Category Archives: Gay

“The SantaLand Diaries” at Triad Stage and Christmas Entertainment in Greensboro

There really is so much to do here in Greensboro over Christmas, we really aren’t missing the fact that we aren’t going to New York for Christmas for the first time in years…

There are three real highlights of the season still playing…

There is “A Victorian Christmas” playing on South Elm Street that we thoroughly loved when we saw it last year.  There are “The Eight Reindeer Monologues” playing at the Broach that I previously mentioned in the blog.

And there is “The SantaLand Diaries” at the Upstage Cabaret at Triad Stage.

First of all, I love the room where SantaLand was presented.  I have had a good time at everything I’ve been in this space.  Greensboro has needed an intimate space like this for some time.  Especially one where you can sit at tables and drink during the performances!

I saw “SantaLand Diaries” on the main stage at Triad Stage a few years ago.  I really enjoyed that production, but I enjoyed this one even more in this space.

Adapted by Joe Mantello from the David Sedaris story, this “behind the scenes” look at the department store SantaLand at Macy’s New York Flagship store should be a perennial offering.

James Tunstall is great as Crumpet, the reluctant Macy’s elf.  He is an earthier Crumpet who really  works the room and the audience.  He was both at home in the room and fully in control of the room at the same time.  I love his characterization and his take on the character.  The Direction by Jeff Stanley really utilized the full room and Mr Tunstall’s talents.

I would say rush to see this at either the early or,  preferably,  the late show, but I hear they are sold out for the run.  But rumor has it, they may be adding shows, so keep your ears open and don’t miss the chance to see this fun holiday production.

Triad Stage is also presenting “A Christmas Carol” on their main stage.  I won’t be seeing or reviewing that.  I just can’t sit through yet another production of “A Christmas Carol”.  I wouldn’t be going to see that anywhere, no matter who did it,  even if they did it in the nude with tap dancers….But I hear that production is selling out also.

There are lots of other things going on in town.  Amy Grant and Vince Gill’s Christmas show is at the Coliseum tonight.  I’m sure there are even more things I haven’t looked into…

There is nothing boring about Greensboro as long as you know where to look…

Happy Holidays!

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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Passes Senate Procedural Vote

Looks like it might finally happen!

 

WASHINGTON — In a landmark vote for gay rights, the Senate on Saturday voted to advance legislation that would overturn the military ban on openly gay troops known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The 63-33 test vote all but guarantees the legislation will pass the Senate, possibly by day’s end, and reach the president’s desk before the new year.

The House had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-174, earlier this week.

Repeal would mean that, for the first time in American history, gays would be openly accepted by the military and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out.

More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law.

Rounding up a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate was a historic victory for President Barack Obama, who made repeal of the 17-year-old policy a campaign promise in 2008. It also was a political triumph for congressional Democrats who struggled in the final hours of the postelection session to overcome GOP objections on several legislative priorities before Republicans regain control of the House in January.

“As Barry Goldwater said, ‘You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight,'” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., referring to the late GOP senator from Arizona.

Even after the measure were to become law, the policy change wouldn’t go into effect right away. Obama and his military advisers would have certify that the change wouldn’t hurt the ability of troops to fight, and there would also be a 60-day waiting period.

Some have predicted the process could take as long as a year before Bill Clinton-era policy is repealed.

via Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Passes Senate Procedural Vote.

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Hoyer: Senate Has Votes Needed To Repeal DADT

I’m hopeful, but will believe it when I see it…

Lieberman and Collins are not exactly the most trustworthy folks in the Senate…

Still, this should happen.  The polls show almost 80% of American’s support repeal.  But that never matters to Republicans…

The Senate has enough votes to pass a standalone repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has been told by Senate counterparts, he said in an interview with HuffPost Wednesday evening after the House approved its own version of the bill.

Hoyer said that he’s been working closely with Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the leading reform advocates in the Senate, and that he suggested last week to Lieberman that the House move first.

“Senator Lieberman and Senator Collins determined that they would introduce a bill,” said Hoyer. “I called and talked to a number of people. I then called Senator Lieberman and said ‘Joe, my intent will be to talk to Congressman Murphy’ — who’s the sponsor of the amendment that was adopted in the defense bill — ‘and put this in as a free standing bill, because we can probably send it over to you more quickly than you can send to us.’ And he agreed and we introduced exactly the same bill that they have in the Senate.”

via Hoyer: Senate Has Votes Needed To Repeal DADT.

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“The Eight Reindeer Monologues”

If you are looking for some great, irreverent Holiday fun, I strongly suggest “The Eight Reindeer Monologues”, a play by Jeff Goode, at The Broach Theatre here in Greensboro, NC.

I don’t want to give away too much information, but let’s just say Santa may be guilty of sex crimes, Mrs Claus has a bit of a drinking problem and the reindeer have much more distinctive personalities than you may have suspected.

Excellent performances from all four actors-Jordan Hayes, Camilla Millican and especially stellar work from Lee Strickland and Tal Fish.

Go see it…It runs through December 18th.  More information at www.broachtheatre.org.

You’ll never think of Santa and Rudolph the same way again..

