ARA GALLANT

A fascinating book edited by David Wills full of quotes by friends and admirers (including yours truly) with photos by Richard Avedon and Ara himself (see cover above). All beautifully woven together telling the story of one of the super star hair stylists of the fashion world. You can buy the book here.

Jersey Boys

Sometimes you have to go to New Jersey for a decent Manhattan.

(photo by JoeMyGod. Far left: Baad Lamb and husband.)

everyone comes to new york

22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards

By Tony Adams

On Thursday, May 27, 2010, in Manhattan, the Lambda Literary Foundation recognized excellence in LGBT writing  at their 22nd annual Lambda Literary Awards. The best parts of the evening are always the socializing before the ceremony, the speeches of the Pioneer Award winners and the afterparty. Before entering the School of Visual Arts Theatre on 23rd Street, I crashed into the most spirited group in attendance, the ladies of Bold Strokes Books, an independent LGBTQ publishing house. (L to R: Collette Moody, Paula Tige, Carson Tate, Trinity Tam, Nell Starke, Radclyffe,  Polly Earnest, Lee Liggett. Hope I haven't butchered the names too badly)

Eddie Sarfaty (rare combination of handsome and hilarious) was The Master of Ceremonies. (Photo below) This year's Pioneer Award went to Larry Kramer and Kate Clinton. Larry surprised everyone by delivering a touching speech about his love of writing and appreciation of a good editor. Not a drop of vitriol. Kate said that she and Larry represent comedy and tragedy - and that it is up to us to make the correct assignments. She also stated that she and her partner are the last lesbian unmarried petless couple of 20+ years  east of the Mississippi. 

At the afterparty held at the gracious home of David McConnell and Darrell Crawford, I met a man from Seattle who is partner to an ex-Dominican monk. They both appear in fisting videos. He showed me some stills kept on his phone.

Here is a set of photos from the evening that does not include the above mentioned images. You'll see that the author of the shocking and now vintage Mad Man, Samual Delaney, is now looking like Santa Clause. He said he actually played Santa last December and we laughed about him bouncing small children on his disreputable knees. This set also contains pictures of pretty Kate and charmant Larry.

After the jump, you'll find a complete list of the winners by category. A great way to structure your summer reading list!

Perry Brass: Lost Gay New York: Riis Park, and DADT

Perry Brass in May, Battery Park City.

            

My friend Toby Grace, whom I adore and who is the editor of Out in Jersey, one of my favorite gay papers, and one of its founders, has an interesting weblog on WordPress called, “The End of DADT - The Begining Of The Right to Die For Insanity,”  in which basically he iterates all the reasons why beautiful young gay men should stay out of the service, and by extension, out of war. He’s right: war is not just hell, it’s Shit & Hell. The best thing, in my opinion, ever said about war was from Oscar Wilde. The divine Oscar said: “As long as men feel that war is evil, they will continue doing it. It is only when they realize that it is downright vulgar that will they stop.”

War is downright vulgar. It’s sloppy, ugly, ruthless, and goes directly to the mangled corpse of the human soul.

It’s the game where all rules are off. Which is probably why at heart humans love war. They adore it. It goes back to those scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 when our near-chimp ancestors duked it out with sticks, stones, and bones.

The only problem is that war has outstripped our capacity to control it. We can’t control war no more. (Forget about “I ain’t gonna study war no more!”—that only worked in a Pete Seeger song.)

The New Illumination Lawn at Lincoln Center

When Olmsted and Vaux designed Prospect Park in Brooklyn, they recognized their chance to refine or redress some of their efforts in Central Park, whose two large green gathering spaces, The Sheep Meadow and The Great Lawn, are both essentially flat. In Prospect Park, one of the best-loved features then and now, is the Long Meadow, the nearly mile long roll of grassy hills that unfold after the initial entry from Grand Army Plaza. They considered Prospect Park their superior work, as do many landscape architect critics.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro cut out a small section of this undulating Brooklyn icon, and then transported their flying green carpet of grass to the tighter, smaller, higher-built spaces of Manhattan. Here, they placed it on the head of a two story, still unnamed “destination” restaurant in Lincoln Center’s north plaza, and secured it all with a stainless steel hat pin.

