GayWisdom

Barack OBollywood!

Corpus Christi

Terrence McNally's controversial play Corpus Christi is playing at the Rattlestick Theatre, New York City, October 14-26. Nic Arnzen directed.

Corpus Christi is a retelling of the Jesus story, updated to 1950s Corpus Christi, Texas. Originally opening ten years ago at the Manhattan Theatre Club to intense protest and bomb threats it disturbed conservative Christiana with its depiction of a "Gay Jesus."

The cast includes Nic Arnzen (Peter), Amanda Axelrod (Simon), Jan Ambler (Andrew), James Brandon (Joshua), Steve Callahan (Judas Iscariot), Melissa Caulfield (John the Baptist), Elizabeth Cava (Matthew), Mark "Colby" Colbert (James), Steve Hasley (Bartholomew), Molly O'Leary (Thomas), David Pevsner (Philip), Sheilagh Polk (James the Less -- Week One), Scott Presley (James the Less -- Week Two), and Suzanne Santos (Thaddeus).

Presented by the LA-based 108 Productions, this revival is performed in honor of Matthew Shepard, whose brutal murder occurred just 24 hours prior to the play's world premiere in 1998. Proceeds from the show  benefit The Matthew Shepard Foundation, now also in its 10th anniversary, in support of their efforts to "Erase Hate" in today's society. For more information, visit www.108productions.org.

A Friend and An Ally

We don't usually do a lot of "celebrity news" here. But it is truly sad to hear, this morning, of the passing of Paul Newman. Alas, Mr. Newman was not a Gay man. He was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years. Lucky Joanne. Lucky Paul.

But both he and Ms. Woodward were longtime allies of the Gay community and in 1978 wrote a fundraising letter to raise money to fight yet another California ballot initiative...the first anti-gay ballot initiative, the Briggs Initiative, aka No On Six for those of us who fought it.

I know about this letter because I wrote it, under the guidance of David Mixner, and then, one bright Los Angeles morning, drove it over to the Newman home for their signature, where they...Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward for god's sake!...invited me in and served me coffee and talked about how important it was to defeat the initiative. The maid had showed me in, and took me to the room and invited me to sit. As I entered the room, there was Paul Newman, talking on the phone, sitting on a low sofa in a sunroom at the rear of the house...in his underwear and a bathrobe. He waved me in and pointed to another place on the sofa for me to sit (me not knowing where to not look...not at his underwear or not at his ice blue eyes!!)

He got off the phone and shook my hand, calling out "Joanne...you got some coffee in there?...you want some coffee?" he said, turning to me. And before I could respond, out comes Joanne Woodward with a tray of coffee and danish. She poured me a cup. They both sat and reread the letter and, after a little coffee talk, signed the letter and I was on my way...floating just ever so slightly above the surface of the earth for the rest of the day. What we talked about, I couldn't have told you five minutes later. But I do remember how comfortable they made me feel. How unaffected they both were, and how concerned they were that Gay rights be defended. Aside from the millions of dollars he went on to give to charities and will continue to give as those companies continue, the Gay community has lost a great ally in a time when we still need allies.

Our sincerest sympathies and condolences to Ms. Woodward and the entire Newman family.

Thank You Dave...

Dave pretty much says it all here:

My favorite is: What are you going to do if you're President and there's a crisis? Suspend being President? Seems to me Senator McCain has signaled quite clearly where he thinks he belongs. In the Senate.

The Liberal Media

This speaks for itself...

Pearls Over Shanghai

Dear Lovers of the Sublime and the Ridiculous,

Sunday night I saw the Thrillpeddlers, a young and gorgeous San Francisco theater company, perform a revival of the Cockettes' wacky, sweet "Oriental" musical Pearls Over Shanghai in repertory with Charles Ludlam's Jack in the Beanstalk.  Both were great.  Pearls was  beautiful.   Fayetta Hauser and Billy Bowers'  created a  visual feast.   It's not by chance The Cockettes documentary is being screened at the Jeu de Paume for Paris fashion week later in the month with docs about Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

Scrumbly Koldewyn's music is lush and gorgeous.  Chris Tanner made a guest appearance to sing Jaded Lady and word has it that Justin Bond will sing it Wednesday.   The show is a surrealist dreamscape that belongs in performanace at MoMA or the Whitney.  The Thrillpeddlers have done 1969 proud.

So come on out for the FINAL PERFORMANCES.

TONITE, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER  9 at  8 p.m., Charles Busch's THEODORA, SHE BITCH OF BYZANTIUM and the Thrillpeddlers' BLUE HOUR VARIETY ACTS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 at 8  p.m., the Cockettes' PEARLS OVER SHANGHAI and Charles Ludlam's JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

45 BLEEKER THEATER @ Lafayette and Bleeker.

PASS THE WORD.  Tickets are $15 each and well worth it.

God Save Jon Stewart...

I never thought I'd see the day when I would say: I agree with Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly and Dick Morris...at least when they're not flip-flopping...:

An American Prayer...

A Jihad For Love

A Jihad for Love opens in San Francisco and Berkeley on August 22nd at the Landmark Lumiere and Shattuck Theaters! Producer Sandi DuBowski (Director of the award-winning, Trembling Before G-d) and Director/Producer Parvez Sharma will lead Q & A after screenings from Friday, August 22nd – Monday, August 25th.

Landmark's Lumiere Theatre
1572 California St., San Francisco
(415) 267-4893
Fri-Sun at 2:15, 4:45, 7:00, 9:30;
Mon-Thu at 4:45, 7:00, 9:30
Director/Producer Parvez Sharma
& Producer Sandi DuBowski in person
4:45 & 7:00, Fri 8/22, Sun 8/24, & Mon 8/25
Buy Tickets Online

Landmark's Shattuck Cinemas
2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 464-5980
Daily at 3:05, 5:15, 7:20, 9:35 (valid 8/22-28)
Director/Producer Parvez Sharma & Producer Sandi DuBowski
in person 5:15 & 7:20, Sat 8/23 at Shattuck-Berk
Buy Tickets Online

After Premieres at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals and in over 20 countries, A Jihad for Love has won five international awards and has inspired a media blitz across the world. Tens of thousands of people have participated in a thought-provoking dialogue about Islam that the film has catalyzed.

Producer, Sandi Dubowski, is a member of the Advisory Board of The White Crane Institute. 

Why I'm Voting Republican...