Cooper Bates - Takes Me Back To The Many Amazing Artistic Finds Out North Brought to Anchorage

 Here's Cooper after the performance.  

One man for a bit over an hour.  Telling the story of a black man who grew up on a farm in Kansas, where all the other families were white.  

After high school, he heads for Dallas to enroll in acting school.  

Every now and then there's a black out for - not really sure, maybe five or ten seconds - and then the story continues.  

On the one hand, this is the kind of story we rarely used to get to hear - a first hand account of growing up Black.  On the other hand, it's the kind of story people are working hard to suppress in various states.  While Anchorage pushed back against the Mom's For Liberty School Board candidates at Tuesday's election, comfortably reelecting the incumbents, MatSu has set up its own book review committee.  

Out North, for years, brought up relatively obscure, but brilliant acts, that challenged my brain to think bigger and different, many if not most with an LGBTQ (there was no + on the list back then) flavor.  This performance tonight reminded me of those stimulating evenings.  And with Cyrano's having moved into what used to be the Out North theater, my brain is still confused.  It's like two good friends having merged into one person.  

But let's get some basic information up for those who might want to see Cooper perform - and everyone reading this should.  

The performance is called Black Out.  It plays this weekend and next at Cyrano's Playhouse - the old Out North Theater, the Old Airport Heights library building, 3600 Debarr, kitty corner, almost, from Costco.  

I hope people share this post, or at least this event, widely.  This is great story telling.  Tonight's audience was pitifullysmall - about 10 people who hardly reflected the diversity of Anchorage.  At one point in the story telling, the aspiring actor has concerns about only playing Black characters, mostly white stereotypes of Black criminality.  But he even has doubts about being cast as Jackie Robinson because he's Black.  His acting mentor tells him about how the kids who watch him act will be inspired by watching him in that role.  None of those kids were in the audience to be inspired tonight.  [The program says for 14+.  The ticketing website says 16+.  Rape and suicide are covered in the play, but I think parents can judge whether their 15 year olds can deal with that.  But they weren't there.]  

Below is the stage just before the performance began.  

The playwright (also Cooper Bates) writes in the program

"For two decades, I've poured my hart and should into these productions.  They're not just performances;  they're a testament to my journey of self-discovery and purpose.  From witnessing racial bullying on the playground in first grade to grappling with my authenticity in my twenties, this play encapsulates the evolution of my existence."

I guess that can sound a bit self-centered, but the performance isn't.  He began talking to a few audience members and shaking hands with them.  He played not only his own part, but also some of the key people who influenced him along the way.  Throughout, he was relating a story directly to the audience.  

I had told my wife to poke me if I fell asleep during the performance.  That wasn't an issue.  I was listening and watching intently the whole way.  

My one frustration with the production was my inability as an audience member to let the actor know how much he had pulled me in.  I wanted to applaud at the blackouts, like you might do after a a musician does a particularly exciting riff, but by the time I was ready to applaud, the lights were back on and he had picked up the (one-way) conversation.  Could he read our faces? (We were both wearing masks which made it harder for him.)  Our body language?  We were close, but I'm not sure how much light was on us.  And no one else seemed ready to clap.  Maybe it would interrupt his rhythm.  And so, by the third or fourth black out, the audience silence was the norm.  And the blackout at the end, well the audience didn't know for sure if it was the end or not and didn't start applauding until the lights came back on and Cooper bowed.  

Or maybe the rest of the audience wasn't as into it was we were.  I thought the applause at the end was meagre for such a powerful performance. Maybe a bigger audience would have made some noise.  

I also want to mention that he projected his voice really well.  I wear hearing aids and when we watch Netflix, say, I usually have the subtitles on so I can 'hear' everything.  (But I hate reading the lines before the actors say them.)  But I heard every single syllable tonight.  Cooper didn't have a mic, and didn't speak particularly loud, he just projected well.  

You can get tickets at this link.  I'm hoping to see it again.  With the bigger audience it deserves.  

"Jeff Flake knew his criticism of Trump would cost him. He couldn’t stop himself." Life Imitates Art

That headline in the Washington Post had more meaning for me this morning than it would have yesterday morning.

Last night we saw a play called "Church and State" put on by a group of folks called RKP Productions.*

SPOILER ALERT:  I don't think I can make my point here about being compelled to tell the truth without revealing a bit too much of this play.  And I'd encourage people to see the play and stay for the discussion. It plays two more times:  tonight (Saturday) and Sunday afternoon at the Alaska Experience Theater.  You can get ticket info here and then jump down to "Spoiler Over"  in this post.

In the play, Southern Republican US Senator Charlie Whitmore is three days from the election, when his New York campaign manager and his wife are asking him what's wrong?  Why is he so jumpy?  They're back stage at some venue where he's due to talk to a large crowd shortly.

He's trying to tell them, but it's hard.  It comes out in dribbles.  He's told a blogger that he doesn't believe in God.  His wife freaks out - how can you not believe in God?  The campaign manager wants to know specifically what he said so she can prepare some damage control announcements, give him a statement for the speech that's minutes away.

Slowly the whole context comes out.  They'd just been, earlier that day, to a funeral for the child (children?) of  family friends, kids who were killed in a school massacre.  The blogger had asked him if he had prayed for the kids and the Senator said 'No' and went on to question the existence of a god who would permit such things to happen.

