Monthly Archives: October 2012

10.31.12
by

Margaret Cho

“The Pope talks so much shit. The Pope was castigating the media for making gays look normal. YEAH, you’re a real GOOD judge of normal, with your gold dress and your matching gold hat, living it up in the Vatican with 500 men surrounded by the finest antiques in the world! Queen, please! You live like Versace did”!

Margaret Cho was born Dec. 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. “It was different than any other place on Earth,” she says. “I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the ’70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the ’60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot – that’s the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time.”

Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret’s father who writes joke books – in Korean. “Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers – real corny stuff,” Cho says. “I guess we’re in the same line of work. But we don’t understand each other that way. I don’t know why the things he says are funny and the same for him.”

What Margaret did know is that she didn’t love being a kid. Racing toward adulthood to escape bullying, she began writing jokes for stand up at 14 and professionally performing at age 16. Getting picked on, and feeling disenfranchised, is a subject that’s very near to Margaret’s heart. She has become a sort of “Patron Saint” for Outsiders, speaking for them when they are not able to speak for themselves. “Being bullied influenced my adult life because I grew up too fast. I was in such a hurry to escape that I cheated myself out of a childhood. I didn’t want to go to school any more, didn’t want to be around those people any more. I want to use what happened to me to help other kids.”

Soon after starting her Stand Up career, Margaret won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early ’90s and, still in her early twenties, hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for “Campus Comedian of The Year.” She performed over 300 concerts within two years. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.

Her groundbreaking, controversial, and short-lived ABC sitcom, All-American Girl (1994) soon followed. Oddly, while chosen because of who she was – a non-conformist Korean American woman with liberal views – the powers-that-be then decided they wanted her to “tone it down” for the show. Challenging Margaret’s feelings for both who she was and how she looked, she soon realized that though she was an Executive Producer, it was a battle she would not win. “For fear of being too “ethnic,” the show got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do.”

The experience was a traumatic one, bringing up unresolved feelings left over from childhood, and Margaret developed an eating disorder as a response to criticism about her body. She was so obsessive in her goal to try to be what she thought others wanted, she landed in the hospital with kidney failure. Through out a period of self-abuse, Margaret continued performing to sold-out audiences across the country in comedy clubs, theaters, and on college campuses, working to channel her anger in to something more positive.

In 1999, her groundbreaking, off Broadway one-woman show, I’m The One That I Want, toured the country to national acclaim and was made into a best-selling book and feature film of the same name. After her experience with All-American Girl, Margaret wanted to make sure she would only have to answer to herself, making sure she was responsible for the distribution and sales of her film, taking a page from what music artist Ani DiFranco did with her Righteous Babe Records. The concert film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke records for most money grossed per print in movie history. In 2001, after the success of her first tour, Cho launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O.was recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as “Brilliant!” Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks, and produced by Margaret’s production company, a testament to the success of Margaret’s bold business model.

In March of 2003, Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution. It was heralded by the Chicago Sun Times as “Her strongest show yet!” and the CD recording was nominated for a Grammy for Comedy Album of the Year. In 2005, Cho released Assassin, which The Chicago Tribune crowed “Packs passion in to each punch.” The concert film premiered in select theatres and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005.

In 2007, Margaret hit the road with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure, along with indie faves The Dresden Dolls and The Cliks, to host the True Colors Tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. A true entertainment pioneer, Margaret also created and starred in The Sensuous Woman, a live variety show featuring vaudevillian burlesque and comedy, which she took for an extended off-Broadway run.

Margaret returned to TV in 2008 on the VH1 series, The Cho Show. Describing it as a ‘reality sitcom,’ Margaret said at the time, “It’s the closest I’ve been able to come on television to what I do as a comic.” The Cho Show followed Margaret, her real parents, and her eccentric entourage through a series of irreverent and outrageous experiences, shaped by Margaret’s ‘anything goes’ brand of stand-up. It was beloved for the audience it was intended for, the ones who maybe don’t quite fit in, who knew Margaret is one of them.

The aptly titled Beautiful came next, exploring the good, bad and ugly in beauty, and the unattractive politicians and marketers who shape our world. The concert premiered in Australia at The Sydney Theater, marking the first time Margaret debuted a tour abroad. While touring through the US, the concert was filmed at the Long Beach theatre, aired as a special on Showtime in 2009, and then released as both a DVD and a book. Venus Zine hailed Margaret, and the show, saying “her fierce activism, which addresses bigger issues such as what it’s like to be demoralized by your country and culture…(left) no subject too taboo for the fearless stand-up queen.”

In 2009 Margaret nabbed a starring role in the comedy/drama series Drop Dead Diva, airing on Lifetime. Margaret enjoys being part of a team, and not necessarily having the sole responsibility for keeping things afloat. “(Drop Dead Diva) is very fulfilling. It’s a lot about the things I talk about, like body image, and women feeling good about themselves, and learning to be visible. It’s very powerful. I also feel relaxed because I am hired to play a role, and it almost feels like a luxury to have a project I care about so much but not have to lead or control anything.”

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Margaret stepped right up to the proverbial plate when asked to do Season 11 of the #1 rated Dancing with the Stars. Paired with pro Louie Van Amstel, Margaret was on one of the show’s most controversial seasons, dancing alongside Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin among others. “I really wanted to do DWTS so much. I love the show and I love dancing. It seemed like it would be very exciting, which it was. It was also very difficult because I was touring as well. Louie and I would travel all week, rehearse during the day, drive back on Sunday nights and sleep in the parking lot of CBS where they filmed the show! It was a very stressful experience but I’d love to do it again.”

Margaret got a very strong reaction to her Rainbow Dancing Dress during a time when the issue of bullying, especially among gay teens, was all over the media. “I am very proud to have been able to wear a gay pride dress on a show that is so conservative. It is a wonderful thing to have every one remember me by, that I took time to acknowledge people who matter to me. I wanted to send an urgent message to gay teenagers to make them feel included and loved. That dress was my statement to them about pride.”