Last Friday, this “Short Meadow” of green space opened for public use, finally allowing close-up inspection of what has only been intriguingly visible from a distance or in computer simulated virtual reality.

Photos, details and video after the jump.

Stranger than Fiction: The Shaky Future of American Fringe

by Charlie Vázquez

Tea Party talk of secession, detainment and deportation of “targeted” undesirables, the repeating echoes of painful histories—who can imagine a world more complex than today’s? But it can always get worse, can’t it? When I sat down to begin writing my new novel Contraband five years ago, the Arizona controversy currently finding angry headlines was a distant mirage of fictive possibility. Today it’s suspicious "Hispanics," but who will find themselves in the crosshairs of tomorrow’s legalized oppression? We need to be watchful of this smug “reclaiming of territory” that ignores a long, bloody, and shameful history perpetuated by greedy westward-moving Americans and others. Perhaps I saw it coming…

Like many works of queer fiction, Contraband was influenced by three very real events in queer history: the often fatal abuse of homosexuals in the Nazi concentration camps, the persecution of gay Cuban journalists and artists after Fidel’s victory in Cuba in 1959, and the 1950s Senator McCarthy-led “Lavender Scare” headhunts in the US government, which placed gays alongside communists, spies, and threats to the intelligence structure during the bubbling of the Cold War. My tortured protagonist, Volfango, works for the darkening government, but leaves it all behind to live in secret subterranean tunnel communities, where free-thinkers and other fringy folks are convening to live in freedom—and squalor. Let us hope we never have to live like this!

If Arizona SB 1070 (sounds apocalyptic already) is the beginning of bigger things to come, let us pray to the queer gods that a Tea Party-created (read: insane) administration never finds its way into The White House. So much progress will be squandered in the name of reclaiming (straight/white) America, and us queers are going to have a lot to lose should a Christian Right-based government decide to round us up and ship us somewhere far—or make us disappear forever as happens in Contraband. It's happened before in our great big world, but let’s hope it doesn’t happen again anytime soon. Only time will tell. I’m ready to fight when that time comes. Are you?

For more information on Contraband and Charlie Vázquez website: http://www.firekingpress.com

Steve Hayes: Tired Old Queen at the Movies: Live!

By Brooklyn Bill

Last night, Tony and I caught Steve Hayes: Tired Old Queen at the Movies: Live!, a stage show derived from the YouTube video series. It was every bit as fun as I'd hoped it would be.

SHTOQATML is part of Gayfest NYC 2010, a series of original plays whose proceeds benefit Harvey Milk High School.

John Bixler—who's familiar to fans of the videos as "Johnny," Hayes's friend who introduces each episode—started the evening by explaining that Hayes began sharing his love of old movies with him when the two were appearing in a play together in Boca Raton, Florida. Since that town is populated mostly by seniors who eat the early-bird special and then go to bed, there was nothing to do after their show was over. So Hayes would screen films and offer his own insights into them.

Hayes talked about three movies that he's recommended in his videos: The Letter, The Furies, and Demetrius and the Gladiators, which was the subject of episode #1. He also answered questions about how gays and lesbians were portrayed and queer actors were treated back in the day. And he told stories about—and did impersonations of—actors and actresses, including his favorite, Susan Hayward, who grew up in Brooklyn and went out to LA to audition for the role of Scarlett O'Hara. She was advised to go back to New York and model instead. But she persevered and got better as an actress, improving on her performance in DATG, in which, Hayes said, she sounded like Rome were a city near Utica. Ha!

Despite what the main Gayfest page says, the Tired Old Queen has two more performances left: tonight and Friday night. Or maybe it's three: The ticket-purchasing page now has a clickable link for a Saturday night show. I'll get that situation nailed down and update this post accordingly.

At any rate, catch SHTOQATML if you can, especially if you enjoy classic films and the stars of yesteryear.

UPDATE: I confirmed that SHTOQATML has been extended to Saturday. Ticket page is here.