The debate then ensues among the firmly Christian wife, the Jewish campaign manager, and the Senator about what he's going to say when he gets on the stage.  He tells them he can't lie.  They tell him that questioning the existence of God and mentioning tightening gun laws will cost him the election.  He insists he can't lie.  He'll let God inspire him in his talk.

Will he tell his 'truth' or will he read the prepared speech?

Spoiler Over

People will debate whether dropping out of the election was the right move for Flake.  Clearly Republican primaries are toxic these days plus lots of dark money would be poured into the race to defeat Flake.  Was dropping out now the dignified thing to do?  Is dignity more important than fighting for what is right, even if that doesn't win the election?

Democrats may laud Flake for standing up against Trump's boorishness, but they must keep in mind:

"If anything, [Flake] held on because he is a strong supporter of most of Trump’s policies and personnel decisions. He voted for his judicial nominees, his regulatory rollbacks and the GOP health-care plan."

Church and State, written by Jason Odell Williams,  ran off-Broadway until June of this year and so Alaskans are getting a relatively early look at this play.
Retired Judge Karen Hunt interviewed a representative from Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America (MDA) and then moderated a discussion (she emphasized it was not a debate) among audience members.  They've had such discussions after every performance and included NRA reps.

I think it's telling that when someone asked about where the MDA meetings were held, the speaker said that for security reasons, that info is only given out after people sign in to their Facebook page.



*I'd also note that RKP productions was put together by longtime Anchorage theater folks:  Bob Pond, who recently passed away, Richard Reichman, and Audrey and Bruce Kelly.  The program says that RKP

"has achieved what we consider to be meaningful theatre  programs by 'partnering' with other fine organizations:  Anchorage Community Theater, Cyrano's Theatre Company and Out North  Contemporary Art House . . "

Last night's performance was at the Alaska Experience Theater, the new home of Out North, and the large (only in comparison to the small) theater makes a much better space for live theater than it does for movies.  The closeness that makes the screen overwhelming, is great when there are live actors.


While the power of the NRA over gun issues seems insurmountable, it's helpful to remember that no great power exists forever.  As more and more Americans are personally affected by gun violence, extreme Second Amendment rights will be whittled down to a more sensible balance between the right to life and the right to own guns.

Why I Live Here - Bridgman/Packer Win Bessie Award

Bessie?  Who"s that, you might ask?  Here's what the New York Times says about the Bessies:

"New York Dance and Performance Awards — affectionately known as the Bessies, the dance world’s equivalent of the Tonys and Oscars." (emphasis added)

Here's the award for Outstanding Production from the Bessies website:

"OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION:
Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer Bridgman|Packer Dance for Voyeur at the Sheen Center
For groundbreaking use of video in live performance, creating a space where virtual and actual movement merged. For inhabiting Edward Hopper’s imagery and taking the audience on an inventive journey of private spaces and ever-shifting viewpoints."

And what does this have to do with living in Anchorage?

Well, back in 2008, Bridgman Packer were in Anchorage in a very small venue doing the kind of amazing dance performance that won them the award the other night.  It's a mix of dancing with their own shadows and with video of themselves dancing live.  When I first saw them in 2008 here, I was breathless afterward.  What I saw was so amazing.  I worried that maybe I was just a hick from Anchorage who was excited over something New Yorkers take for granted.

But as time went by, I realized, that they were the real thing and my reaction was justified.  They have gotten a number of awards before, but here it is nine years after people in Anchorage first got to see them close up and personal (you could talk to them and the other artists with them after the performance), New York gives them dance's highest honor.

Here's a post I did about their 2011 performance in Anchorage.

I'm going to add some video here, but with a BIG warning.  You might be able to video other dance performances, but you can't really capture Bridgman Packer on video because live, they already dance with video of themselves dancing.  Though this clip comes close.  Remember, there are just the two of them.  It's hard to tell who is the live performer and who is just the image.  And it's NOT a gimmick, it's integral to the messages they are conveying about reality and illusion and truth.


Bridgman|Packer Dance Excerpts from Bridgman|Packer Dance on Vimeo.

I believe Out North was involved with their first performance here, along with The Alaska Dance Theater.  I know for sure Out North was involved with their second trip here.

"He has comic timing tattooed to his genes" Scott Turner Schofield Saturday Night At Out North

Tonight night - Saturday, July 1,  7pm - Out North will be presenting  Scott Turner Schofield in "How I Became A Man."   Out North has transferred their old home in Airport Heights to Cyrano's and Out North is moving to the Alaska Experience Theater.  It will be there - 4th and C Street.

There's a lot of unsaid in that first paragraph.  I don't know the details, but the ADN had a story two weeks ago.  And Friday's paper had a story about Scott's show.

I just think that Scott is an amazing performer and I'd go see anything he was doing.  But let me give you some background on how my admiration for Scott came about through some links to old blog posts.

 I like to think that I have a good eye now and then, and with Scott I did.  I first saw him acting as an MC at OutNorth introducing the Under 30 acts.  That was Jan 3, 2010.  I wrote:

The performances were introduced by Scott Turner Schofield who is a visiting performer who will be putting on Debutante Balls Jan. 14 -17. He seemed totally comfortable onstage and I'm sorry we're going to miss his show, but we leave for Juneau on the 11th.

