36
5.2003
DIVERSIONS
................... ▼......................
Mark Steering and Elizabeth
Lavenue consider Rimumtic
M ythtakes Dec. 13 and 14
by Lisa
B ye-b ye ,
Fairchild
I hate to see
a grow n man
so desperate
Isn't Humble Diva
an oxym oron?
he biggest bummer about queer artist I leyd
Fontenot’s art show at Disjecta Gallery is
that the space is only open when the nice,
little venue at 116 N.E. Russell St. is hosting
some performance. Well, you can get in by
appointment (503-335-6979), but who does that?
There’s good news, though. Heyd (pro
nounced “hide” ) is coming to town from his
stomping grounds in Austin, Texas, to close out
his exhibit of paintings, Blood Sugar of the laimh,
from 4 to 10 p.m. L\*c. 14. It’s going to he a heck
of a party, and you’re invited. Judging by my
conversation with Heyd and seeing the work,
you want to go.
ina Turner once asked, "What’s love got to
do with it?*’ and that’s what you’ll find out in
the wacky, moving and ultimately fun musi
cal cabaret show Romantic Mythtukes by the
Humble Divas, a duo made up of two deans of
Portland musical theater: Mark Steering, a Radi
cal Faerie, and Elizabeth Lavenue, a pregnant
dyke. (Both .in- also professional voice teachers.)
Lisa: You live in Austin, but your name
sounds a little European. Where are you
from?
Heyd: Someplace almost as fascinating as
Europe...Louisiana. Tire surname is French....
My friend Eileen says it’s Cajun for “fun"!
L: What’s your educational and creative
background?
H: I have a BFA in graphic design—pre
computer age—so I think that’s where my hand-
craftedness comes from. 1 also went to film
Heyd Fontenot’s Blood Sugar of the Lamb ends
schixil. I've been painting and drawing my
in a glorious closing party Dec. 14
whole life. It’s just something I’ve always, always I
done.... I was and remain a real ixldity to my
family who are all fanners— my dad and Kith
The show lamptxms popular music’s ridicu
lous myths aK>ut romance and love and
brothers and my grandfather and his father before
him. No kidding, .ill farmers.
explores the very knotty issues queer people
face in creating relationships: monogamy,
turkey basters, ctxlependency, shame and who
L: The title of the show is a little creepy.
gets
to play with my sex toys, to name a few.
What does it mean exactly?
(I learing Lavenues “Lonely as a Top" alone is
H: Well, 1 don’t want to tell you EXACTLY.
worth the price of admission.)
Where would the mystery he? OK, it’s sort of a
play on “Rkxxl of the lamb, take away the sins of
Romantic M ythtakes shows 7 p.m. Dec. 1 3 at
Grand House, ¡704 S.E. 22nd Ave. and 7 p.m.
the world, have mercy on us.” It’s a phrase used in
Catholic Masses. So even thought I’m no longer a
Dec. 14 at Artichoke Music Backgate Stage,
31 30 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. Tickets are $5-$l 5
practicing Catholic, I’ve said that at least a hun
dred thousand times, and all of this Catholic hixi-
sliding scale from 503-234-1140 or periwin-
kle@pcez.com.
ha gets in and never leaves.
L: The images of your people are playful, but
they all have such serious Itxiks on their faces.
H: Sometimes I have more specific ideas about
how I’ll use...a character, a pose— and sometimes
I just want to see...what they decide to do.... I’m
not sure what's going on tor them .. .1 imagine
they’re thinking, “I hope he doesn’t notice that
my tits are different sizes" or something like that.
Things that wouldn’t matter to me at all.
L: There is also a theme of floating, of let
ting go, yet there’s apprehension, too. Are they
having a hard time being free?
H: You are fucking right on. I’m not blowing
smoke, but 1 teel like ytxj totally get the vibe of it.
L: Heyd, you’re clearly a man of great per
ception and instinct. I’m going to put you in
my next column. Anything else you want the
people to know?
H : I have a desperate need for them to come
see the work. j n
Youth Resource Center (SM YRC) begins at
anccs, such as World AIDS Day
7:30 p.m. with a raffle— prizes include custom
in Salem and a Parents, Families
harnesses and Pussy Pucker Pots—and the
and Friends of Lesbians and
I movie starts at 8.
Gays fund-raiser in Eugene.
