Catching up with some stellar community events
by Roberto Friedman
So Out There thought that ringing in the new year 2008 with dynamo lesbian comedian Marga Gomez would turn out to be a pretty good idea, but we were unprepared for just how giggly great Theatre Rhinoceros presents Marga Gomez's New Year's Eve Spectacular with special guest Ali Mafi – The Queerest Comedy Event of the Year would turn out to be.
Gomez tickled the audience pink at the Victoria Theatre with descriptions of top stories from the year past ("The kitty who could smell death approaching at the nursing home — remember her?") and her piquant observations on the presidential race ("Some advice for Dennis Kucinich. Gay marriage: keep speaking out about it! Pulling the troops out of Iraq: keep speaking out! UFOs: less speaking out!"). She explained the early-bird timing of the show with its curtain time of 9 p.m. on NYE: "It's so all the lesbians from the East Bay have time to puke on BART before the new year!"
New Year's resolutions work best when they are easily fulfilled, said Gomez. So this year she's resolved to "swing my arms more when I walk!"
But the evening's true revelation was opening act Ali Mafi, a 21-year-old gay Muslim comic — and when was the last time you heard that description? When Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted during the last year that no homosexuals exist in his country, Mafi's phone lit up with calls from friends who begged to differ. In fact, he said he could serve as Exhibit #1: "I'm so gay, my butt has call-waiting!"
An inebriated gay man in the audience added helpfully, "And auto re-dial!"
Meanwhile, dragster deluxe Heklina was wig-over-heels when dreamy actor James Franco (Spiderman) made a celebrity appearance in the audience for her Trannyshack New Year's Eve bash. Cleve Jones of AIDS quilt fame brought the sexy thespian to the festivities — Jones is currently helping director Gus Van Sant develop the Harvey Milk film, and Franco is playing Milk's boyfriend. Lots of homo research going on!
Type faced
Last week, Out There was stylin' in the seats at the Roxie Cinema for a screening of Helvetica, direc
 |
Yummy actor James Franco with hostess Heklina at Trannyshack New Year's Eve. Photo: Courtesy Heklina |
Anyway, one of the type designers in the film comments that most people in his profession can't bear to watch movies that are meant to be historical re-enactments, because all of the blatant anachronisms in typeface design are just too, too distracting to their delicate design sensibilities.
Looking at the press photos on offer for Tim Burton 's movie adaptation of Sweeney Todd, we'd have to say we're having the exact same experience. Right there on the awning of Mrs. Lovett's pie shop are the words "meat pies," lettered just like that, in all lower-case. Now, come on! A commercial sign in Victorian England might well be lettered in all upper-case, or a combination of upper- and lower-case, but all lower-case? Didn't anyone among the movie's producers remember how "modern" the poet e.e. cummings' customized appellation was considered in the early 20th century? This typographical lapse was enough to put us off the production design of the entire movie. So there.
Music matters
On a brighter note, the San Francisco Symphony has added a bonus post-concert feature to 11 of its performances this season. In a new series called Off the Podium, patrons have the chance to ask their own questions of some of the world-renowned conductors and guest artists who perform with the SFS, as well as of SFS orchestra members themselves. Held in the hall immediately following SFS concerts and free to all ticketholders, this series of informal Q&As makes available to audience members such classical music stars as Alan Gilbert , Charles Dutoit , and of course, Michael Tilson Thomas . A beta test of Off the Podium held during the summer season drew hundreds of avid fans who peppered musicians with questions like, "What were you thinking during the second movement?" and, "What s your favorite place to eat in San Francisco?"
The next three Off the Podium opportunities are coming up on Sat., Feb. 2: Vladimir Ashkenazy and James Ehnes; Fri., Feb. 29: MTT and Paula Robison; and Thurs., March 27 (matinee): Alan Gilbert and Richard Goode . More info is available at http://www.sfsymphony.org/.
Pioneering dance-rock stars The B-52's are looking ahead to their Feb. 26 release of Funplex, the band's first studio album in 16 years, and the first with the Astralwerks label. Producer Steve Osborne (New Order, Happy Mondays, Doves , KT Tunstall) and the band recorded the album in their native Athens, GA, with all 11 songs written by the Bs, aka Kate Pierson , Fred Schneider , Keith Strickland and Cindy Wilson . Guitarist Strickland offered a print-ready sound-bite: "It's loud, sexy rock and roll for your pleasure zones, with the beat pumped up to hot pink."
The band has been touring, recently making a triumphant return to Europe after a 10-year absence, headlining Spain's Benicassim Festival and the London Lovebox Festival this past summer. Coming to the Gay Area soon?
Last chance
Only a few days remain for an engrossing art exhibition at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Picturing AIDS: 1986-1996, a showing of artwork by San Francisco artist Rudy Lemcke, is on view until Jan. 15. During the pivotal years 1986-96, Lemcke produced over 10 solo exhibitions and was included in several major national exhibitions about art and AIDS. This show includes over 100 pieces of artwork he created during one of the most significant periods in the history of the queer community. The exhibition also features the premiere of a new video by Lemcke, Where the Buffalo Roam, expressly created for the show.
The Center, centrally located at 1800 Market St. in SF, is open from Noon to 10 p.m. Mon.-Fri., and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays (closed on Sundays). Info at http://www.sfcenter.org/.
No comments:
Post a Comment