The next time I wrote about Scott was July of that same year.  Again, he introduced the act - Wu Man and Friends- and this time I was really impressed.

Scott Turner Schofield

"On the right is Scott Schofield, Out North's new artistic director after the performance.  Preparation for the performance began just as he arrived at OutNorth.  His introduction Wednesday was a pleasure to listen to.  His words were good, his delivery fluent, and he effortlessly rotated to acknowledge the audience members sitting behind him on the stage.  (See, there are some things I feel have some basis for evaluating.)  We're lucky to have him here and I look forward to continuing great nights like Wednesday at OutNorth."

Then that October, he mc'd Out North's coming attractions show.  I caught a bit of it on video and posted it here.  This was just a random couple of minutes, but even then you can see that he moves his body and expresses himself with a lot more fluidity than your average person.

The following September, 2011 Scott has been busy at Out North for a little over a year and here's a post about the introduction to the year.  It was a full house.  There's some underlying tension as Out North had lost some grant money.

Here's some video of that night. The first four minutes is Scott talking about Out North's evolution.



That November Scott performed 'Two Truths And A Lie."  It was his story.  Up until then I'd seen him only as an mc, but that night he performed and confirmed my original gut feelings.  Here's that post "He has comic timing tattooed on his genes" - Scott Schofield Performs at Out North, 
and it explains a lot of what tonight's performance will be about.

And then he quit suddenly and somewhat mysteriously.  Eventually he came back and did a show that explained it all.  I can't find a post about it, but it was powerful and for many of us an important closure and explanation of why he'd left.

In 2015,  we got news that Scott had gotten a role in the tv show "The Bold and the Beautiful."  My post on that was called My Fantasy:  Jim Minnery and Amy Demboski Meet Scott Turner Schofield.
Wouldn't it be great if they came tonight?

I'm excited we get another chance to see him perform.  As I mentioned, Scott has performed this in Anchorage already.  It's called, Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps.  At that time, it was Two Truths And a Lie.  As I recall, he was already talking about the 127 Easy Steps and each number between 1 and 127 had a story attached.  The audience got to pick numbers and he told the stories of those particular steps.  So each performance is different.  The ticket agency for the show tonight says he's done this all over the US and Europe and it will be made into a movie.  So this is an opportunity to see the movie before it becomes one.

Tickets are available here for only $25 which is a deal considering how good Scott is and how close you'll be to the stage at the Alaska Experience theater.

While Dutch Men Protest Gay Couple Attack Hand-in-Hand, Anchorage Protests By Electing Two Gay Men To Assembly

Last summer,  already campaigning at PrideFest, Christopher Constant told me (off camera, but his poster didn't hide things) that if he won his seat on the Anchorage Assembly (city council), he'd be the first openly gay member.

He won yesterday, but he wasn't exactly right.  Because another openly gay candidate, Felix Rivera, in mid-town, won a seat as well.  Here's the video I took of Chris last summer. You can see he's not coming onto the Assembly without experience and knowledge about the neighborhoods he will represent.

I took some liberty with the headline.   I doubt any Anchorage voters even knew about the Dutch hand-holding protest when they voted.  I'm guessing that most people who voted for Christopher Constant or Felix Rivera didn't even knew they were gay.  It didn't really come up in the election until the very end when one of Rivera's opponents sent out a last minute attack ad, and even that used coded language rather than say he was gay.  And Rivera got 46% of the vote in a four way race. The next highest opponent got 29%.

No, Anchorage elected two gay men, not because they were gay (though perhaps some voted against them for that reason) but because they were the strongest candidates in their races.


As understated as gender was in the race, it is a big deal in Anchorage.  After years and years of fierce opposition from an evangelical pastor, Anchorage finally added LGBTQ to its anti-discrimination ordinance in 2015.  There was an attempt to put an initiative on yesterday's ballot to block parts of the 2015 change, but it didn't meet the legal requirements for an initiative.    Mayor Ethan Berkowitz won his mayoral race in 2015 by a landslide supporting gay rights against a rabidly anti-gay opponent.

Felix Rivera at candidate forum March 2017

So this is a milestone after a lot of bitter history over this issue.

And here's Felix Rivera at the AFACT candidate forum a couple of weeks ago.





Dutch Hand Holding Protest

While there was no direct connection between the Anchorage election, and the Dutch protest, there are a lot of indirect connections.  The article says that after the attack on the married couple who were walking home holding hands, the prime minister condemned the attack.  But two lawmakers took it a step further.

"Alexander Pechtold, who is the leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, arrived hand in hand with his party’s financial specialist, Wouter Koolmees, in support of Vernes-Sewratan and Sewratan-Vernes. “We think it is quite normal in the Netherlands to express who you are,” Pechtold said, according to People."

Then lots of Dutch men posted pictures of themselves holding hands in support of the couple.  One picture in the article shows a group of men who work at the Dutch embassy in London walking along the street holding hands.


Jay Brause, Gene Dugan, and Out North

Which gives me a bridge to mention Jay (Jacob) Brause and Gene (Eugene) Dugan, a gay Anchorage couple who sued the state of Alaska when they weren't allowed to get married here way back in 1994.  They won their case!  But then the state (led by that pastor) amended the constitution to define marriage to involve a man and a woman only.