The Incomparable and Beautiful Joan Rivers

By Tony Adams

With six other journalists, I shared the pleasure of a half hour with Joan Rivers at The Regency on Park and 61st. More on this after my exclusive one-on-one interview scheduled for June 4th. I'll also have a review of the fascinating documentary about her year of reinvention, Joan Rivers A Piece of Work.

A Shorter NYC Pride March

By Tony Adams

QNY delivered this news a month ago but the shortening has now been confirmed.

By the way, I have reserved a place in the parade for all NYC LGBTQ bloggers and friends. Details to follow. Anyone who wants to march with our group should leave me your contact information.

old fashion' but good!

Jim Brochu Wins Drama Desk Award For Zero Hour

By Tony Adams

This is wonderful news and a reminder that if you haven't seen Jim's tour de force performance in Zero Hour, it is still playing in Manhattan.

QNY urged you to see this back in March. You'll find my 2008 review of Zero Hour in this post on Perge Modo (if you can dig through all the chatter up front).

Here is Jim's beautiful acceptance speech.




Big congratulations to Jim and his partner of 25 years, Steve Schalchlin!

Banana Shpeel

Posted by Mondschein


"Banana Shpeel" presented by Cirque du Soleil at the Beacon Theatre, May 23, 2010

Cirque du Soleil, having turned the concept of circus on its head, creating a international brand and establishing permanent productions around the world, has finally opened its production of Banana Shpeel for a summer run at the gloriously restored Beacon Theater on the upper west side in New York.  Cirque has, of course, visited New York regularly with its traveling productions.  Given the opportunity to attract the tourist dollar, it's easy to see the advantage of a site-specific production here.

The Master Builder and The Glass House - A Review

Posted by David

Resonance Ensemble, a relatively young company, is dedicated each season to producing related theatrical presentations that share themes and ideas that remain relevant to current audiences.  For its 2010 season, the company has paired Henrik Ibsen's classic The Master Builder with the new work The Glass House by June Finfer.  Both works have at their center a prominent architect facing both professional and personal challenges while also examining the conflicting role of architect as both artist and artisan.

Let me state up front that I enjoyed both productions.  The casts are strong and the direction and design for each is unique yet complimentary.

Sarah Stockton as Hilda Wangel and Chris Ceraso as Halvard Solness.  Photo by Jon Kandel

Harris Yulin as Mies van der Rohe and Janet Zarish as Edith Farnsworth.  Photo by Jon Kandel

Perry Brass: Lost Gay New York: Uptown and Downtown: Caffe Cino and The Old Reliable

Author Perry Brass, 1971

In October of 1966, after I had been in New York only 3 months, and was struggling with a dirt-pay job as a messenger at an art studio and going to art school at night at Cooper Union, my 42-year-old roommate on Central Park West Bob Schwiller asked me to sit down for “the talk.”

“I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” he announced.

I was surprised.

“Why?”

“I don’t like your attitude,” he said.

“Whaaa?”

I was in disbelief. I had thought I had a good attitude. At least as far as I could see, it was good. For a 19-year-old kid it seemed good. I was a polite Southerner and most people saw that. New York had been difficult for me to get used to: it was crowded, abrasive, and pushy. I was not and didn’t want to be.

“Your attitude. You think you’re better than other people. I can tell it. You’ve been rude to my friends. Damn snotty if you ask me. And you don’t bring guys home. Wha’s th’ matter? Think you’re too good for guys on Central Park West?”

I tried to catch my breath. This came as a shock; I’d felt so alone in New York and now I’d be thrown back into the cold again.

Tulips & Pansies Headdress the Affair presented by Village Care

By Darling!

More photos and video after the break!

Restoration

Posted by Mondschein

“Restoration” at New York Theatre Workshop, May 18, 2010

(photo: Joan Marcus)

Claudia Shear’s latest play is a funny and thoughtful story of an art conservator who restores more than just the appearance of the objects on which she works.  Returning to NYTW, where her last success “Dirty Blonde” began its journey to a 2000-2001 Broadway run, Ms. Shear’s new protagonist is quite the polar opposite from Mae West. 

Restoration explores the politics of art, beauty, love, fidelity and redemption.  Giulia (Ms. Shear) moved from Italy to Brooklyn with her family at the age of 8.  Now writhing through middle age, she remains single because, as she herself tells it, “I’m weird, aggressive and successful.”  As the play begins, she has lost her position in the art world following the insults over a peer’s restoration technique that resulted in a lawsuit against her.  Her life-long mentor/father-figure Professor (Alan Mandell), who abandoned her during the trial has arranged for her to restore Michelangelo’s David for its 500^th anniversary.  Museum security guard Max (Jonathan Cake) becomes her unlikely friend.  Hot and handsome with an archetypal married man’s Italian roving eye, he quotes poetry and classical literature as he flirts with all visitors skirted.  Museum board member Daphne (Tina Benko) blond, beautiful and intimidating, challenges Giulia personally and professionally, testing her knowledge, skill and self-confidence.  Museum director Marciante (Natalia Nogulich) is generally supportive, but circumspect.

pee-wee herman coming to broadway!

my life is now complete!

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/i-meant-to-do-that-the-pee-wee-herman-show-coming-to-broadway/

Book Review: "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter"

By Beau

If you're dismissive of pop culture literature and the current trend to remake the classics like "Pride, Prejudice,  & Zombies" or "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters", that's fine.  I haven't read those either because I'm a hick and feel I have no approach to being able to read Jane Austin.  But Abe Lincoln and vampires?  Yes, please.

"This Mortality Thing Is Bad News" Said The Widow

By Tony Adams

While there is worse domestic architecture to be had, there is probably none more playful than that of New Yorkers Madeline Gins and her husband Arakawa who died Tuesday in Manhattan at the age of 73. Be sure to watch the audio slideshow about their recent Long Island "Lifespan Extending Villa" Bioscleave House.

The Baad Lamb and I once owned a 200 year old farmhouse whose floors were tilted so dramatically that we soon discovered why the previous owners had left behind a beautiful Berkey and Gay 1930s dining room set. In order to make the table and buffet level, they sawed off a couple of inches from the legs on one side of the room. I'm quite sure the slope of that house is why we are still alive and maintaining our "tentative reality" after all these years.

(photo: Eric Striffler for the NY Times)

Chocolate Macarons w Bittersweet Mocha Ganaché

by Hungry Rabbit

I don't recall having a favorite children's book or reading that much for pleasure outside of school work. I do recall Barbar and a few standard children's books and comic books. They didn't seem to resolve my need to express my imagination, however. For that, I turned to Lego.

Back in those days, Lego was composed of only basic building blocks. There were no figures of firemen, astronauts, or policemen. There were no themes of Star Wars, Toy Story, or Transformers. If you wanted to create all that, you’d have to build them from scratch with the basic building blocks of red, yellow, blue, green, and white. Even though I spent most of my time with those colorful plastic pieces, I did love comic books of Super Heroes and cute Snoopy and Woodstock. The character that had the most impact on me was The Shadow, a dark character who fights crime with his psychic powers. The ability for flying and flame throwing super heroes seemed too farfetched to me, but a person with a mysterious dark side and psychic powers? That was more convincing to my 10-year-old self.

I used to go to bed with a radio under my pillow, listening to the broadcast of ghost stories. Since my parents didn't read to me, that was my version of a bedtime story. So, when Mactweets May Challenge was to come up with a macaron that is inspired by your favorite childhood books, I dug deep into my childhood and I found the dark side. I could have done something inspired by my Lego, but since it's about reading, I thought The Shadow comic book, was more appropriate for the theme of this challenge.

I created a Chocolate Macaron with a Bittersweet Mocha Ganache to reflect the dark side. Chocolate is considered a psychoactive food, something The Shadow would understand and appreciate. Since the Shadow fights crime at night, he'll need all that caffeine to stay alert. Both chocolate and the Shadow can take on many forms and identities to achieve the ultimate goal—restore balance to the world.

Brooklyn Bill ----> West Village Bill

By Brooklyn Bill

On Thursday, I signed a lease for a wonderful one-bedroom apartment in the West Village. I'm so psyched to be moving to a queerer and cooler New York neighborhood.

I will have lived in my current place in Park Slope for five years next month, and even though I think PS is terrific in many ways, as the date to renew my lease approached, I couldn't escape the feeling that it was time for a change.

This apartment is just what I needed: It's on the second floor, which means it won't be that much of a hassle for my new dog walker and me to carry Emme, my 15-year-old corgi, up and down stairs. It's in the rear of the building and on what seems to be a quiet block of Charles Street, so noise shouldn't be a factor, unless my neighbors suck. The bedroom is large enough to accommodate my kingsize bed; the two hotties I routinely share it with will be glad to know they won't have to settle for crowding onto a double. And it's got a dishwasher, which I was going to hold out for regardless of how much I liked an otherwise fantastic apartment—and the added bonus of a clothes washer and dryer, right in the unit. And lastly, the building has a communal roof deck with lots of established plants and room for me to add a few more.

I feel like I hit the jackpot with this place. Watch out, West Village! Here I come!

a cornucopia of free events in new york city

One of the many great things about New York City is the number of free outdoor events that take place throughout the summer.  Here is a very long (and incomplete!) list of some of what is available.

Blue Hill New York

By Brooklyn Bill

I had a phenomenal meal with Stash at Blue Hill New York Saturday evening. The food was amazingly fresh and delicious.

I started with a glass of 2009 Château Haut Rion Rosé. It was lively and refreshing and a good lead-in to all that followed.

One of the two appetizer amuse-bouche consisted of two baby carrots and two baby bok choys, unadorned and impaled on spikes on a wooden block like flowers on a florist's frog. I'm a farmers-market fanboy, so I enjoyed BHNY's flair for putting produce on a pedestal. And as I write this, more than 24 hours later, I still have the taste memory of that carrot on my tongue. The bok choy was a stellar specimen too, but if that carrot were a man, he'd make hunky Jon Hamm look like—oh, why not? I'll go there—Carrot Top.

The other amuse-bouche was a mini asparagus burger. I don't know what was used to flavor the chopped asparagus that stood in for ground beef, but it was heavenly.

For my first course, I got the Spring Vegetable Salad, which was a collection of fresh produce in a bowl with a delightful golden dressing.

For my second glass of wine, I got the 2004 R. López de Heredia Viña Cubillo, a blend of tempranillo, garnacho, mazuelo and graciano. BHNY's wine list separates its offerings into various style categories, which I find extremely helpful. This wine is classified as "smooth and earthy." Other styles include "ripe and luscious" and "big and bold" for reds and "crisp and bright" and "elegant and round" for whites.

The Burnt Part Boys

Posted by Mondschein

"The Burnt Part Boys" at Playwrights Horizons, May 14, 2010

Playwrights Horizons brings their first new musical since 2008 and it's a welcome offering..

This new musical tells the emotional story of Jake and Pete Twitchell, brothers who lost their father in a coal mine explosion in 1952, the titular "burnt part."  Ten years later, 18 year old Jake (Charlie Brady) has dropped out of high school to work in the mines, while still taking care of his 14 year old brother since their mother has withdrawn from life with a bottle.  Pete (Al Calderon) lives in the fantasy of movies at the local drive-in, conjuring fatherly images of John Wayne as Davy Crockett in "The Alamo" along with Jim Bowie and Sam Houston (all Michael Park), since he can't really remember his own father.  Pete and his buddy Dusty (Noah Galvin) begin a quest to stop the mining company from reopening the burnt part, meeting up with Frances (Molly Ranson), a girl from their class whose father also died in the 1952 explosion.  Frances has exiled herself to the forest after the "scissor incident," involving the shorn locks of a taunting classmate.  The quest takes a predictable turn as Jake and his buddy Chet (Andrew Durand) follow the boys in an attempt to stop Pete from his plan.

