Page 4 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE April, 1990
Romanovsky and Phillips to play Pride '90
June 16 street fair to be preceded by March for Civil Rights on Euclid Ave. downtown
by Marne Harris
The Cleveland Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee announced that Romanovsky and Phillips will be the headline performers at the Pride '90 celebration June 16. Also performing will be Monica Grant, a singer-comedienne from California. The Pride committee also has said that a women's musical act will also perform. Negotiations between Oven Productions, which is handling the music for Pride '90, and Deidra McCalla or Phranc are now taking place.
Romanovsky and Phillips are two of the hippest men in the gay community. Not only do they appeal to male audiences through their camp and musical talent, but to women through their politics and ideas.
The performances of these entertainers are being made possible through an agreement with Oven Productions,
the Pride committee, and U4ia nightclub. Romanovsky and Phillips, in addition to their performance at Pride, will be playing a full length concert Saturday night, June 16, at U4ia after the Pride celebration is over. McCalla or Phranc will be performing at U4ia the Friday night before, June 15. The agreement combines the funds of the three groups to cover the expense of bringing the performers to Cleveland.
"We were obsessed about having a name act here in Cleveland for Pride. When we realized we could not achieve that goal by ourselves we were very grateful that Oven negotiated with U4ia to help us," comments Martha Pontoni, cochair of Pride '90. "It is a real coup to have such a fine group as Romanovsky and Phillips at our celebration."
Pontoni went on to explain that Pride week is one week a year that almost all lesbian and gay entertainers are busy, so it is really hard to secure the well-known
acts. "I am very proud of Oven being able
to do this for us. I guess it really helps having one of the oldest women's production companies here in Cleveland," said Pontoni.
Drew Cari, the other co-chair of Pride '90, said that letters are being sent to the area clubs to ask them how they want to participate. "We don't want to leave anyone out. Pride weekend will be full of activities and there is room for everyone. I am pleased that U4ia came forward with this generous offer, I think it proves that they are dedicated to helping this community and that they have learned from past mistakes."
The Committee plans to have festivities all weekend long and have as many bars, clubs, other businesses and organizations host events related to Pride as possible. Businesses or organizations interested in hosting an
event should call Drew Cari at 229-8418 for more information. There are no
events scheduled for Sunday, June 17 as yet.
The Pride '90 Celebration will include
a March for Civil Rights down Euclid Avenue to the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center on West 29th Street. The march will kick off at 10:00 a.m. and the Pride Festivities which are being held in front of the Center will start at 12:00 noon.
There is a commitment ceremony tentatively scheduled for the morning. There will also be booths, games, food
and entertainment. The Center will also be holding its second annual Lavender Elephant Sale. This huge rummage sale was one of the biggest money making ventures for the Center last year and they hope to break all records this year.
The Pride Committee invites everyone to participate and have fun at the Celebration this year. Says Pontoni, "We really surprised everyone with what we put on last year, and if you were surprised last year, just wait!" ▼
Cleveland festival to include four gay films
by Martha Pontoni
The Cleveland International Film Festival will present its 14th festival for 11 days from April 19-29. More than 40 contemporary international feature films will be presented. Ten percent of the films will have gay themes: Longtime Companion; Looking for Langston; Tongues Untied; and Superstar.
celebrates gay desire and laments the well as a wide array of images from attitudes these desires arouse in contemporary society.
Warhol's art and films. The popular music of three decades as performed by Tongues Untied, an Unprecedented ExLou Reed, the Velvet Underground, ploration of Black Gay Life confronts the Bobby Short, Donna Summer, Pink silence of pain, the grin-and-bear-it Floyd and others, as well as serious music silence, the suicide silence of the unackby Tchaikovsky, Verdi and modern comnowledged and tongue-tied. Derogatory poser John Adams is used as underscor-
ing.
The International Film Festival takes place at the Cedar-Lee Theatre, at the corners of Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights.
The opening night film, Miramax Films' The Tall Guy, will be presented on Thursday, April 19, 1990 at the new Hoyt Cinemas in Tower City Center. Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson star in this new and wickedly funny romantic comedy about an American actor trying to find work in London.
Dancing in the timeless dance hall in Looking for Langston.
Longtime Companion will be shown only on April 28 at 9:30. The film is the first feature film to tell the story of how AIDS devastated and transformed the gay community throughout the 1980's. The story starts during the carefree preAIDS party days on Fire Island, where Willy (Campbell Scott) and Fuzzy (Stephan Caffrey) meet and begin a relationship that brings together an extended circle of friends. It's the same day a New York Times article announces a rare disease spreading among gay men.
The story then follows the lives of these two lovers and their friends as they experience and deal with the tragic events that AIDS brings to their lives.
Looking for Langston will be shown with Tongues Untied on Saturday April 28 at 2:30 p.m., and Sunday April 29 at 4:00 p.m. Looking for Langston is a visually beautiful and lyrical exploration of black gay identity. A poetic mediation on the jazz/blues-infused Harlem Renaissance is a central motif for the re-presentation of the black gay author Langston Hughes.
The poetry of Essex Hemphill is featured with music by Blackberri, woven through stylized text, dramatic sequences and archival material in a film which
accusations, judgments and jokes that abound in our culture are met head-on by Marlon Riggs' highly personal 55minute video about black, male, gay identity.
Poetry, personal testimony, rap and drama unite to oppose the homophobia and racism that attempt to split black gay men into opposing loyalties. An impassioned and provocative work, Tongues Untied, writes one critic, "slams you in the stomach while the poetry caresses your cheek."
Tongues Untied is a collaboration between Emmy Award-winning director Riggs and a number of nationally renowned black gay organizations and. artists, including poets Essex Hemphill, Alan Miller, Steve Langley, and singercomposer Blackberri, as well as Gay Men of African Descent and Black Gay Men United.
Superstar is a new feature length documentary about Andy Warhol which provides a close look into his art, his films and the controversial times and world of which he was a part.
The film is told through extensive use of previously shot material, including several revealing and enigmatic interAndy Warhol views given by Warhol over the years, as
CLEVELAND
INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL