. October 17.2003
48
D IVER SIO N S
▼
survive this dark and piercing com ­
edy by Portland playwright Stephen
Karam.
“ I came o u t...a little over two
years ago at Brown University,”
shares Karam, “and was overwhelmed
with our country’s entire perception
of homosexuality.... 1 started to see
that our society hasn’t arrived at
some grand notion of
universal tolerance; it’s come to
embrace...that it’s no longer legiti­
mate to unabashedly hate gay people.
And there’s a huge difference.”
Mister M urdery is his attempt to
confront “the absurdity of accepting
such glossy notions of equality" by
using “an equally absurd style.... The
beauty is that, in the midst of the
crazy story, evePy little detail makes
very precise and meticulous sense no
matter how farcical the events
become,” he explains. “Contrarily,
our country is skilled at taking its
most absurd and farcical tendencies
and making a whole lot of sense out
of them."
Mister Murdery plays 10:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays through
Nov. 8 at The Electric Company,
2512 S.E. Gladstone St. Tickets are
$10 from 503-232-7667 or
www.cardboardbox.org.
Let’s get interactive
t’s amazing what 2 Gyrlz can do
when they set their minds to it.
I
Your Fall TV Queerview II
A
s you’ll no doubt recall, I just couldn’t ¿jet to the end of
the long, involved process that is going over the queer TV
schedule in the last issue. So this is part two— but don’t
worry, you didn’t have to see the original to understand
the sequel (kind ot like I M r a Croft: The Cradle of Life).
Moving right along, the latest news from the Queer Eye for the
Straight ( iuy set is the Fab Five are putting out a hook of hints and
tips. (Of course! Oversaturation of the audience means nothing to
queens or television executives.) And they’re getting sued.
Remember the original culture guy, Blair? He was replaced by Jai
after only two episodes and has now filed a breach-of-con tract suit.
You do gotta feel a little sorry for a guy who came this close to
international fanfare and million-dollar deals. The show’s producers
should just cough up the measly $105,000 he’s asking instead of
fighting it, which they are.
You know who else
should lx- pissed oft?
Christopher Lowell and
Robert Verdi, two gay T V
decorators who broke the
ground tor Queer Eye to
headline The Tonight
Show. OK, they’re both
doing absolutely fine in
their own right, bur are
they on the cover of
Entertainment Weekly ? No.
Surprise hy Design’s Robert Verdi
Maybe they’re not so
was around before the Fab Five
gay, you say. Maybe they’re
were a twinkle in your eye
not so over-the-top. Ha!
Roth shows are on the Discovery Channel weekdays— Lowell
actually has two. The Christopher Unveil Shini' finds him sitting
down in intimate conversation with viewers and then showing
befores and afters ot a room he did. In a recent episode he dis­
cussed “Creating Your Dreamscape Through the Use of Personal
Icons.” He encouraged us to think about “what makes you feel
safe, cozy and protected.” (For him, it’s a fluffy white robe.) He
moved on to colors. What’s your favorite? His is lavender.
It’s Christopher Unveil follows, which is a bore of a show
where he plops down in front ot a studio audience and gix‘s over
videos of people fixing up their mm houses using design ideas he
gave them. 1 le has guests, tin), but it’s all low-class Martha
Stewart. Skip it, but stay tuned because next up is....
Surjmse hy Design — a hilarious, sharp little number wherein
Robert Verdi and sidekick Rebecca Cole (who actually d<x*s
most of the work while Verdi sashays around giving orders)
descend on a home and redo a nxnn to surprise its owner in
response to a request-from a loved one or friend.
The project always has a budget of $2,500, and family and
friends pitch in to get the job done before the “victim” gets
home, so it feels very down-to-earth and inclusive. The best
parts of the show are when Verdi squeals about a crappy piece ot
furniture he found at GcxxJwill for $20 (which he then turns
into a stunning showpiece) and the barbs he trades with Cole,
such as “ I’m the Mary, you’re the Rhoda."
The designs can he a little out of control, though, to the point
where you think nolxxly but Verdi is really going to like it.
Recently explaining to one homeowner that he was going to turn
his kitchen into “Pee Wee's Dutch French Provincial Playhouse,”
Verdi is completely honest about his own self-obsession. “What’s
your favorite thing in this room?" he once queried Cole after a
finished project. “You,” she answered carefully. “Me tix),’’ he said.
Verdi also cuts quite a fashionable figure, unlike Christopher
Lowell, who could use a visit from Carson Kressley if you know
what I mean.