Spend a Night in Jail - A Review

By David

Nutshell Productions is currently producing a double bill of one-acts at the American Theatre for Actors on West 54th Street, just a block west of Studio 54.  The two pieces are William Saroyan's Hello Out There and Jean Genet's Deathwatch.  As both plays have a prison as their setting, this is basis for the conceit for the pairing.

Reflections in Central Park

If you're in New York City today, do yourself a huge favor and get outdoors. Now.

Highbridge Park Update

An editorial in yesterday's New York Times touts the cultural and economic benefits of a renovated, re-opened Highbridge (left) pedestrian connection from the Bronx to Manhattan, drawing a parallel between it and the hugely successful (some might say soul-sucking) High Line (right) neighborhood transformation.






Last Christmas, ruminating on the chance of future restoration I observed:
"Unfortunately, that low, human scaled (possibly original?) wrought iron fence will be the first thing to go." Hardly rocket science, since today's building codes would never allow pedestrians to walk more than a hundred feet above a river with only a thirty inch high railing, but the end of the fence is now confirmed by the Times (italics mine):

"With a full restoration — including higher, more durable railings — this should again be a well-used public walkway, making it easier for people to walk from the Bronx to the swimming pool and recreation areas in the restored Highbridge Park on the river’s western bank."

Left, the current Manhattan side steel and barbed wire barrier to the Highbridge.




OK, I already know the answer, and it involves both irresponsible people and lawyers, but click back to the article and enlarge the Times photo from 1928 (the first one)-


Do you not ask yourself why those New Yorkers could stroll across this bridge without a 12' high, small-holed chain link fence (as we'll most likely be made to accept for the privilege of walking back and forth), and today's New Yorkers can't?

Interestingly, the Times tries to shame a few original Bronx locals that have made it big to step up and contribute their celebrity and their bank accounts to accelerate this project.


Seems only fair, and if they match the time, money and effort the Divine Miss M has contributed on the Manhattan Side, in no time I'll have the pleasure of photographing and complaining about a real fence, not musing on a future one.
I can't wait.


Highbridge Tower top detail (above)
All photos by me.

all the mod cons

Doris Eaton Travis, Last Of The Ziegfeld Girls, Leaves The Stage at 106.

I met her at the Goodspeed Opera House many years ago. Everyone thought she'd last forever. A wonderful life. Here she is on stage in New York earlier this year.

Kellan Lutz for Calvin Klein........

By ERIC WILSON for The New York Times
Published: May 12, 2010
“I COULD only hope and pray that I could have a career like Mark Wahlberg,” said Kellan Lutz, the abdominally gifted young actor whose recent career highlights include the roles of ancillary vampire sibling and yet another Freddy Krueger victim.


Who wouldn’t?

Though it has been seven years since he went from working as a shirtless greeter at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in Los Angeles to a cover model on one of its raunchy catalogs, and from a bit part on “The Bold and the Beautiful” to recurring eye candy in “90210” and “Twilight,” it will not come as much of a surprise that Mr. Lutz is still best known as the guy with a washboard stomach who is not on Team Jacob. That is not to imply that Mr. Lutz lacks for acting talent or broader ambition but rather to note just how far an actor can go by adhering to the simple example set forth by Mr. Wahlberg — the School of Marky Mark, if you will. The single lesson is success by six-pack.

After all, long before Mr. Wahlberg was to become an Academy Award-nominated actor for his role in “The Departed” and a producer of the HBO series “Entourage,” he was a terrible rapper, an obnoxious loudmouth and, quite possibly, the greatest underwear model the world has ever known. It is no wonder he is seen as a role model to Mr. Lutz, who is among the latest crop of actors and athletes to star in a campaign for Calvin Klein. (MORE

Jorge Pardo at Friedrich Petzel Gallery

Computer routed, vaguely art-nouveau stylized butterfly shapes are mechanically fastened into long, high, wall-like constructions. These walls are in turn arranged to divide the large gallery into a disorienting maze. Random voids are plugged with diverse images - people, landscapes, historical events - all culled from the internet. To navigate these narrow passages one gets the sensation of walking through corridors of memory, a déjà vu mixed up mash-up view through multiple windows on multiple worlds; a digitally fabricated analog manifestation of computer memory bank ones and zeros. The surprising effectiveness of these very porous "memory walls" to almost totally obscure others in the room was oddly enhanced by the continuous unintelligible soundtrack provided by a relatively large crowd of talkative gallery-goers.