2010 culminated with another high honor, a second Grammy Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year for Cho Dependent, her incredibly funny collection of music featuring collaborations with Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips, Tegan & Sarah, Ben Lee and more. The album received critical acclaim, with The Oregonian stating, “This was a chance to see and hear an already drop-dead funny diva growing, flexing new musical muscle, and fearlessly mature.” The album is funny, yes, but also quite musical, featuring not only her surprisingly strong singing voice, but her skill on the guitar, banjo and dulcimer. “I was inspired to make beautiful music with a comic edge.  Growing up, music was an escape, but also something I was always curious about as an art form. I had a decent amount of musical ability, but also have great musician friends who were very willing to help me. I took this very seriously, taking vocal and guitar lessons while I was touring. I was very devoted to learning and understanding how I could accompany myself.”

Margaret self released Cho Dependent on her own Clownery Records, and was encouraged by the acclaim, as there are only a handful of people putting out albums of comedy music – “Weird” Al Yankovic, Flight of the Conchords, The Lonely Island, to name a few – but no women. While thrilled that her hard work was rewarded with the nomination, Margaret isn’t finished with musical comedy yet, claiming to have more music in her.  “Writing lyrics is a different process for me than writing Stand Up. It utilizes the same elements, but it’s a more demanding discipline. You have more freedom with comedy writing than with lyrics, where mathematics comes in to play so the lyrics go with the music.”

In 2011, Margaret released the live concert film of Cho Dependent, which also had its cable network debut on Showtime. Audiences who caught these performances live can attest that Cho hasn’t lost any of her edge on Cho Dependent, her sixth live concert DVD. Shot at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA, Cho remains uncensored, but never unhinged, taking aim at the Palin family, her stint on Dancing With the Stars, smoking pot and living in a world with ‘sexting.’  The DVD is characteristically no-holds-barred Margaret and instantly a classic.

While thrilled with her two Grammy and recent Emmy nod, Margaret has never turned away from the causes that are important to her. She is incredibly active in anti-racism, anti-bullying and gay rights campaigns, and has been recognized for her unwavering dedication. She was the recipient of the Victory Fund’s 2008 Leadership Award and the first ever Best Comedy Performance Award at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards. She also received the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW). Throughout her career, she has been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and PFLAG for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity. In June of 2011, Margaret was honored by LA Pride, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing an individual whose lifetime body of work has left a lasting major imprint on the LGBT community.

Through her hard work, Margaret has had the opportunity to be heard, to extend her point of view and become regarded as a true pioneer in her field. She takes none of it for granted. “It’s a wonderful thing to be known as a ‘safe haven’ for people. A lot people who come to my shows don’t necessarily consider themselves traditional comedy fans. I seem to be a safe alternative for people who don’t think they’re being represented in society. They come because my point of view satisfies a lot of what needs to be said out there, and that makes me really proud.

 

10.31.12
by

Frida Kahlo

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”

Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán.  Perhaps best known for her self-portraits, Kahlo’s work is remembered for its “pain and passion”, and its intense, vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.

Mexican culture and Amerindian cultural tradition figure prominently in her work, which has sometimes been characterized as Naïve art or folk art.  Her work has also been described as “surrealist”, and in 1938 one surrealist described Kahlo herself as a “ribbon around a bomb”.

Kahlo suffered lifelong health problems, many of which stemmed from a traffic accident in her teenage years. These issues are reflected in her works, more than half of which are self-portraits of one sort or another. Kahlo suggested, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”  She also stated, “I was born a bitch. I was born a painter

Frida was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent. She did not originally plan to become an artist. A survivor of polio, she entered a pre-med program in Mexico City. At the age of 18, she was seriously injured in a bus accident. She spent over a year in bed recovering from fractures to her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, and shoulder and foot injuries. She endured more than 30 operations in her lifetime and during her convalescence she began to paint. Her paintings, mostly self-portraits and still life, were deliberately naïve, and filled with the colors and forms of Mexican folk art. At 22 she married the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, 20 years her senior. Their stormy, passionate relationship survived infidelities, the pressures of careers, divorce, remarriage, Frida’s bi-sexual affairs, her poor health and her inability to have children. Frida once said:“I suffered two grave accidents in my life…One in which a streetcar knocked me down and the other was Diego.” The streetcar accident left her crippled physically and Rivera crippled her emotionally.

During her lifetime, Frida created some 200 paintings, drawings and sketches related to her experiences in life, physical and emotional pain and her turbulent relationship with Diego. She produced 143 paintings, 55 of which are self-portraits. When asked why she painted so many self-portraits, Frida replied: “Because I am so often alone….because I am the subject I know best.”

In 1953, when Frida Kahlo had her first solo exhibition in Mexico (the only one held in her native country during her lifetime), a local critic wrote:

“It is impossible to separate the life and work of this extraordinary person. Her paintings are her biography.”

This observation serves to explain why her work is so different from that of her contemporaries. At the time of her exhibition opening, Frida’s health was such that her Doctor told her that she was not to leave her bed. She insisted that she was going to attend her opening, and, in Frida style, she did. She arrived in an ambulance and her bed in the back of a truck. She was placed in her bed and four men carried her in to the waiting guests.

Both Frida and Diego were very active in the Communist Party in Mexico. In early July 1954, Frida made her last public appearance, when she participated in a Communist street demonstration. Soon after, on July 13th, 1954, at the age of 47, Frida passed away.

Once when asked what to do with her body when she dies, Frida replied: “Burn it…I don’t want to be buried. I have spent too much time lying down…Just burn it!”

