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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1995)
ju s t ou t ▼ Jan u ary 2 0 , 1 9 0 9 ▼ 19 of doing it or not doing it; I work on the credo that you do it and then find out what happens, and 1 wanted and needed to do this show. We’re artists, doing and talking about what challenges us.” One of those challenges was society’s ignoring Dan Butler has done well in Hollywood as an out gay man of the AIDS crisis. He was present during the formation of ACT UP in the mid-80s, which he ▼ says “felt very much like being present at the by Dale Reynolds Continental Congress—there was so much pas- sion driving us—and it wasn’t about sex; it was to stand up for oneself and to quickly find the cure for AIDS. That flush of excitement that led me to believe that because we were all gay we necessar ily were all alike; it was naive on my part, and it quickly dissipated.” And then the idea of The Only Thing Worse... came to him. “When I was workshopping my show, it became very clear that 1 was supposed to do this at this time. And it’s tremendously freeing, standing up and being counted, although I must say I don’t feel particularly courageous doing it. Throughout the evening I pay tribute in large and small ways to those who’ve affected me in my past. I I’m doing it for them, too.” The shape the show I took, not too surprisingly, was an autobiographical one, although Butler says “it’s the issues of love and sex that I’m intrigued with working through— how we define and limit ourselves and each other. 1 feel very good when people laugh at, and think about, the ideas in my play.” Butler has writ ten theatrical works before, mainly the book and lyrics to two unproduced musicals, as well as an upcoming, unfin ished play. In the current show, he acts out scenes which deal with his family, dating (including an especially amusing monologue in which he "shows” us his sleeping boyfriend of the night), his straight friends’ reactions to his coming out, and the com Dan Butler (left) with Kelsey Crammer on the set o f Frasier munity-based criticism of some of the more ex travagant ways we show ourselves to the world. The show is tightly structured, always absorbing thetic play about opera queens, The Lisbon Traviata. f you don’t believe there’s great freedom in and provocative, and wonderfully acted. Butler has since done guest shots on Roseanne coming out to the world as a gay person, just “I personally love the section with Derrick the (recurring as the character Art), Picket Fences, and ask actor Dan Butler. He is bringing his one- Flamboyant [where a ‘sissy’ confronts a gay friend Quantum Leap, culminating in his semi-regular man show The Only Thing Worse You Could about his constant put-downs] because it’s all far- role as Bulldog, the straight sportscaster, on NBC’s Have Told Me... to Portland pre-New York too prevalent in our society,” he says. “It’s the Frasier. And this after being seen in Silence o f the to break in some new material. His marvelous journey of a needy person asking for acceptance Lambs, Rising Sun, and Longtime Companion. In show is an 80-minute autobiographical play which and coming to the conclusion that he’s really OK, other words, he’s a working actor. is extraordinarily candid, revealing, and funny. which came out of an event in my life when I was Butler, an attractive, balding man of well-built The 5-foot-7-inch, 40-year-old native of Hunting- coming out and I found I was very uneasy around stature, doesn’t fit into any stereotype of what gay these effeminate friends of mine— one day I’d men are supposed to look like. He has a friendly- have a 100 percent friendship, then the next day but-rugged, Anglo-Irish look, and is clearly ca only 50 percent. It took a friend to call me on it pable of playing broad comedy as well as moments before I woke up to what I was doing.” of pathos. So didn’t he consider it a wee bit danger Butler showcased The Only Thing Worse...for ous to his acting career in historically homophobic ton, Ind. (home of former vice president and Wash a year before opening his successful six-month run Hollywood to make public statements about his ington jokester Dan Quayle), has been a profes in Hollywood. The financial backing came from sexual orientation? sional actor since his early 20s, mainly in New friends and connections—mostly non-gay money, “No,” Butler says, “ I’ve always been out to the York, until his move out to Los Angeles to co-star interestingly. “I think non-gays like it because we world. I didn’t give a lot of thought to the wisdom in gay writer Terrence McNally’s funny and pa don’t consider this to be a gay play. There are a lot O ut in the I ndustry j of things universal about love and sex, but it goes to a wider idea of what or how we define anything. We forget the miracle of what living really is. I’ve been very heartened by everyone in this journey of processing love. 1 hope it inspires and helps or moves everyone to stand up for themselves. Friends have come and commented on the piece where [a gay man] stands up to bullies. One young guy met me after the show and said, ‘My dad was gay and died of AIDS. I’m not gay, but it helped me understand being gay better.’ Straights learn from our problems by watching us touching in the street— even the Bible-thumpers.” The show is also articulate about Butler’s con cern with the closet. He says, “There’s a pain in being divorced from yourself. I’ve learned. That’s why I’m out in the industry I just don’t give much thought to any homophobic impact on my career. If you don’t walk through the fear, it’s always going to be a bigger and bigger phantom. I’m not afraid of what people think about me—if you’re so hung up on fear, you can’t live your life. Early on, I was more uptight. I was performing Off-Broad way in a show, and the men and women were all sharing this small dressing room. People almost always assume I’m straight. And sometimes in the small talk, there’d be a distasteful allusion to ‘fags,’ and I didn’t say anything at the time. My then-lover, Tim, called me on not intro ducing him to the other actors when he picked me up, so I thought about it, called an ac tor-friend in the show and came out to him. That was the start of where this show came from.” Although he’s re luctant to discuss his personal life, he jokingly acknowledges that “friends imply that the only reason I’m doing the show is to get a date.” But he continues to do what it is he’s good at—acting. “I’ve had great, great experiences in my profes sional career. Whether homophobia affects me or not, I’m very grateful to be in a place where I can use my talents as an actor and writer to say what I want to say—the rest of it is out of my hands.” Butler has received rave reviews for the play and gives a lot of the credit for making the show a hit to its director, Randy Brenner: “He’s been a great collaborator and is a very talented and un fairly overlooked director.” For the Portland run, Butler wants people “to just come and see the show. I think it’s a good piece of theater, and I’m glad the gay community came to see it [in L.A.], although some of my best audiences have been non-gays. I want to let it speak for itself.” \ The show is also articulate about Butler 's concern with the closet. He says, “There's a pain in being divorced from yourself I've learned. 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