Meanwhile, across the street, the empty old Dia waits patiently silent, where Mr. Pardo's cheerfully colorful tile floor remains hopeful, and occasionally manages to catch the eye of West Chelsea wanderers, even through darkened windows and the dust of indecisive neglect.

Jorge Pardo continues at Friedrich Petzel Gallery, 537 West 22nd Street, until June 19th.

Larry Kramer Against GMHC's Move To 10th And 33rd

The annual AIDS walk to benefit GMHC will take place in Central Park this weekend. Something tells me that it might not be the usual show of unity.

Larry's letter in full, after the break.

Raven O "One Night With You"

By Darling!


To quote Michael Musto of the Village Voice "Raven O is a long-running singer/raconteur with a backstory right out of a gay film noir and a mouth that'll tell you all about it in between belting the shit out of the American Songbook."
Ticket info here.

Lena Horne has gone to her Cabin in the Sky......

By Darling!


Ms.Horne died Sunday, May 9, 2010, less than two months before her 93rd birthday, at the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. She is also survived by her grandson, Teddy Jones and her grandaughter, Lena Jones.
May she rest in peace.



Read about the details of her life here.

NY Theatre Workshop Discount Offer - Restoration

Two-time Tony Award-nominee, playwright and actress Claudia Shear reunites with acclaimed director Christopher Ashley to create and perform in her new play Restoration. Shear plays the lead role of Giulia, a down-on-her-luck art restorer from Brooklyn who receives the possibly career-reviving job of “refreshing” Michelangelo’s sculpture David in time for its 500^th birthday celebration in Florence.

Tickets for performances on Now through May 18 are just $42 (reg. $65) each.
 

Performances May 21 through June 13 are just $50 (reg. $65).
 

* Tickets must be purchased by May 19, 2010.

Use code RBLNY when ordering.

To purchase tickets, call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.insiteticketing.com/ticketcentral/ticengo.aspx?MC=RBLNY+&MD=202&AID=&PID=8058

Click here to watch a short video about RESTORATION.

New York Theatre Workshop also offers both Student Tickets and CheapTix Sundays.

CheapTix Sundays: All tickets for all Sunday evening performances at 7pm are just $20 each! Tickets are available in advance but must be purchased at the NYTW box office on a cash-only basis.

Student Tickets: Full-time students with a valid student ID may purchase $20 tickets for all performances (subject to availability). Limit one ticket per ID. Tickets must be purchased in person and require an ID at the box office.

The NYTW box office is located at 79 East 4th Street (between Second Avenue and Bowery) and is open Tuesday - Saturday from 1pm - 6pm.

Nina, Pinto, Santa, Maria

So, like, a way long time ago, like 1942 or something, a guy got kicked out of Italy cuz he kept talking crazy global-rounding like theory and all, but then some religious fanatical Queen in Madrid gave him some money, and he bought 4 things but had to put them on a boat to New York cuz they wouldn't all fit in the overhead bins. When he got to Central Park, everyone liked what he brought so much they gave him a traffic circle and a shopping mall and put up 4 pillars in the traffic circle in honor of his contributions to like, culture or something.

Then they made school kids sing about Nina, Pinto, Santa and Maria.

      

       

Top photo of Columbus Circle Monument reflected in Time Warner Center by me; the rest copied from the interwebs

Bachelor's Buttons

By Brooklyn Bill

I love cornflowers, aka bachelor's buttons. Such pretty blues, pinks, and purples. These came from Lebak Farms in Burlington County, New Jersey—my usual flower supplier at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket.

the empire state

The Castle Garden - May 8 & 9

I live in a Castle.  It's not a Disney sort of castle.  It's a Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York sort of castle, a loose-knit intentional community.  We call our home The P Castle in Bushwick, or just The Castle.