On the day after her death, mourners gathered at the crematorium to witness the cremation of Mexico’s greatest and most shocking painter. Soon to be an international icon, Frida Kahlo knew how to give her fans one last unforgettable goodbye. As the cries of her admirers filled the room, the sudden blast of heat from the open incinerator doors caused her body to bolt upright. Her hair, now on fire from the flames, blazed around her head like a halo. Frida’s lips seemed to break into a seductive grin just as the doors closed. Her last diary entry read: “I hope the end is joyful – and I hope never to return – Frida.”.

Her ashes were placed in a pre-Columbian urn which is on display in the “Blue House” that she shared with Rivera. One year after her death, Rivera gave the house to the Mexican government to become a museum. Diego Rivera died in 1957. On July 12th, 1958, the “Blue House” was officially opened as the “Museo Frida Kahlo”.

Frida has been described as: “…one of history’s grand divas…a tequila-slamming, dirty joke-telling smoker, bi-sexual that hobbled about her bohemian barrio in lavish indigenous dress and threw festive dinner parties for the likes of Leon Trotsky, poet Pablo Neruda, Nelson Rockefeller, and her on-again, off-again husband, muralist Diego Rivera.“

Today, more than half a century after her death, her paintings fetch more money than any other female artist. A visit to theMuseo Frida Kahlo is like taking a step back in time. All of her personal effects are displayed throughout the house and everything seems to be just as she left it. One gets the feeling that she still lives there but has just briefly stepped out to allow you to tour her private sanctuary. She is gone now but her legacy will live on forever….

10.31.12
by

Clive Barker: An Icon For Halloween

“I’m confident in my own complexity and that really interests me, because of the ambiguities of sexuality, the ambiguities of metaphysics and the metaphysics of sexuality are things which hugely influence what I write. So there are gay characters in my fiction, who haven’t really appeared in horror fiction before, except for the occasional lesbian vampire. And there are sexual transformations in my fiction. Horror fiction, fantastique fiction, as a whole hasn’t taken on board sexual radicalism whatsoever… There’s no sense that the sexual in all its ambiguities and complexities has a place in fantasy. I think as kids we are polymorphously perverse. We see the world as being full of tactile and potential sensual experiences, which are at root sexual, but also about pleasure in all its diversities… we get educated out of that… We get told we have to be this way or that and preferably this! And then what happened for me was that I discovered, in imaginative fiction, you can construct scenarios in which all those barriers are broken down again.”

Happy Halloween…today, we give you Clive Barker!

Clive Barker was born near Penny Lanes, Liverpool in 1952. After attending junior school in that city, he entered Liverpool University to study English Literature and Philosophy. At twenty-one, Clive moved to London. There he formed a theater company to perform the plays that he was writing and worked in that medium throughout his twenties as a writer, director, and actor. Many of these early plays contained the fantastical, erotic and horrific elements that would later become part of his literary work. They include: History of the Devil, Frankenstein in Love, Subtle Bodies, The Secret Life of Cartoons, and a play about his favorite painter, Goya, entitled Colossus. HarperPrism has put together The History of the Devil, Frankenstein In Love, and Colossus in a collection entitled Incarnations.

The imaginative qualities that were such a fundamental part of Clive’s theatrical work found their first literary outlet in the short fiction to which he turned in his late twenties. The first published examples of these tales are Book of Blood, Volumes 1-3. They saw only modest success in the U.K., but with the publication of the book in the United States and the appearance of his first novel, The Damnation Game, he began to find favor with readers and critics alike.

Three more volumes followed, published in the U.K. as the Book of Blood, Volumes 4-6, and retitled in America as The Inhuman Condition, In the Flesh, and Cabal. By this point many of his books were finding their ways into translation, and now appear in over a dozen language.

In 1987, following the adaptation of two of his stories for the movies (Rawhead Rex and Transmutations, both of which he disliked), he decided to direct something himself. The result was Hellraiser, based on a novella called The Hellbound Heart. The film developed a cult following and has since spawned several lines of comic books as well as three movies sequels: Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (directed by Tony Randal), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (directed by Tony Hickox) and Hellraiser: Bloodline. Subsequently, Clive adapted his short story Cabal into Nightbreed, which he also directed.

After the publication of the novels Weaveworld and The Great and Secret Show, several Barker-related publications appeared: graphic art adaptations of his short story called “Tapping the Vein” and two large format covering his art work called Clive Barker: Illustrator, Volume I and II.

The epic fantasy novel Imajica followed, then an illustrated children’s fable called The Thief of Always, a line of superhero comics for Marvel called “Razorline”, and a one-man art show at the Bess Cutler Gallery in New York where his work is still being displayed.

Clive has served as Executive Producer on the film Candyman (directed by Bernard Rose) which was based on his short story, “The Forbidden” and on Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh (directed by Bill Condon).

Most recent, Clive published Galilee, Everville, the sequel novel to The Great and Secret Show, Second Book of the Art, and Sacrament, a dark fantasy for all ages. His most recent film project was Lord of Illusions, which he wrote, directed and co-produced. Projects currently in development are: an animated feature based on The Thief of Always, a mini-series Weaveworld, and an interactive computer game called Extosphere.

Though Clive has moved to Los Angeles and is now involved with several projects for both the large and small screen, his first love remains books. He number amongst his literary influences the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Herman Meville, William Blake, Will Burroughs, Arthur Machen and both the old and new testaments.

About himself, Clive writes: “My enthusiasm as an artist is rooted not in any particular medium, but in the act of imagining. My books, films, drawings and plays, thought they may seem to be very disparate in content, are still mapping out different parts of the same landscape: that is to say, the world between my ears, I am motivated to write or paint by the images and scenes which arise from my subconscious, without invitation, which seems on closer inspection to dramatize elements of my deeper self.

I am a Jungian, not a Freudian. I believe that a collective unconscious–a pool of shared images and stories which all humanity is heir to–exist, and the artist dealing in the fantastique is uniquely placed, in that he or she can create stories or paintings which dramatize the eruption of the unconscious into our day to day lives.