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Gay Bashing at the Smithsonian – NYTimes.com

Frank Rich is really on this morning in his weekly New York Times column.

Here’s an excerpt.  I encourage you to click the link and read the full column.

It still seems an unwritten rule in establishment Washington that homophobia is at most a misdemeanor. By this code, the Smithsonian’s surrender is no big deal; let the art world do its little protests. This attitude explains why the ever more absurd excuses concocted by John McCain for almost single-handedly thwarting the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” are rarely called out for what they are — “bigotry disguised as prudence,” in the apt phrase of Slate’s military affairs columnist, Fred Kaplan. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has been granted serious and sometimes unchallenged credence as a moral arbiter not just by Rupert Murdoch’s outlets but by CNN, MSNBC and The Post’s “On Faith” Web site even as he cites junk science to declare that “homosexuality poses a risk to children” and that being gay leads to being a child molester.

It’s partly to counteract the hate speech of persistent bullies like Donohue and Perkins that the Seattle-based author and activist Dan Savage created his “It Gets Better” campaign in which gay adults (and some non-gay leaders, including President Obama) make videos urging at-risk teens to realize that they are not alone. But even this humanitarian effort is controversial and suspect in some Beltway quarters: G.O.P. politicians and conservative pundits have yet to participate even though most of the recent and well-publicized suicides by gay teens have occurred in Republican Congressional districts, including those of party leaders like Michele Bachmann, Mike Pence and Kevin McCarthy.

Has it gotten better since AIDS decimated a generation of gay men? In San Francisco, certainly. But when America’s signature cultural institution can be so easily bullied by bigots, it’s another indicator that the angels Keith Haring saw on his death bed have not landed in Washington just yet.

More:   Gay Bashing at the Smithsonian – NYTimes.com.

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How ballet changed the world | Need to Know

There’s a new biography out of Diaghilev that I’m dying to read.  This makes me even more anxious to get to it….

From NPR…

“The night in May, 1909, when Diaghilev, the impresario, brought his troupe of musicians, dancers, designers, and choreographers to Paris and opened in a theater was the turning point for all the arts. Those brilliant colors and bold rhythms put an end to the paleness and primness of the early part of the century. Nothing has ever been the same since.”

That is Diana Vreeland, fashion designer and style icon, describing the way Ballets Russes took Paris by storm in the early years of the 20th century. When Sergei Diaghilev, a penniless Russian aristocrat, realized he would never be a great artist himself, he decided to become a patron, a collaborator, a catalyst. And through his passion and hard work, he attracted talent like Coco Chanel, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Leon Bakst, Vaslav Nijinsky, to name just a few. Together they created ballets and operas that changed every facet of the art world, from music and dance to fashion and design.

via How ballet changed the world | Need to Know.

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My Southern Gothic Life | Trying to Stay Sane in a Crazy Southern World…

New post up on my other blog:

 

When I was growing up in Danville, Virginia, decorating for Christmas was always a very big deal.

My Mother’s goal in life, for several years, was to win the Temple Terrace Women’s Club Home Decorating Contest.   Even though she was President of the Club, for several years, she still never won.  And she was not above “putting in the fix” if she could have figured out how to do so.

I was never quite sure what the Temple Terrace Woman’s Club did.  All I know is my Mother was inordinately proud of the fact that they once voted on something by placing their ballots in one of her bronze trash cans and everyone commented on how clean it was.  Thanks to the maid, I might add.

They also had a dish towel sale one year.  I don’t know what it was supposed to benefit, but we had several cases of dish towels in our basement for several years.  Some are still there even after 45 years…

Anyway, the whole production always began with her moving the previously mentioned cardboard fireplace into it’s place of honor in the basement.  After she meaningfully told my Father that she hoped one day she would have a real fireplace, she would make him haul out all the other stuff.

MORE:   My Southern Gothic Life | Trying to Stay Sane in a Crazy Southern World….

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Happy Birthday, Bette Midler

Bette is 65 today…

My God, I feel old…

But she obviously doesn’t!

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Chapter 42: AIDS in a Small Southern Town | My Southern Gothic Life

There is a new post up on my other blog:

December 1st is World AIDS day and I feel like I need to comment on this…

The AIDS epidemic was one of the defining events of my life.  It all began when I was in my early 20′s and no one, who was not there, can imagine the fear and confusion, the hate and the love, that resulted from this health crisis.

People forget, that in the early days, no one knew what was causing it or why Gay Men were suddenly getting sick and dying.

All of us were wondering who was next.  Would it be one of our friends?  Could we get it ourselves?  How were you exposed to it?  What was our personal risk level?  Were our young lives going to be cut short before we even figured out who we were?

AIDS blew open a lot of closet doors.  Not the best way to “out” people.  No one could have wanted that result, but it did make a lot of people face the fact, for the first time in their lives, that they actually knew Gay people.

MORE:   Chapter 42: AIDS in a Small Southern Town | My Southern Gothic Life.

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Filed under Danville, Gay, Health Care, History, My Journey, Politics, Religion, Social Commentary, The South, Virginia

Harvey Milk: Hope

I just wanted to pause a moment to remember Harvey Milk who was assassinated 32 years ago today…

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