Jay and Gene ran Out North, a small theater/art space that regularly brought acts that challenged conventional thinking.  They played a huge role in giving Anchorage a space in which to stretch its mind and continue to reexamine long held assumptions.  I'm sure Out North played a role in preparing Anchorage for this day, when two openly gay men have been elected to the Assembly in a race where their sexual preference was almost completely a non-issue.  For those of you who think I've gone off in a totally different tangent, Jay and Gene now live in London where those Dutch Embassy colleagues held hands.  Jay and Gene they got fed up living in a state that vigorously denied their right to get married and moved to UK.  But they did come back to Anchorage to get married here after that became possible.


Holding Hands In Thailand 

I'd like to make one more connection to the idea of men holding hands.  When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, one of the American values that was deeply embedded in me was that men do NOT hold hands.

But in Thailand they do.  It's no big deal.  It happens all the time.  Dealing with my own visceral response when men wanted to hold hands with me in Thailand, helped me understand the idea of biases that our cultures teach us without us even knowing that they are biases.  Instead we think that they are 'truths' about nature.  In this case, that it is unnatural for men to hold hands.  But in Thai culture it isn't and a gradually became comfortable when someone took my hand as we walked somewhere.  



The Other Winning Assembly Candidates

Here are some pictures of the other winners last night.





Suzanne LaFrance at the AFACT candidate forum March 12.  She's won the south Anchorage seat 6 that tends to be conservative.  But not always.  Janice Shamberg held this seat.   Suzanne LaFrance was supported by Berkowitz.  In fact all the winners were except Dyson.

Pete Petersen was reelected to his east Anchorage seat 5. Not only are there now two gay men on the Assembly, Petersen is one of two returned Peace Corps volunteers on the Assembly.

Fred Dyson Introducing Joe Miller 2010

Fred Dyson won in Eagle River's seat 2.  He wasn't at the forum, but I had this picture from 2010 when he introduced US senate candidate Jim Miller.  That was the meeting where Miller famously said, If the East Germans could build a wall, we could.  And it was the same meeting where journalist Tony Hopfinger was handcuffed by Miller's 'security.'






Tim Steele also missed the March 12 forum and I don't seem to have a picture of him in my files.


I realize this post seems to wander all over the place, but society is complicated.  Lots of things are interrelated and if we look at everything as an isolated event suitable for a Tweet, then we don't get all that interconnectedness.

My Fantasy: Amy Demboski and Jim Minnery Meet Scott Turner Schofield

[REPOST due to Feedburner* problems][Scott was the artistic director of Anchorage's Out North for about two years.]

Melisa Green, posted a link to this New York Daily News article at Bent Alaska Facebook page. 

"The Daily News exclusively learned the latest transgender person to make a splash in the world of mainstream television is Scott Turner Schofield, who has joined the cast of CBS’ long-running soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” and will make his first appearance May 8 — bringing a real-life verve to an already controversial storyline.
Schofield is making his TV acting debut on the Emmy Award-winning daytime series, after winning raves in regional theater throughout the years."

Thanks to writing a blog, I can tell you when I first met Scott - January 2, 2010.  He was at Out North as a visiting performer and introduced the Under 30 production.  I was so taken by how he held himself, spoke, what he said, and his warmth, that I mentioned him with a shaky photo  in the post I did of Under 30 that he introduced that night.

In July that year, Scott had just become the artistic

Scott Turner Schofield at Out North Anchorage July 2010

director of Out North.  Again, he just introduced the main act, but it was one helluva good intro.   Here's what I said about him then, as part of a post about the performance he introduced - Wu Man and Friends.

"On the right is Scott Schofield, Out North's new artistic director after the performance.  Preparation for the performance began just as he arrived at OutNorth.  His introduction Wednesday was a pleasure to listen to.  His words were good, his delivery fluent, and he effortlessly rotated to acknowledge the audience members sitting behind him on the stage. "

It was only later that we saw him perform "Two truths and a Lie." and even later when he came back to perform his resurrection piece.

I try not to say "I told you so" but in this case I'm delighted to.  And I have the blog posts to prove it.

And while the Supreme Court uses the law to argue their personal takes on the issue of same-sex marriage and the Anchorage mayor's race is once again discussing LGBT rights, I think it's important for as many people as possible to watch Scott Turner Schofield's Ted Talk.

My fantasy is that someone gets Jim Minnery and Amy Demboski to watch this Ted Talk until they get it.  Maybe they can dig deep enough into themselves - the way Scott did - to discover why LGBT folks make them so crazy.   Those of you who didn't have the pleasure of seeing Scott while he was in Anchorage, this will help show you why I was so impressed.


 



*Feedburner note:  Feedburner relays new messages to subscribers and blogrolls so that they know there is a new post.  Usually it works fine.  But too often it doesn't.  Sometimes it's clear that there is lengthy code in something I've copied from somewhere else and if I get rid of it, Feedburner works.  Sometimes it's just mysterious.  Like this post.  I posted it yesterday, but it didn't get to blogrolls.  I posted it again last night.  This morning it still wasn't on blogrolls.  So I did it again this morning and it worked.  The only people this might irritate, besides me, are subscribers who actually do get notified several times for the same post.  My apologies to them.  This is why I'm writing this here.  It's a particular problem when I'm posting something that's time sensitive - like election results, or a note about an event coming up soon.  