I’ve pointed out many times that we spend one-third of our lives asleep. During the adventure of dreaming, we are making both a private investigations into our hopes and fears and also swimming in the dream pool, which we share with the rest of our species.

I hope that the fiction I write will empower us to both comprehend our secret dream selves and understand the profound intimacy we share with every other human being.”

10.30.12
by

Tom Clark

“The world listens to our music, laughs at our jokes, wears our suits, watches our movies, thrills at our athletic performances, reads our books, attends our plays, utilizes our scientific and political thoughts and stands in awe in front of our works of art; while at the same time saying that who we love is reason enough to deny us full and equal participation in the culture that we’ve contributed so generously to.

 
What becomes apparent then, in sifting through the legions of people who’ve made a difference in our cultures, is that those who love outside of the realm of heterosexuality have the same capacity as anyone else for leaving legacies that enrichen our lives and forever change the way we experience the world around us.
 
Most religious thought holds tightly to the notion that there is something inherently wrong with homosexuality. Pope John Paul II has himself declared that homosexuals are “objectively disordered” – a thought that is echoed throughout most of Christianity and other major world religions. I think our history proves them wrong though, as does our contemporary community of gay women and men who bring so much richness, texture, color and enjoyment to our lives.
 
Having contributed so much to the essence of our cultures both past and present then, it seems like it’s time to rethink the limitations we’ve placed on gay men and women who wish to participate fully at the table of privilege”.
 
10.30.12
by

Cheyenne Jackson

“I think it’s been a detriment, probably just a little bit. Had I not been out and open, I think I might have gotten some movies that I screen-tested for. People may have said, “The dude’s gay; how are we going to market this?” But it’s not an issue for me, because being out is very freeing”.

Cheyenne Jackson is a multi-talented actor, singer, and song writer. He is currently working with SONY/ATV on an album of original music scheduled for 2012 release.

His album collaborators include; Sia, Stevie Aiello, and Charlotte Sometimes.

On stage, film, television, or in concert Cheyenne continues to have one of the most diverse careers in entertainment. This year he will star on Broadway opposite Henry Winkler, Ari Graynor, and Alicia Silverstone in David West Read’s new play “The Performers.”

He also recently completed filming Steven Soderbergh’s movie “Behind The Candelabra” with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon as well as the NBC TV pilot Mockingbird Lane.

He has appeared in numerous films including; portrayal of Mark Bingham in the 2006 Academy Award nominated “United 93″. “The Green” opposite Julia Ormond and Ileana Douglas, Price Check with Parker Posey, and Lola Versus. Upcoming 2013 films include; Mutual Friends, Lucky Stiff, and Behind The Candelabra.

On & Off Broadway, Cheyenne has starred in; 8, Finian’s Rainbow (Drama Desk nomination) , Damn Yankees, Xanadu (Drama League , Drama Desk nominations) The Agony & the Agony, All Shook Up (Theater World Award, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nomination) the premiere cast of Altar Boyz, Aida, Thoroughly Modern Millie, On the 20th Century, and The 24 Hour Plays.

On television Cheyenne can be seen on NBC’s 30 Rock portraying series regular Danny Baker and recently portrayed Dustin Goolsby, the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline on Fox’s hit TV series Glee. Other television credits include; Family Practice, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, It Takes a Village, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Local Talent.

In concert, he has sold-out Carnegie Hall twice. “The Power of Two” in 2010 with Michael Feinstein followed by his solo debut concert with the NY Pops “Music of the Mad Men Era” in 2011.

“The Power of Two” was hailed by the New York Times as “passionate,” “impeccably harmonized,” and “groundbreaking,” Variety acclaimed it as “dazzlingly entertaining,” and the Huffington Post said “The Power of Two is a stunning and potent political statement”

“Music of the Mad Men Era” was lauded by critics, the NY Daily News said, “Cheyenne Jackson has got it all and he showed it all: the voice, the moves, the quirky self-effacing humor. He gleamed like Don Draper’s Brylcreemed hair.”

Cheyenne plays an active role in a variety charities and social issues including; LGBT Rights, Marriage Equality, Animal Welfare, and HIV/ AIDS Research.

Cheyenne is an international ambassador for amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) and he serves as the national ambassador and spokesperson for The Hetrick-Martin Institute and the Harvey Milk High School. Cheyenne Jackson was recently named Out Magazine’s Entertainer of the Year.

Follow Cheyenne’s blog here:

Here he chats to AfterElton.com:

Let’s start with a possibly awkward question and get it out of the way: Can you say why you didn’t continue with Xanadu after the workshops?
Yeah, it was just that I couldn’t commit to a year in the show at that point. I had finished a film called Hysteria, and I knew I had to go back to L.A. to do some more scenes for it. It’s a psychological thriller and it’s my first lead in a movie, which is very exciting. It’s supposed to come out in the fall.

At one point in Xanadu, Jackie Hoffman’s character refers to the show as “children’s theater for gay 40-year-olds.” Why do the movie and the show have such a strong appeal for gay men?
I think the poster says it all: “Xanadu on Broadway. Seriously.” It’s the kitsch factor. The movie is so bad. I remember being at gay bars in Seattle and, at the end of the night, they would show the video of the roller skating number. I thought, “Are they serious?”

Our show is total camp, and people are absolutely digging it. Nathan Lane was there a couple of nights ago, and he said, “This is really good!” Everyone is so well cast, and [director] Chris Ashley knows what world to keep it in.

I’ve never seen the movie. Is it truly terrible?
It’s wretched. It’s not even good in a “so bad it’s good” way. There’s an animated sequence half way through for no reason — just because. It was an incredibly expensive movie, but you look at it and you think, “Where did all the money go?”

