyclables, itself but more on that later. Then on December and my neighbor’s down to the 24th, 2008 everything cha Reynold Recycling Station, and get money that way, as well. It’s nged. I made a grave mistake within the not going to pay your cell phone company, unbeknownst to me. My walking bill, but you will have a hell of a papers were given to me on December 28th, weekend. 2008. I received unemployment until the State found out that I was fired for, what was Yes, these things sound strange to categorized by the company as, “employee the normal human being. However, misconduct.” My benefits stopped, and I had I am not your normal human no money coming in, and let me tell you I could being. I am Twan Matthews and not get a job if they were giving them away. I NEED A COCKTAIL! It is true. Like they say, “WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES Where there’s a will there’s a way. ANOTHER ONE OPENS” But the question Well in my case a GAYWAY!! See I had to pose to myself was: “ WHAT AM I you around. GOING TO DO FOR MONEY” and “how am I going to pay my f$%$#^* bills?” Trust you can
aren't
we
all
just
sweet
transvestites
from
Transsexual, Transylvania?
Derek Daniels as Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Sole - The Producer of Rocky at the Let’s do the time warp again!!
Shadiya as Magenta Don Richards as Riff raff I’m just a sweet transvestite Twan! Of course!
Best Fans ever!
The Birth of Rocky
Hulas Bar and Lei Stand’s 2010 Hulaween’s Costume Contest ~ Trueblood ~ Winners!
The Warehouse Killed it Halloween! Killed It!!!
Be sure to check out the March issure on my favorite djs of Hawaii
Theme Category Lady Gaga
Service men and women! I want to see your family photos! The family you have become so close to while serving your country. The folks in your company, on your ship, in your platoon...
Non-theme Category Gay Unicorn
Send your family photos, along with your family history in 100 words or less, by Nov. 20th to excellencedec@gmail.com. The best 10 will be featured in the December issue. Be as creative as you’d like to be without being nasty! Whether you are still serving or not, please participate. All ages are encouraged and appreciated.
Group Category Alice in Wonderland
This was all made possible by the good Lord.
To hire Jeanne for photography services, go to her website! Jeanne Wynne Herring Photography jeannewynne.com Visit me on FaceBook: Jeanne Wynne Herring Photography