member 4.2005
eating oi
Oregon cultural
leaders roused
by gay
New Yorker
Ben Cameron (left, with Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams)
says civic arts programs help address political polarization.
freshman when he wrote his first composition
for the brass ensemble at Milton-Freewater’s
McLoughlin High School, from which he grad
uated in 2001. Growing up in the Eastern
Oregon community, he was often part of the
local entertainment scene, and he remains
enamored with jazz.
Michael Sanchez will present his multipart
arrangement of "For All the Saints" Nov. 6 at
First Congregational United Church of Christ.
He often sings in the choir of Portland’s
First Congregational United Church of Christ
and occasionally plays the trumpet, hut the
Nov. 6 All Saints’ Day service will propel him
into a new experience: a multipart arrange
ment of “For All the Saints,” an anthem writ
ten hy Ralph Vaughn Williams to honor
Christian saints, living and dead. Sanchez
lauds the assistance of First Congregational’s
openly gay pastor, the Rev. Paul Davis, who
has been involved in the logistics of acquiring
equipment and prepping the church for the
special performance.
Sanchez worked about a year on rhe
arrangement, which involves choir, organ, per
cussion and a brass ensemble. Creating and
directing the performance of this arrangement
is “a very intimate thing for me,” Sanchez
acknowledges, saying the anthem “always stixxl
out musically.”
Sanchez, who sings in the Portland Gay
Men’s Chorus, is a student in music education
at Portland State University, having previously
attended Mt. Hcxxl Community College, where
he was active in the queer student group.
McLouglin High Sch<x>l’s music students
traveled to festivals around the region, giving
Sanchez “the taste in my mouth to move to aw
big city." He was drawn to the variety of live
music available in Portland, hut “I’m really glad
I did grow up in a small town.” He believes the
ambiance of Eastern Oregon contributed signif
icantly to his musical sensitivity.
Sanchez’ experience with music in both
rural and urban Oregon will step to the ptxlium
with him—a new move forward for this talent
ed musician. The service starts 10:25 a.m. at
1126 S.W. Park Ave.
—Patricia L. MacAodha
Leaders in culture and
the arts from around the
state met Oct. 21 for the
2005 Oregon Cultural
Summit. The gathering was
sponsored by the Oregon
Cultural Trust, a statewide
plan to raise significant
new funds The meeting at
Portland Art Museum gath
ered about 200 advocates
who attended presentations
on subjects such as lobby
ing in Salem for the arts,
cultural tourism, marketing
and the omnipresent issue
of fund raising.
to invest in arts, humanities and heritage.
The high point of the day was the lunch
time keynote talk given hy Ben Cameron,
executive director of the Theater Commun
ications Group in New York. The distin
guished actor and arts administrator spoke
forcefully about the centrality of the arts in
an environment he characterized as a “fraying
social discourse.”
“Extremists dominate the public debate,” he
commented, “A post-9/11 world is one frac-
tiously divided along lines of faith, of race, of
sexuality.”
Political polarization, he noted, can be
addressed effectively by retaining the arts as
central to the lives of all Americans, old and
young. Citing studies done with young people
who participate in theater, he noted that a kid
who has been in a play is 42 percent less likely
to tolerate racist or other intolerant remarks by
classmates. A healthy civic arts program pro
vides an environment where difference can he
encountered in a safe place and where un
comfortable ideas can be aired.
“Support for the arts is a statement of s<x:ial
activism. A community without art has no
voice,” he continued.
Recalling the recent footage of people in
New Orleans gathering their family photos
before the floods, Cameron urged the audience
to consider the arts as “family photos of our cul
ture”—that is, the most central and meaningful
artifacts of our collective lives.
“As a gay man, the work of Tony Kushner
and Bill T. Jones are my family photographs,”
he said.
He encouraged listeners to find the “will,
- jUSt OUt 4 j
eating a
determination and discipline” to support the
arts, noting, “A climate of hostility’ and suspi
cion must give way to one of generosity and
curiosity.”
For more information about the Oregon
Cultural Trust, including how to get a tax break
for donating to a favorite arts or cultural organi
zation, visit www.culturaltrust.org.
—Sarah Dougher
Just say Noah
If Ninth’s Arc, the flagship comedy/drama
on the new gay-oriented cable channel Logo,
falls short of greatness, it’s not for lack of trying.
All the elements of an engaging cable show are
there—gcxxl stories, moral complexity, an
attractive cast and plenty of steamy sexual situ
ations—hut the establishment of a new series
takes tune. The debut episode displays the awk
wardness of a new ensemble cast and a writing
style that struggles to find a balance between its
own new voice and familiar elements of other
successful, similar shows like Queer as Folk and
Sex and the City.
Like those shows, Noah’s Arc is the story of
four best friends managing complex relation
ships while depending on one another for
advice and support. The main difference from
the existing shows is that our four major char
acters are black gay men in Los Angeles.
Noah (Darryl Stephens) is a struggling
scriptwriter with a romantic streak, reflected
in his soft voice, long hair and wide eyes. In
the first episode, he falls for a gorgeous
“straight” man named Wade (Jensen
Atwood) whose sexual interest in Noah is so
blatant that it can be seen from space. Ricky
(Christian Vincent), the commitment-phobic
slut of the hunch, owns a trendy clothes store
on Melrose Avenue and can’t keep his hands
off the staff. Chance (Doug Spearman), a .col
lege professor, worries about moving in with
partner Eddie (Jonathan Julian) and sacrific
ing his freedom once and for all. HIV coun
selor Alex (Rodney Chester), the “matri
arch” of the group, provides most of the obvi
ous blackness and gayness (and humor) with
his hilarious and blunt comments. Chester is
the actor who seems most comfortable in his
role, and we can only hope that some of that
will rub off on the rest of the cast as the show
continues pnxluction.
Noah’s Arc is the first black gay show ever
produced and, with rime, could he one of the
better shows on television. But it’s not there
yet.
Showtime is 10 p.m. Wednesdays through
Dec. 14. Logo is available via DirecTV.
—Jemiah Jefferson JM
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Noah 's Arc, the first black gay show ever produced, airs Wednesdays on Logo.