After seeing your show, James Wolcott of Vanity Fair wrote in his blog, “It was like taking Ecstasy in Broadway ticket form.” But he quoted another critic who said, “It might just prove too gay for Broadway.” Any thoughts on that?
Well, my parents came this weekend, and they loved it. They didn’t get a lot of the gay references, but they responded to the love story. My mom said, “You and Kerry have great chemistry, I love the songs, and it was fun to see you skate!”

It’s interesting that the creators of the film are allowing the show to be done as a total spoof.
They must have a sense of humor about it. Olivia Newton-John is coming on opening night!

Michael Beck played Sonny in the movie. Is he still around?
I don’t know, but I would love him to come; I definitely tip my hat to him in my performance.

How is James Carpinello taking all of this?
His heart’s broken – and his leg’s broken, in two places. It’s such a bummer for him and his family. He worked really hard on the show, everyone loves him, and he really wants to come back as soon as he can.

I hear that you wear this already legendary pair of short-shorts in the show. How are they working for you?
They’re literally these little, ’80s style, satin skating shorts. I have huge legs, and I never show them — not because of false modesty, I’m just not comfortable. So I had to work up to wearing the shorts. Last weekend was the first time I put them on, and I rocked ‘em. I figure if I’m doing this, I’d better go for it all the way, so I invited all my friends to come the first night I wore the shorts. They gave me some catcalls, and I felt okay.

Do you think that being openly gay has been a detriment to your acting career, or has it helped, or has it had no net effect at all?

[Pauses] I think it’s been a detriment, probably just a little bit. Had I not been out and open, I think I might have gotten some movies that I screen-tested for. People may have said, “The dude’s gay; how are we going to market this?” But it’s not an issue for me, because being out is very freeing.

On the plus side, you might perhaps not have been cast as gay hero Mark Bingham in United 93 if you weren’t out.
Possibly – although the director didn’t know anything about me. I think one of the main reasons I got the part was that I was the biggest guy who auditioned; Mark Bingham was 6’5” and I’m almost 6’4”.

If Hollywood gives us another big, gay love story like Brokeback Mountain and you were cast in one of the leads, who would you want to play opposite?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. [Starts to say someone's name, then stops:] I won’t say him, because I don’t want it to be weird the next time I see him. [Pauses, then comes up with another name:] Ewan McGregor. I’d do a love scene with him any day. Or Hugh Jackman. I’ve never met him, but he said some lovely things about me in the press when I was in All Shook Up – and we have the same agent. He’s an idol of mine, for sure.

I’m guessing that, in terms of theater work, your being out has been a non-issue.
That’s right. Here, your reputation is everything. People know if you’ve got the goods, if you’re easy to work with, and if you can get the job done. Besides, it’s New York theater. Everybody’s gay!

Are you in a relationship?
Yeah, for almost eight years. He’s a very private person. I don’t think anyone could find any pictures of him. He says he’s like the Amish; he doesn’t like to have his picture taken, because he feels like it’s giving away part of his soul. He’s a medical physicist, really brilliant and funny. He’s the brains behind the operation.

Do you ever feel like you’re a sort of poster boy for gay actors?
Chris Sieber and I were talking about this. Every time they mention either of us in the press, it’s always “openly gay Christopher Sieber” and “openly gay Cheyenne Jackson.” It’s a little reductive and, after a while, it’s like, “Yawn.”

Yet it’s understandable that people focus on it, given that so few actors are out — especially leading man types.
Sure. I liken it to the experience of a black friend of mine. When he was growing up, there were almost no black people on television; but occasionally, there would be a black family in a commercial or something, and when that happened, his whole family would run in and gather around the TV. To me, that’s lovely and precious and sad at the same time.

When I was a little kid, who were the gay people on TV? Charles Nelson Reilly, Paul Lynde, maybe Liberace. So I understand why the gay community wants to embrace actors who are out. People want to be represented.

Right after you open in Xanadu, you’re going to leave for 10 days to do a reading of a new musical called Red Eye of Love at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut. What’s up with that?
I committed to that a long time ago, so I had to keep my word. I think it will be fun. It’s going to be hard to open in Xanadu and then go away three days later, but I have two great understudies, Curtis Holbrook and Andre Ward. They played the part before I came on.

On your blog, you recently wrote, “I AM STRANGE AND WEIRD!” Is that true?
Well, yes. I think I have ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder], though I was never diagnosed. I have insomnia, and it’s hard for me to sit still for a long time. My mind is always “tick, tick, tick.” People don’t expect me to have a weird sense of humor, but I do. I’m very eccentric

You recently played the title role in concert performances of It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman in L.A. and New York. If you could possess one super power, which one would you chose?
To fly, for sure. I’d also love to be able to be invisible, because I like to eavesdrop.

They’re reviving Terrence McNally’s The Ritz on Broadway next season. Did you go in for that?

I had two appointments to audition, but I just couldn’t swing it. I literally had three days to go into Xanadu, and that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life – not only to remember my lines and songs, but to not die on my skates.

Was All Shook Up a fun experience?
It was amazing, but it was so hard. I had to sing 17 songs, and I was never offstage. Once they put a billboard of your mug in Times Square, it becomes a little surreal. You’ve just got to focus on what you have to do.

 

10.30.12
by

Beth Ditto

“If people don’t accept you, don’t change. If you’re being bullied, stay strong.  If someone tries to beat you up, pick up a brick.”

Beth Ditto fronts rock band The Gossip, who shot to fame in the UK with the hit single Standing in the Way of Control – a song about the US Government’s attempt to block the right to gay marriage.

Rock music publication NME labelled Ditto the coolest person of 2006 and has since nominated her as 2007’s Sexiest Woman.  In 2008 she was voted International Artist of the year by Glamour magazine. In 2009, she was featured in London as the cover model for the premiere of Love magazine, with prominent public advertising.