Once again I’ve blathered on— and before 1 got to talk about
Showtime’s new lesbian series set to air in January. 1 guess you’ll
have to tune in next time tor Fall Queerview 111. Ha, ha, not
really, I’d probably get fired, but do keep checking Just Out tor
more into on this lesbo show.
jn
Portland’s 2 Gyrlz Performative
Arts presents the second annual Enter-
active Language Festival, 30 days of
art— performance, visual, auditory,
interactive—around the theme of lan­
guage in its endless and enduring forms.
The organization’s queer name­
sakes, Lisa Newman and Llewyn
Maire, have upped the number of fes­
tival offerings this year and have col­
laborated with even more communi­
ty groups. “EL-fest is about communi­
cation and, therefore, in many ways,
collaboration,” explains Maire. “The
artists and other groups participat­
ing...are working with the basic
theme that art equals language.”
H ence all events are titled with
what language they are speaking:
Language of Terror, iMnguage of the
Ancestors, Language of the Body,
etc. For instance, p:ear gallery, a
nonprofit that works with hom e­
less youth, will be collaborating
with artist/m usic association
A modem-dav Marquis de Sade, Jean-Louis
36 Invisibles for Language of Youth. Costes collaborates to provide L a Langue du
“Those participating take the
Culte: Porno-Social R itual, part of 2 Gyrlz
central theme of the event and
Performative A rts’ Enteractive Language Festival
create work...around it. This is not
only the core of the festival, but
also one of the things that make it so unique,” says Maire.
Although there are several events ot queer interest in the
he creator and original stage and screen star ot Hedwig and
plump Oct. 30-Nov. 29 schedule, a tew are of special note. La
the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell, will be in Jackpot
Umgue du Culte: Porno-Social Ritual is an extreme, sexually
Records, 203 S.W. Ninth Ave., at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 to sign
explicit event with queer French perfonnance artist Jean-Louis
copies of the just-released Wig in a Box: Songs from and Inspired
Costes, who appears to have litigation issues around his art in
hy Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Europe. Expect various forms ot live sex and blcxxJ (well, it
The album, conceived and pnxJuced by Chris Slusarenko,
lcxiks like bhxxl anyway) at this graphic Oct. 31 show you will
owner of Portland’s Off Records and Clinton Street Video, contains
probably not want to bring the kiddies to.
the best work money can buy (except it was all donated): tracks by
Language of Silence (=death), a revolutionary adaptation of
Rufus Wainwright, Sleater-Kinney, Imperial Teen, The Breeders,
the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, is on
The Polyphonic Spree, Mitchell himself and many others.
Nov. 20. “ It’s an international vigil tor victims of violent mur­
The album is a fund-raiser tor New York’s new Harvey Milk
ders based on being perceived as transgendered,” says Maire,
School for queer students.
who will perform at the event, along with Portlanders Lori
Slusarenko admits to not being queer (we’re making him an
Buckwalter and Nine and San Francisco trans activist Rocco
official member anyway) but still obsessed with “the whole
Kayiatos, also known as Katastrophe.
Hedwig phenomenon. I loved the show, and it was one of the
iMnguage of the Paradox with noted trans activist Kate
first times I’ve ever seen rcxrk music done right in a theatrical
Bornstein is Nov. 21 and 22. “Obviously it’s an honor to bring
mcxJe. Usually it makes me cringe.”
Kate Bornstein back to Portland,” says Maire, who explains
See the Nov. 7 issue of Just Out for a complete story on the
Bornstein and Kayiatos will perform with kids from the Sexual
album and the project. J H
Minority Youth Resource Center.
See the Nov. 7 issue ot Just Out for an interview with
Compiled hy LlSA B raiishaw
Bornstein and more queer-oriented events. For a complete
schedule of all events,
locations and prices, visit
www.2gyrlz.org.
Hedwig in Portland
T
Who’s killing
the lesbians
off Citytown?
ust when you thought
it was safe to be a dyke,
Cardboard Box The­
atre Company comes up
with Mister Murdery, a
new play about Citytown’s
p<xu lesbian population—
stalked by murderous
hands!
It’s Nurse Cherry’s first
night at Citytown G ener­
al Hospital, but will it be
her last? With only a
(rather disturbingly inde­
pendent) radio for com ­
pany, two nurses— one of
them a man— attempt to
J
Cardboard Box Theatre Company presents Mister Murdery through Nov. 8 at The Electric Company