Suppose Your New Job Was To Betray Your Brothers

Two couples have tried to create the Perfect Arrangement.  It's the 1950s.  Bob Martindale works for the State Department.  Neighbor Norma Baxter is his secretary.  They live in adjoining apartments, appropriately connected by a closet.

March 19 - April 4 Thu/Fri/Sat 7pm

Out North - Primrose and Debarr (kitty corner from Costco)

So this doesn't get lost:   this is a funny play, and you'll laugh, but it packs a punch.  

Bob's assignment of late, has been to root Communists out of the State Department, but they're mostly gone and now his boss has assigned him the task of getting rid of the deviants.  He undertakes this job knowing that he and his lover and Norma and hers are safe in their Perfect Arrangement.

Opening Night Reception After The Performance at Out North

This is a neatly done play by Topher Payne - who was here last Thursday for the West Coast premiere of his work.  There's lots going on in the play.  There are the two different worlds - a social facade of voice and intonation and topic for straight visitors where the ladies chatter about recipes and shopping, the men disparage the women,  and then there's the more open expression of ideas in uncensored vocabulary when the two couples are alone.

But the play is not simply a play about being in the closet or homosexuals for that matter.  Rather it's about marginalized people who have learned to act one way in the outside world and another at home, and who are always worried that their real being will be discovered and always tortured because it can't be.  This play could be about black slaves in the south, or women in a male dominated work place, or undocumented workers. . .

And as the tension rose when Bob was required to make lists of deviants to be fired, I couldn't help think about the Jewish capos in concentration camps who got slightly better treatment for cooperating with the Nazis and keeping tabs on the others.  The dialogue was explicit about the conflict between trying to save oneself and one's duty to the others.  About the small benefits of blending in versus the great losses of denying one's true identity.  We could see the characters' slow debilitating stress of staying hidden, the fear of being discovered and the change it will mean, and the enticing but dangerous thought of standing up and declaring one's identity.  Echoes of the struggle in Selma.  

This is a powerful play with strong acting -  well worth seeing.  Below is a video of the playwright, Topher Payne, talking at the reception after the performance.  You can also see a video with directors/actors Krista Schwarting and Jay Burns here.

"Hold on, Millie Martindale (Raven Bonniwell)! You got some ‘splainin’ to do."

"You’ve just tried to break a date with your husband’s boss’ awful wife Kitty Sunderson (Karen Lange) by pretending you had an appointment with a butcher on U Street – and now Kitty wants to go to the butcher with you! How are you going to get out of that?!!
And not so fast, Bob Martindale (Andrew Keller)! You got some ‘splainin’ to do too. You’re in charge of the State Department program to root out communists on the payroll, and your boss Ted Sunderson (Zach Brewster-Geisz) has just put you in charge of a new program to get rid of all the sexual deviants in the State Department – and you’re one of them yourself!
Although you have a sham marriage to Millie, you actually live in unholy bliss with your neighbor Jim Baxter (Kiernan McGowan), who is legally married to your secretary Norma (Natalie Cutcher) – who is in reality Millie’s lover! How are you going to get out of that?!!"

So begins a 2013 review of Topher Payne's play Perfect Arrangement in the DC Theater Scene.

I knew nothing about the review, but I did know the play was coming to Anchorage, when I stopped by Out North to see about tickets for next Thursday's  (March 19) opening of the play.    The box office wasn't open, but two of the producers (and actors) were inside, the set was ready, and Krista Schwarting and Jay Burns told me about the play. 




In the video they briefly discuss the play - a West Coast premiere.  Maybe you can hear some hints of playwright Topher Payne's Mississippi childhood in this post's title.  The story takes place in the 1950s as homosexuals, following the purge of communists, were being rooted out of the State Department.  We're getting the play here in Anchorage because Krista knows a friend of the Topher Payne.  And  Topher Payne will be here for the opening.

This was happened in the early 1950's - about the same time that Alan Turing (see Imitation Game)  was arrested in England for being a homosexual.   A commenter on the review that opens this post wrote:

"The man sitting next to me said “Young people have no idea … Everyone should see this play.” I totally agree, and only wish these people could also be there: the woman I know who was an Army nurse in Korea and had to stand by, with her lover, and watch her friends being routed out and dishonorably discharged, and the woman who was the best record promoter in Chicago in the 60s who got caught trying to escape from a police raid of a second floor lesbian bar and lost her career. This is a fabulous comedy that touches on their tragedies."

People growing up today have trouble grasping what 'in the closet' meant back then.  And perhaps they can better understand the negative reactions many in the older generations against gays because of what they were taught when they were young.   This trailer for a movie about the time gives a little sense.  (I was way too young at the time to be aware of any of this.)





The Reemergence of Out North

I'm delighted this enchanted piece of real estate at Primrose and Debarr is coming back to life. The building started as some sort of electrical station. When we got to Anchorage in 1977 it was Grandview Garden library, a wonderful funky old library. When Loussac library opened in 1984, Grandview was scheduled to close. The community kept it open a bit longer, but eventually it was shut. But the building was reincarnated as Out North by Jay Brause and Gene Dugan.  And Jay and Gene (and their successors) always brought thought provoking performances - whether from Outside or from Anchorage or around Alaska - to their stage.  Stuff that made you rethink things you thought you knew.  You can read some more of the history here in the description of the Out North now housed at the University's Archives and Special Collections.

Out North's Waking Up From Its Coma

Last summer, Out North shut down.  There'd been rumors of problems, grants not extended, etc.  I didn't write about it at that time because I didn't know much and because it was too painful.  Out North has offered Anchorage a door to another world that isn't often seen here - a world of art and theater and performance that pushes limits and makes audience members reassess what they believe.  For me, that's one of the criteria for great art.


We'd heard rumors that that Out North might be coming out of its coma, and last night it was official.  There's a new board and new enthusiasm, and maybe soon new money.




Coming out of a coma is a good metaphor and it was echoed in the movie that showed after, The Wisdom Tree.

Peggy Shaw Took Me Inside Her Stroke

No one wants to go see a performance about a stroke, it sounds way too depressing.  But Peggy Shaw's bio already suggests she's not your run of the mill performer.  She's gotten three OBIE's* and several other impressive sounding awards, like a Lambda Literary Prize for Drama and Performer of the Year from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Theater.




[LAST SHOW:  Saturday, Dec. 23, 2012 - 8pm Out North]

This is a serious performer who invited the audience into her brain through her monologue, her virtual on the wall band that appeared and disappeared throughout.  She had three large monitors with her script - memorizing is hard for people who have had strokes - which she shared with the audience.  She talked, she sang, she danced, and she exposed her lapses along with her powerful personality as part of the show.

The photo was taken after the show. The show is dedicated to Ellen Stewart, La Mama, who never allowed green on stage because it was bad luck.  Peggy had her stroke right after Stewart died, and in this piece uses this huge roll of green paper which seemed to be a loud declaration of independence from Stewart, despite the clear admiration and love for her. 

Things went from normal music and video to sounds and visuals that probably simulated what the world is like to a stroke victim.  There was a great 60 second or so spot on how to know you're having a stroke.   There were floating fish.  Audience members were asked to hold onto things for Peggy until she needed them.

After the show

There was an intro that warned us of things that might happen - like she could start coughing, in which case to just hold on until her cough drops take effect.  What that did for me and I think the others there, was to include us as part of the insiders rather than just being an audience.  It was as though she were relating things to a friend rather than to an audience of strangers.

For people looking for drama with a plot line, this isn't it.  For people who find drama, as I do, in a heart-to-heart with someone who shares their near death experience and its aftermath, this is definitely worth attending.  And the show I saw Friday night was only the second time this piece has ever been performed before an audience.  The first time was a dress rehearsal Thursday night.  Shaw is still getting aligned with all the audio-visual aspects.  Though I was pretty impressed by how most of the time she was already synchornized with  the sound and video.

Out North consistently gives Anchorage audiences these incredible opportunities to be on the inside of contemporary international art and theater.  Here's this serious, award winning, very New York performer with helpers from Australia and Boston here as they spent ten days in Anchorage getting this performance piece ready to take to New York and London.  It's amazing what we have here.


The performance made me think of Anchorage's Peter Dunlap-Shohl, the cartoonist who has been communicating with the world about his Parkinson's through his medium - comics on his blog.  Like Peter's work, Peggy's uses art to experientially, and with humor, share her stroke experience with the world. For me the content was interesting as was the presentation. For someone with a close friend or relative who's had a stroke, this is the artist's, rather than the doctor's story of a stroke, that helps you understand a little of what is going on.  And it follows the stroke's story line, which includes lack of clear direction, even knowing where one is, not Hollywood's neatly packaged kind of story line.


The second video is mostly Shaw's co-writer, director talking after the show.  This is just a snippet.  She's talking about the moving images that had been on the green space that I had thought were brain scans.  It turns out they were the signals from an actor's body that are used in animation to get the character's body movements right.  Then she talks about the band.

*The Village Voice OBIE Awards were created soon after the inception of the publication in 1955 to publicly acknowledge and encourage the growing Off Broadway theater movement. The VOICE OBIES were purposely structured with informal categories, to recognize those persons and productions worthy of distinction each theater season. The OBIE Awards are an important part of the VOICE's long history of championing Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. [From The Village Voice]

Iron Book Head And Other Ceramics

The great thing about art is that everyone sees something else in it.  And this piece at the UAA ceramics sale last Friday leaves a lot for the viewer to interpret.  Since it's a university student piece and there's a book, it might have something to do with the pressures of studying.  But what an iron's pretty harsh.  Ah readers, what does this mean?  Unfortunately I wasn't thinking clearly and didn't get the name of the creator. 

Every year around the first Friday of December the ceramics department has a sale of their students' work.  Since my office was minutes away, I would regularly drop by and pick up something or two.  I'm particularly looking for pieces I can put under potted plants.  Instead of the expensive array of plastic junk sold in box store gardening departments, I could usually find a few items that served this purpose.  There are also a variety of small cup like pieces to use as a pot for plant I want to give away. 





Prices range from a couple of dollars to significant money for some of the artier pieces like the iron head book piece.  If you go later in the day, they eventually start marking things down,  but the selection isn't as good. 

The receipts are split between the students and the Clay Club (I think that was the name)  which helps maintain the ceramics lab. 

This year included more fanciful arty items than I remember.  Mostly it was small utilitarian items like cups, bowls,  plates,  platters, and vases.  This time there were a number of larger sculptures, like the iron head above and these below.