Her recent fashion collection for the UK retailer Evans was sold online in select stores across the UK, and her most recent modeling work consisted of opening the Jean Paul Gaultier spring 2011 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week.

“Being different is good; I’m different.  Just because you’re different it doesn’t mean you can’t be what you want to be. Look at me; I’m fat but I’m sexy.

Whatever you are, no matter how different you are, you can achieve things if you believe in yourself – because then others will believe in you too. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay. In fact I love being gay; I say out loud to myself, at least once a week, ‘Thank God I’m gay!’

That’s why you shouldn’t worry about coming out. I remember being very scared about doing it but it turned out to be a very nice experience.  It always felt that hell was right beneath my feet and that I could slip and fall down at any time, but I didn’t.

I carefully chose the right people to tell, people who I knew wouldn’t judge me.  My mum was one of these. Then I used my gaydar to hunt down other queers so that I had friends I felt at ease with.

Just by doing this and being myself I changed my family’s views about gay people. Particularly my relatives in Arkansas – my aunts and uncles have really come around about it. Surprisingly, it’s sometimes the older people that are more open”.

10.29.12
by

Ifti Naseem

“With each individual who comes to realize that there are Asian queers and queer Asians, that space where the gay zone meets the Asian zone opens up a little more”

Reference held in Sydney for Renowned Urdu poet Iftikhar Nasim Ifti who died in Chicago

A close family friend and renowned Urdu poet, Iftikhar Nasim, died in the early hours this morning in his beloved city of Chicago. Here is an excerpt from a remembrance of him by his friend Kareem Khubchandani on Facebook:

I am privileged to have met, known, and spent time with Ifti Nasim.  Ifti was a gifted artist, an inspired activist, a successful businessman, and a truly spectacular being.  Ifti was born in Pakistan, and moved to the U.S. to pursue an education in law, but he found that art (specifically poetry) truly moved him.  He committed his life to writing, and has performed and published poetry in English, Urdu and Punjabi all over the world.  His book Narman has been taken up as a source of inspiration and strength by young people in Pakistan who have had trouble reconciling their sexual orientation and gender identities with what society expects of them.  Ifti has been an activist not only through his poetry, but on the ground in Chicago: establishing Sangat for LGBTQ South Asians, rallying South Asians to protest in the wake of post-9/11 hate crimes, and educating South Asians about HIV risk and prevention.  Between his art-making and activism, Ifti also worked selling Mercedes cars, and prided himself on his sales skills.  Every step of the way, he looked fabulous!  Fur, silk, leather, diamonds, gold, sequins, glitter, wigs, makeup, ruffles, and jewelry, he wore it all in style.  This is what I will remember most about Ifti, that there was always pleasure to be had; no matter how dire the situation, no matter how painful the issue, there was always pleasure to be found.  Ever time I asked Ifti, “How are you?” his answer was, without fail, “Honey, I’m just trying to survive in this big, bad, heterosexual world.”  But the grace, flair, and humor with which he “survived” assured me that he was doing more than just getting by, he was finding happiness in the crevices of what truly is a difficult world for an outspoken, queer, immigrant, Muslim, South Asian.

Our community has lost an important figure, but we must continue to be inspired by his activism, his art, and his exuberance.  I have lost a special friend, but I will attempt to sustain the difficult work that he has done, and widen the path he has laid for queer desis in Chicago.

10.29.12
by

Quentin Crisp

“The worst part of being gay in the twentieth century is all that damn disco music to which one has to listen”

Quentin Crisp is the author of the classic — and flamboyantly eccentric — coming-of-age memoir The Naked Civil Servant. The award-winning film version of The Naked Civil Servant, starring John Hurt, made him an instant international celebrity. Crisp also wrote numerous books and articles about his life and his opinions on style, fashion, and the movies. Often hailed as the 20th-century Oscar Wilde, Quentin Crisp was famous for his aphoristic witticisms. He performed his one-man show, An Evening with Quentin Crisp, to acclaim in theaters around the world, all the while spreading his unique philosophy: “Never keep up with the Joneses; drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper.” During the second part of his one-man show, Crisp answered questions from the audience and gave advice to audience members about how to find their individual style and live a happy life. He was always in the “profession of being.”

Quentin Crisp was Oscar Wilde’s perfect descendant. With his calculated caustic words, open homosexuality and wittily provocative attitude toward any kind of conventionality, Crisp caused a bit of a stir in conservative England during the 1950s and 1960s, and even on through the 1970s. In 1981, Quentin Crisp moved to New York City, bringing along his familiar and witty remarks and his eccentricity. Quentin Crisp charmed everyone and became “the face of a modern rebel.”

Throughout his near twenty-year tenure on Manhattan, Mr. Crisp wrote a variety of books, reviews, appeared in several movies (most notably playing Elizabeth I in Sally Ann Potter’s Orlando) and otherwise delighted us publicly and privately with his inimitable grace, wit and genius. Quentin Crisp died on the eve of touring his one-man show in Manchester, England, on 21 November 1999.

10.24.12
by

Lana Wachowski – Transcript

“I began to believe voices in my head — that I was a freak, that I am broken, that there is something wrong with me, that I will never be lovable.” 

The following is a transcript of a speech delivered by Lana Wachowski to the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala dinner in San Francisco on Oct. 20, 2012.

OK. Phew. Haven’t given a speech ever. [applause] OK, OK, I get it — you’re very encouraging, I love you.