We're an eclectic group of 10.  Some words used to describe one or more of us are: queer, trans, cis, gay, lesbian, straight, bi, Mexican, black, white, activist, faerie, mother, child, DJ, programmer, painter, sculptor, musician, carpenter, archivist, filmmaker, cook, witch, costume designer, makeup artist, performance artist, and my favorite--slut!

We're taking on a new project, the Castle Garden.  We hope to grow some of our own food, so we joined the Secret Garden Project at the Linden-Bushwick Community Garden.

This year is off to an odd and late start at the Secret Garden, because soil testing showed elevated levels of lead.  To continue planting and raising safe and healthy food crops, raised beds are were constructed throughout the garden.

On Saturday, John, Natalie, and I lined our new garden bed frames.

On Sunday, Aderonke and I began filling our beds with lush imported soil.

We haven't yet decided what all we're planting.  Definitely on the menu are tomatoes, peppers, and a variety of greens.  I'm hoping for a ton of herbs, some Brussels sprouts, and perhaps some carrots and other root vegetables.

I plan to keep y'all updated throughout the year as we work on farming a little patch of New York City!  I can't wait to cook with ingredients we have raised.

Raging Grannies Mother's Day Parade

Marching up Columbus Avenue today, the Granny Peace Brigade spread the word about the true anti-war meaning of Mother's Day, and passed out leaflets with the words of its founder Julia Ward Howe in 1870: "We the women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs".
As delightful as the Raging Grannies and their marching band were, it is a somber message for this and any Mother's Day.

More photos after the jump...

Poem

By HabanaSky

Hello, how are you doin' today? That's how our conversation begins.

Yet the answer to the question, is far from the truth, because I tell you that I'm fine, but

in reality I die a little more every moment you're not by my side and I realize, that the distance between grows more and more each time.

You say, " I'm alright", but I hear in your voice, what you're trying to hide. That you miss me and need me to heal the wounds you get out of life, and you need my affection to comfort your pain, but I know you'll let your pride stand in the way ... of our perfect romance.

Just as I'm about to give up, there's a silence that's louder than any spoken words and I can feel you tremble, your hands holding on to mine and I can taste each tear drop that's fallen from your eyes. My heart is filled with your sadness, my head is echoing with your madness and though we're miles apart I hold you in my arms.

As you speak, I savor every word, that I've waited to hear and it's clear ... you're almost at that point where you let down that wall and let me help you up from your fall.

"Wait, can you hold?"

" I have another call?"

I say, " It's alright."

Perry Brass: Lost Gay New York: I Almost Get Caught in a Bar Raid

I guess it was inevitable that I’d end up in a raided bar. Back in 1966, during my first few months in New York, bars were raided all the time. This was despite the Mattachine’s successful “action” only a few months earlier, called “the Sip-In,” modeled on the black civil rights movement’s Sit-Ins, to open the bars legit-wise to gay drinkers. Before the Sip-In, barkeeps could have their licenses revoked by the New York State ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Commission) just for serving “known” homosexuals. The Mattachine staged the Sit-In at Julius’s, the hoary old one-time speakeasy, on West 10th Street near Waverley Place, which is now a prima facie gay bar. But back in the early and mid-60s, Julius’s had every hope and pretension of being an all-guys sports bar, and they had a sign in front of it that said: “If You’re Gay, Stay Out!”

The sign was put there because the bar had been raided a few times when the owners did not pay off to the local precinct, a standard part of doing business in the city then. So the bar’s owners, who were not actually all that anti-gay, put the sign up to keep the cops happy.

Not Tonight, Dearie! QNY's Mondschein In A Testora Commercial

By Tony Adams

QNY contributor Mondschein in oven mitts!

The Tao of Chuang Chou Featuring QNY's Justin Elzie

by Tony Adams

QNY contributor Justin Crockett Elzie is currently on stage in THE TAO OF CHUANG CHOU, China's great Poet of Ideas.


For details: The New Actors Workshop, 259 West 30th Street 212 947-1310 May 7-16