 

Is this one supposed to represent the State of Alaska's harmful oil addiction?

You missed this year's sale, but there's always next year.  And if you are looking for alternative holiday shopping, Out North's Occupy Christmas alternative market has an interesting array of artist made items this weekend.  I'll post some pictures of that soon. 

As Close As Most Americans Get to Ballet - Dan Bern on Bowling

Part of the charm of a Dan Bern concert is the chatter between songs and the rapport with the audience.  Out North is a perfect venue because it's so small - even with the extra rows in front it couldn't hold much more than 100.

From the Saturday night concert, here's Dan on bowling.

Dan Bern, My Favorite Songwriter/Singer, Packs Out North Friday Night

As I've said in previous posts this week, I first experienced Dan Bern performing in 1997 at Loussac library.  He blew me away. 

He carries on the tradition of Gutherie and Dylan's songs that commented on the state of the world.  Long narratives in a singing style that . . . well the first time I heard him, he came out and sang, then stopped, and said something like, "Some people say I sound like Dylan . . . but  you don't do you?" with a big grin on his face.

What struck me then was how his songs started with  unexpected premises and then wandered through a stream of conscious jumping from topic to topic, all the while telling the story.  Not unlike some of my blog posts.   "If Marilyn Monroe had married Henry Miller" for example.  These are sophisticated musical musings that are funny, thought provoking and musically seductive.  Sure, everyone knows who Marilyn Monroe is, but you also have to know who Henry Miller was and that Marilyn Monroe was married for a while to Arthur Miller (and who he was).

The Wasteland, one of my favorites from early on, wraps up the dilemmas of an age in evocative words and music that starkly express the darker side of American dream.  It starts:

Wasteland

Sound Clip

I saw the best of my generation playing pinball
Make-up on, all caked up 
Looking like some kind of china doll
With all of Adolf Hitler's moves down cold
As they stood up in front 
Of a rock and roll band
And always moving upward and ever upward
To this gentle golden promised land
With the smartest of them all 
Moonlighting as a word processor
And the strongest of them all 
Checking IDs outside a saloon
And the prettiest of all 
Taking off her clothes
In front of men 
Whose eyes look like they were in some little hick town 
Near Omaha 
Watching the police chief 
Run his car off the side of a bridge

 

He just tells the story and let's the audience work out what it means.

He also has a lot of baseball songs - including one about Pete Rose, the Hall of Fame, and betting, and another one I heard the first time Friday on Armando Gallarraga's perfect game stolen by umpire Jim Joyce's bad call on what should have been the last out.  Another on the golden voice of Vin Scully. 


 These photos were taken at Friday night's concert.  The purple shirt was before the break. 

Patrick McCormick stood in for his Dad Mike, the founder of Whistling Song productions which has been bringing up folkish musicians to Anchorage for a long time.  Mike's knowledge of music and hospitality has been the main reason we've had so many good musicians playing here.  Many, like Dan, have stayed at the McCormick's house when they were here.  Dan's talked about it being a wonderful change from most tour stops, being able to stay with a family.  And he's watched Patric grow up over the years he's been coming to Anchorage.   Patrick told a story about Dan coming to one of his basketball games when he was in the third grade. 

Having spent a good part of the week at the songwriting workshop and two concerts, I've got lots more to write and not enough time.  Rather than write one long, long post that won't get up til Wednesday or Thursday, let me stop here and I'll add more later.

Dan Bern Songwriting Workshop Anchorage Evening 2

 I took Mariano's digital art class after seeing what he did digitally to photos.  I thought, I can take photos and then play with them.  What I didn't quite realize was that it was an art class and the other students were serious artists.  An early assignment was to use a couple of the photo shop tools to draw a picture.  I started with a very simple round flower with roundish petals and a simple stem.  But I noticed the screen next to me had a perfect cowboy boot with all the details.  The screen on the other side had a great human figure.  I realized I was out of my league.  But Mariano encouraged me saying these people have to adjust from their normal medium (oil, or water colors, or charcoal) to digital and I would be starting with digital.  In the end it worked out reasonably well.

Dan's standing on the left

But at least I believed I had a visual sense, even if I couldn't execute what I had in mind, at least I had something in mind.

Music is different.  I don't think aurally.  Tunes don't pop into my mind.  I'm just not musical.  But the song writing workshop is forcing me to confront one of my own stereotypes about myself.  Don't get me wrong, there are serious song writers and musicians in this class and compared to them, my musical talents are, politely, in the most formative stage.  But I didn't completely bomb in the workshop Monday or last night.

Monday Dan talked about how little children go around merging words and melodies that they spontaneously create.  It got me thinking.  He talked about speech and singing not being that far apart.  Certainly not opposites that some imagine.  He said I should just relax.

I thought about students I've had who told me they were 'just not good at math.'  I'd always ask them, "Which teacher did this to you?"  and 90% could give me a name and a grade without a pause.  I still remember one student holding out his hands for the ruler as he said, "Sister Margarita in 5th grade."

And the light went on that I've been going around saying I'm just not musical.  OK, I admit the oboe and I were not a good match, but I shouldn't have given up on dating music.

All this is preamble to my fortune cookie based song.  (See the previous post.)