So I’m at my hairdresser’s. [laughter] He’s gay, go figure. I say yeah, the HRC wants to give me an award. Award for what? I say, “I guess for kind of being myself.” He’s like playing with my hair and looking at me and he’s like, “Yeah, I guess you make a pretty good you.” And I was like, yeah, “Yeah, well there wasn’t a lot of competition.” And ‘cause hes a catty bitch he said, “Yeah, it’s a good thing — just imagine if you had lost.” [laughter]

I’ve been going to this hairdresser who’s this gorgeous lovely man for almost six years. He knows everything about my family, how close I was to my grandma, how I met and married the love of my life. He did the hair for our wedding three years ago, he’s seen the drunken pornographic pictures of our honeymoon in Mykonos. But he doesn’t know that I directed The Matrix trilogy with my brother Andy. [applause] So he knows all about who I am but he doesn’t know what I do.

Conversely, I was recently out to dinner with a mixture of friends and strangers who were all very excited to meet a “Hollywood” director, but all they want to do is ask about Tom Hanks, Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry, and throughout the dinner they repeatedly refer to me as “he” or one of the “Wachowski Brothers,” sometimes using half my name, “Laaaaaa,” as an awkward bridge between identities, unable or perhaps unwilling to see me as I am, but only for the things I do.

Every one of us, every person here, every human life presents a negotiation between public and private identity. For me that negotiation took a more literal form in a dialogue between me, Andy,Tom Tykwer – our new brother by love, who’s just gorgeous — with whom we directed our latest movie, Cloud Atlas. (Thanks for the plug; go see it.) Several months ago we were sitting in this Berlin club amid beer soaked haggardness in a space not intended to be inhabited by people and sunlight trying to decide if we should shoot this introduction to a trailer for our movie that was supposed to be posted online. Tom Hanks was supposed to do it but became unavailable.

Andy and I have not done press or made a public appearance including premieres in over 12 years. People have mistakenly assumed that this has something to do with my gender. It does not. After The Matrix was released in ‘99 we both experienced this alarming contraction of our world and thus our lives. We became acutely aware of the preciousness of anonymity — understanding it as a form of virginity, something you only lose once. Anonymity allows you access to civic space, to a form of participation in public life, to an egalitarian invisibility that neither of us wanted to give up. We told Warner Bros. that neither one of us wanted to do press anymore. They told us, “No. Absolutely not. This is non-negotiable. Directors are essential to selling and marketing a movie.” We said, “OK, we get it. So if it’s a choice between making movies or not doing press, we decided we’re not going to not make movies.” They said, “Hang on. Maybe there’s a little room for negotiation.”

So this position in that negotiation was being examined in Berlin three months ago. All of us are conscious of the fact that not only will it be Andy and my first public appearance in a long time, but it will also be the first time that I speak publicly since my transition. Parenthetically this is a word that has very complicated subject for me because of its complicity in a binary gender narrative that I am not particularly comfortable with. Yet I realize the moment I go on camera, that act will be subject to projections that are both personal and political.

I have been out to my family and friends for over a decade and for the majority of that time I have been discussing this, this particular moment with my therapist, with my family and my wife because I know eventually I will do it but I know there is going to be a price for it. I knew I was going to come out but I knew when I finally did come out I didn’t want it to be about my coming out. I am completely horrified by the “talk show,” the interrogation and confession format, the weeping, the tears of the host [applause] whose sympathy underscores the inherent tragedy of my life as a transgender person. And this moment fulfilling the cathartic arc of rejection to acceptance without ever interrogating the pathology of a society that refuses to acknowledge the spectrum of gender in the exact same blind way they have refused to see a spectrum of race or sexuality. [applause]

So the three of us talk. We like to talk. (You’re probably realizing right now, uh oh, we got a talker here. There will be an intermission after about an hour, so.) We’re alternating perspectives quite conscious of the fact that we have just made a film about this subject — about the responsibilities us humans have to one another, that our lives are not entirely our own. There is dialogue from the film merging easily with the discussion and I find myself repeating a line from a character who Iwas very attached to who speaks about her own decision to come out. She says, “If I had remained invisible, the truth would have remained hidden and I couldn’t allow that.” And she says this aware that even at the moment she’s saying it that the sacrifice she has made will cost her her life.

Suddenly I begin this very intense rush of images, thoughts and memories going through my mind — a kind of life flashing before my eyes that happens. People describe near-death experiences. As it begins I start to understand just how complex the relationship between visibility and invisibility has been throughout my life.

I remember the third grade, I remember recently moving and transferring from a public school to a Catholic school. In public school I played mostly with girls, I have long hair and everyone wears jeans and t-shirts. In Catholic school the girls wear skirts, the boys play pants. I am told I have to cut my hair. I want to play Four Square with the girls but now I’m one of them — I’m one of the boys. Early on I am told to get in line after a morning bell, girls in one line, boys in another. I walk past the girls feeling this strange, powerful gravity of association. Yet some part of me knows I have to keep walking. As soon as I look towards the other line, though, I feel a feeling of differentiation that confuses me. I don’t belong there, either.

I stop between them. The nun I realize is staring at me, she’s shouting at me. I don’t know what to do. She grabs me, she’s yelling at me. I’m not trying to disobey, I’m just trying to fit in. My silence starts to infuriate her, and she starts to hit me. Then suddenly, most improbably — if it happened in a movie you would never believe is — suddenly there’s these screeching tires and my mom just happens to be driving by, totally true, she jumps out of her car, she hurls herself at this nun. She rips me away from her, rescues me. She warns the nun never to touch me again. [applause]

And I think I’m safe, but then she takes me home and she’s trying to understand what happened, but I have no real language to describe it. I just stare at the floor and she keeps asking me over and over what happened. And I begin feeling the same mounting frustration, the same mounting fury that I felt with the nun. She tells me to look at her but I don’t want to, because when I do I am unable to understand why she cannot see me.