Jesus was penned by queer Boston musi
Tickets for Winter Song are $10
cian Faith Soloway, who also stars, along
from Jackson’s B*x>ks in Salem,
with Catie Curtis, Jennifer Kimball (as Mary)
from In Other Words in Port
and
Merle Perkins (as G od). The, oh, slightly
land and at the dtxir.
mcxlernized tale of the “virgin" birth is a
song-and-dance extravaganza that pokes
pleasant tun at both folk singers and dykes.
(Soloway, being both, know's of what she
mmediately after Just 1 preaches.)
Tickets cost $8 and can lx* purchased at In
Out ran a write-up of
Other Words.
Holocene’s queer
night Fairchild, the club
decided to call it quits.
Well, sort of. They’ll still have dance parties
Friday nights, but the name and the specialty
DJs flown in from around the world w ill not be
Members of the Portland Gay Men’s
on the ticket.
Chorus have decided the holidays aren’t
"It just wasn’t coming together,” says Charlie
stressful enough and so are embarking on
Hodge, one-third club owner. " T ie real chal
their first-ever tri-county tour with their new
lenge for Fairchild being a queer night is that it’s
production, Home for the Holidays!
really hard to break people’s habit of going down
“ It’s time for the chorus to produce in
to Stark Street, especially on the east side."
Hixlge wants to encourage queers to contin neighKirluxxIs that haven’t had the chorus but
ue coming on Friday nights and to the many
that we know have an audience there," says
other queer events going on at 1 lolixene,
executive director Tony Stroll. “The biggest
concern is to try to get the audience to the
1001 S.E. Morrison St., which includes the
right concert location on the right night, not
1 \ 'C . 14 ladies soiree Tart and a l\'c . 19
I)K PDX drag king show.
to mention the chorus members. Three con
certs, three locations in three counties; we
have officially lost our minds.”
So listen up or you’ll miss a program that
includes some of the best work the group has
presented through the years as well as a new
line of sendups of a few' people who’ve recently
graced the headlines.
The chorus performs at 8 p.m. Dec. 12 at
Marylhurst University’s St. Anne’s Chapel,
| 17600 Pacific 1 lighway.
Then at 8 p.m. Dec. 13 at Westminster
Presbyterian Church, 1624 N.E. Hancock St.
T ie n at 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at Cedar Hills
United Church of Christ, 11695 S.W. Park
Way. Tickets for all shows are $l2-$25 from
503-226-2588 or www.pdxgmc.org.
Now that you’ve got that straight, try this
on for size: The group will actually kick off this
tour with a sneak preview performance 4 p.m.
Dec. 7 at Chinixik Winds Gaming and C on
Girl meets girl, girl meets God, God gets down:
vention Center in Lincoln City as a benefit tor
See Jesus Has Two Mommies Dec. 10 at
Coastal AIDS Network. Tickets are $12 from
Hollywood Theatre
I 888-244-6665.*
And PGM C will host a party from 6 to
9 p.m. Dec. 9 at HoKi’s, 120 N.W. Third Ave.,
tor the release of its new CD , Holiday Sereruule,
a collection of its favorite 18 selections. It you
can’t make it, you can buy the disc beginning
or one night only, Hollywixxl Theatre,
4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., will show Jesu s
Dec. 7 at Gai-Pied, Music Millennium, Pow
Has Two Mommies, the hit Boston schlock
ell san d Borders. J H
opera transferred to video for queer enjoyment
all over the country.
! Compiled hy L isa B rahshaw , T imothy
T ie Dec. 10 benefit for the Sexual Minority
K rause atul B art C hurch
Singing the season
onfluence: The Willamette Valley Mixed
G A L A Chorus, hits all the right notes
with Winter Sung, a seasonal concert at
8 p.m. Dec. 6 at Salem’s Unitarian Church,
5 0 9 0 ( enter St. N.E., and 4 p.m Dec. 7 at
Portland’s Unity Church, 4525 S.E. Stark St.
Chris Sprtxil, the chorus’ hoard chair
woman, says the concerts are composed of a
variety of music “that remind us of the beauty
of winter, the hope of bright days ahead and
the joy of the holiday season."
Winter Song marks the fourth season of the
queer chorus, which has grown from 12 singers
in 2000 to more than 40 today, representing a
range of experience and backgrounds. Some
travel from as far as Newport and Battle
Ground, Wash., though most members live in
Albany, Corvallis, Portland and Salem.
Confluence presents three concerts each
season and offers several outreach pertorm-
S
PGMC at a home
fo r the h o lid a ys near yo u
There's som ething
about M ary
Confluence: The Willamette Valley Mixed G A L A Chorus performs another beautiful holiday
concert Dec. 6 and 7