This group's work sparkled

I ended up choosing the numbers in the fortune rather than the words.  The first three in the sequence were 03 14 29 which I immediately translated into March 14, 1929.  I googled it and came up with obituaries of people born on March 14, 1929.  The first was just birth and death dates with locations of each.  Toronto and Desert Hot Springs.  I imagined a song that filled in the gap.  I found a woman who was born and died in Lufkin, Texas.  There was a little more about her.  A guy born in England who died in Santa Maria, California with a whole career and family.  Who were these people, did their lives cross paths?  There were all sorts of possibilities.

Getting further into the google results brought the fact that Mickey Mouse's 4th cartoon was released on March 14, 1929 - The Barn Dance.  Clearly, Disney had no idea who Mickey would become and Minnie ditches him for Pete, when Mickey can't stay off her toes.

And then there was this post on a German Einstein website:

In 1920, after Einstein's achievements had been widely recognized, Ulm also wanted to honour him. Thus, for example, in 1922 the decision was made to name a yet to be constructed street after him. Even though in Nazi-Germany this street was renamed Fichtestrasse (after Johann Gottlieb Fichte, 1762-1814, a German philosopher), it was named Einsteinstrasse again in 1945. On the occasion of his 50th birthday on March 14, 1929, Einstein was informed in a letter of congratulation by the then mayor that the city of Ulm had named a street in his honour. With respect to the Einsteinstrasse Einstein remarked in his reply: "I have already heard about the street named after me. My comforting thought was that I am not responsible for whatever is going to happen there." Between 1920 and 1929 a lively exchange of notes between Ulm and Albert Einstein developed which, interrupted by the political situation in Germany, was only resumed in 1949.

In 1949 Ulm wanted to grant Einstein the rights of a freeman of the city. Einstein however declined, pointing to the fate of the Jews in Nazi-Germany.

But how to put this all together?  I could focus on the day, but I also wanted to trace the paths, beyond the day, of those born on March 14, 1929.  And I had to try to sing it the next day in the workshop.

I ended up focusing on the Einstein story.  The line about taking comfort knowing he wouldn't be responsible for what happened on the street had a bittersweet sensibility.

Dan had told us Monday, in answer to a question about the problem of writing a song and finding out that someone had already written the melody.  The difference between a real songwriter and everyone else, is that the real songwriter will simply change some things here and there and call it his own.

And using the Mexican hat dance as the tune for our moose encounter songs Monday also showed me 1) how useful it was to have some structure, a skeleton,  like that to hold the words onto and 2) how hard it was to mesh - in my head -  the rhythm of the existing song to the rhythm of my newly created lyrics.

So, I decided to lift a Dan Bern song as my skeleton.  His songs are mostly stories put to music, but they do have melodies.  But I have to listen a few times to get them into my head. I picked Dan's Rome, from the "Dan Bern" album.  I tried to write lyrics, but the words from the Einstein website didn't flow with the music.  I had to start chopping back, finding words that were shorter, that had some rhyme.

I figured with my singing ability and the extra syllables here and there, no one would know where it came from.  Here's part of what I did compared to the lyrics of the original song.  I think I need another week to get this working.   But it's as far as I got before class.

March 14, 1929	Rome
Einstein got a letter from the Mayor of Ulm On the fourteenth of March Nineteen Twenty nine It wished him a happy Fiftieth  Birthday They gave him a street on which kids could play. Ulm was his birthplace Ulm was his past Ulm was the city That’d he’d return to last.	We pulled into Rome With blood in our eyes After days of travelin' Months of lies Taking our various Turns at the wheel Taking booze And pot and cigarettes. . . Rome was a bust Rome was a scream Rome was the final Rapid eye movement To this dream

HTML Tables

The Rome link gets you to the song so you can hear how it goes.

My last lines, which I left out here, just never could capture the Einstein quote.  Again, I need to find a totally different way to say it.

I also tried to throw my inhibitions to the draft and just sing.  Just as I'm doing here posting these lyrics on the blog.  This is a learning activity right?  The only lines that really work for me are the first two.  The rest need lots of massaging.  I stuck in the Ulm lines after listening to the Rome lines and I think musically, that worked best.  Clearly I have to toss the date altogether, it's just too clunky, and rely on it being the title.  But I guess that's part of the evolution of a song.

Dan asked if I played guitar, then pulled out his and gave me the perfect back up; that helped a lot.  Did he know what I was doing?

I did explain how I got to this point and read the class enough of the Einstein article to understand what I was trying to convey.

I asked Dan during the break if he had any idea what original song was my crutch.   He didn't and when I told him, he more or less congratulated me on a successful steal, "If I couldn't tell, no one else could."  I suspect that means I was so bad, there was no resemblance at all, but I'll humor myself. 

Musically,  mine was the shakiest.  The others in there are real musicians.  But they were kind, and I got credit for being the only one who found a way to use the numbers from the fortunes for the song.  Others were amazing, among them one who used a plastic cup and her hand for great backup percussion. 

Saturday, some of the members of the workshop (not me, I assure you) will present their songs at 2pm at Out North.  It's a pay what you like donation.  There are some gifted folks in the class and it should be fun.  I'm feeling a little like George Plimpton.

We had a series of interesting new exercises, including a group activity as you can see from the pictures.  I've got homework for tomorrow, plus my Chinese class meets again on Thursday.  So good night.