The last time I was asked to make a speech, like this one, I was at my eighth grade graduation. I was valedictorian of my class and Mr. Henderson my teacher informed me that I got to give a speech as a result of being valedictorian. I didn’t think this was a very big deal. [laughter] I’m not sure about this little award thing, either, but. Being painfully shy I declined. I said, “Let someone else be valedictorian.” He didn’t like this answer. He said, “That’s not how this works.” He said he understood how I felt, no one likes giving speeches — why do we do it? — but sometimes I had to think not just about myself but about my class and my parents, who would be very proud of me, he said. There are some things that we have to do for ourselves, but there are other things that we have to do for other people.

So I wrote this speech back then much as I wrote this one with butterflies churning. I worked on it at night wearing the slip that I used as a nightie that I had stolen from my sister. I wrote about the way that knowledge had an actual materiality not unlike the materiality of a ladder that could be used to gain access to places and worlds that were previously unimaginable. I have no real memory of giving that speech. I remember afterwards being in the bathroom, hiding in a locked stall, feeling the slip I wore under my suit as I cried, feeling stupid and that I was a liar because I was unable myself to imagine a world where I would ever fit in.

In high school I joined the theater department partially because of my older sister, but mostly because of the storeroom high above the stage amongst the catwalks that was filmed with costumes. I fell in love with this storeroom as much for its dust-scented privacy where I would sit and read as for the racks of dresses and endless rows of shoes. I remember wearing this beautiful brocaded dress one day with a built-in corset when suddenly I heard the stage manager calling my name. Just before she opened the door I dove desperately between the shadowed folds between the racked dresses, my heart pounding like a mouse, listening to her call my name over and over, praying that somehow I might remain invisible.

As I grew older an intense anxious isolation coupled with constant insomnia began to inculcate an inescapable depression. I have never slept much but during my sophomore year in high school, while I watched many of my male friends start to develop facial hair, I kept this strange relentless vigil staring in the mirror for hours, afraid of what one day I might see. Here in the absence of words to defend myself, without examples, without models, I began to believe voices in my head — that I was a freak, that I am broken, that there is something wrong with me, that I will never be lovable.

After school I go to the nearby Burger King and write a suicide note. It ends up being over four pages. [laughter] I’m a little talkative. But it was addressed to my parents and I really wanted to convince them that it wasn’t their fault, it was just that I didn’t belong. I cry a lot as I write this note, but the staff at Burger King has seen it all before, and they seem immune. [laughter]

I was very used to traveling home quite late because of the theater, I know the train platform will be empty at night because it always is. I let the B train go by because I know the A train will be next and it doesn’t stop. When I see the headlight I take off my backpack and I put it on the bench. It has the note in front of it. I try not to think of anything but jumping as the train comes. Just as the platform begins to rumble suddenly I notice someone walking down the ramp. It is a skinny older old man wearing overly large, 1970s square-style glasses that remind of the ones my grandma wears. He stares at me the way animals stare at each other. I don’t know why he wouldn’t look away. All I know is that because he didn’t, I am still here.

Years later I find the courage to admit that I am transgender and this doesn’t mean that I am unlovable. I meet a woman, the first person that has made me understand that they love me not in spite of my difference but because of it. She is the first person to see me as a whole being. And every morning I get to wake up beside her I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for those two blue eyes in my life.

In Sydney, Australia, I finally came out to my family. When I told my mom what was going on, she jumped on a plane immediately. It was this big, tear-soaked baptism, and she confessed that she had been afraid to arrive and grieve the loss of her son. But when she arrived she found it wasn’t so much a death as it was a discovery. That there was this other part of me, an unseen part, and she felt it was like a gift because now she could get to know that part of me. [applause]

We went to dinner. I dressed as feminine as I could, wanting to be seen by strangers as Lana. Hoping that waiters would not call me “sir” or “he,” as if these people suddenly had the power to confirm or deny my existence. My mom is also a bit talkative. She always introduces herself to the waiter or waitress. And she’s like, “Hi, I’m Lynne. This is my daughter Lana.” And the waitress smiles and says, “Wow, she looks just like you.” [applause]

When my dad arrived he shrugged it off easier than accepting that his wife and daughter had once voted for Jane Byrne instead of Harold Washington [for Chicago mayor in 1983] — a choice that still rankles him today. He said, “Look, if my kid wants to sit down and talk to me I’m a lucky man. What matters is that you’re alive, you seem happy, and that I can put my arms around you and give you a kiss.” [applause] Having good parents is just like the lottery. You’re just like, “Oh my god, I won the lottery! What the — I didn’t do anything!”

I remember thinking about my dad’s words, his acceptance of me, when my wife and I first read about [murdered transgender teen] Gwen Araujo. It seemed impossible that something like that could happen so close to this city, yet here was this person like me murdered by ignorance, by prejudice, murdered by intolerance, it seemed in direct inverse proportion to the acceptance of my family. Murdered by a kind of fear that seeks to obliterate any evidence that the world is different from the way they want to see it, from the way they want to believe it to be.

Invisibility is indivisible from visibility; for the transgender this is not simply a philosophical conundrum — it can be the difference between life and death.

A few short weeks ago after my coming out, the three of us, Tom, Andy and I were being interviewed, one of the reporters ventured away from the subject of the film towards my gender. Imagine that, a reporter. My brother quickly stepped in, “Look, just so we’re clear,” he says, “if somebody asks something or says something about my sister that I don’t like, understand that I will break a bottle over their head.” [applause] Few words express love clearer than these.

I am here because Mr. Henderson taught me that there are some things we do for ourselves, but there are some things we do for others. I am here because when I was young, I wanted very badly to be a writer, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn’t find anyone like me in the world and it felt like my dreams were foreclosed simply because my gender was less typical than others.

If I can be that person for someone else [pause, applause] then the sacrifice of my private civic life may have value. I know I am also here because of the strength and courage and love that I am blessed to receive from my wife, my family and my friends. And in this way I hope to offer their love in the form of my materiality to a project like this one started by the HRC, so that this world that we imagine in this room might be used to gain access to other rooms, to other worlds previously unimaginable.

Thanks very much.