JUNE 24, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

North Coast Men's Chorus is Flirting with success

The Flirtations with the North Coast Men's Chorus Lakewood Civic Auditorium

Reviewed by Kevin Beaney Cleveland's Pride Day, June 11, saw a lot of activity—the march, the festival, the G.I.F.T. cruise, and the Flirtations/North

Coast Men's Chorus concert. The latter was a delightful and fitting end to a rainbow-filled day.

The Chorus' music director, Timothy Robson, has spent his first year exploring possibilities with the group, trying out different locations, themes and music. This time out, the Chorus was the prelude to the

Ensemble premiere covers wide range of music

Windsong Womyn's Ensemble Ursuline College Little Theater Saturday June 4

Reviewed by Lucy Dearly

The premiere concert of the Windsong Womyn's Ensemble opened with a lusty boogie-woogie rendition of Connie Kaldor's "Wanderlust." The Little Theatre at Ursuline College offered wonderful acoustics and an intimate setting to show off this talented group of women.

Conductor Diane Hobus enthusiastically led the Ensemble of twelve women from Cleveland, Akron, and Canton in a musically diverse hour-long program. The Ensemble easily moved from the sweet and moving harmonies of “Beauty and the Beast" to inspiring women-centered music. The Ensemble then rested while Hobus performed her own composition, "My One and Only Love," on the piano. Three other songs were also written by women composers from the area: Lisa Rainsong, Mary Grigolia, and Michele Atkinson. The program continued with the Ensemble singing a moving and dramatic presentation of "The Blue Eye of God" with its emphasis on the environment. A technically difficult and exciting medley from The Phantom of the Opera concluded the program, including solos and a duet by two members of the Ensemble with a climatic high note--that I thought might shatter glass-sung by Michele Atkinson. The enthusiastic and appreciatively warm response of the audience was rewarded by an encore of Holly Near's "Perfect Night."

"Our core group is excellent, as you heard this evening, but we would like to grow," Hobus said. "We are building our repertoire, and would like to present several concerts in a year, as well as to sing for various fundraising events." Many audience members commented on Hobus' enthusiasm and energy while conducting the concert. "I find conducting the Ensemble rewarding, satisfying, moving, exhilarat-

ing-I love it!" she exclaimed.

For a new group, the Ensemble certainly seemed to be well organized and supported. Volunteers, called "Gracenotes," staffed the box office and the house. Placards placed in the theater and lobby spoke thanked the media for their support and told the audience about the people behind the music. These ranged from the Academy Awardwinning "Beauty and the Beast," written by a gay man, to "This We Know," comprising the words from Chief Seattle's speech as his ancestral lands were signed away in 1855.

Accompanist Jerry Maddox had only four and a half rehearsals with the Ensemble. The appreciative conductor exclaimed that Jerry is “an experienced accompanist and choir director, he played difficult accompaniments with accuracy and style and was a definite asset to our performance."

The Windsong Womyn's Ensemble's blend and harmony was excellent considering its small number of voices. The Ensemble's vocal blend was full, rich, and at times ethereal. Solos accented the concert, their voices adding a uniqueness to the artistic expression of the songs. Gail, Michele, Molly, and Beth's solos were a wonderful blend of women's voices.

The Ensemble's next public performance will July 31 for a Speak Out fundraiser in Akron. Watch for their holiday concert in December also. If you missed their premiere you won't want to miss their "seconde"

concert.

The Windsong Womyn's Ensemble seeks a rehearsal and performance accompanist who has the ability to read and play a variety of styles of music. They rehearse every Sunday at Judson Manor, East 107th and Chester, from 5-7 p.m. Future concerts include July 31 in Akron, a date in September for the residents of Judson Manor, and a holiday concert in December. No audition is required. If you are interested please call the conductor, Diane Hobus, at 867-5467.

featured performers, the Fabulous Flirtations.

The opening number presented the Chorus as you've never seen them before: not only sans tuxedoes, but standing in scattered positions across the risers wearing casual street clothes and jackets. For a moment I had visions of Grease clones, but that illusion quickly faded. Thanks to the able choreography of Mark Lynch, the men assembled as they sang "diversity makes us strong," shedding their outer layers. They came across as proud and able singers.

The informality of the evening continued when Robson emceed a few skits where the group arranged itself according to height, place of birth, and availability. It gave the audience an opportunity to get a little more close and personal with the members and worked quite well in that setting. Of course, with only 35 or so singers, these assembly games moved quicklythe full chorus was able to stand just one deep across the front of the stage.

The few remaining numbers in the program were strongly and harmoniously sung, including two campy numbers by the Coastliners. Hats off to the work of the Chorus in fine-tuning its vocal output.

During the "Never Turning Back" finale, the members assembled across the stage according to shirt color: they were wearing the six colors of the rainbow flag and matched the flag decor hanging above them. The transition after that was slightly muddled, suggesting intermission when in fact it was only a pause as the Chorus exited to make way for the Flirtations. As it turned out, intermission would have been preferable.

The four Flirts came onstage to warm applause, launched into a medley of doo-

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wop numbers, and as they ended, found that their microphones were dying. For the next ten or so awkward minutes the men ad-libbed as a less-than-knowledgeable technical crew worked to solve the problem. At one point they sang a song sharing three mics, which turned into microphone hopscotch since the lead singer kept changing and the harmonies shifted. Finally, after sound problems got worse instead of better, they called for intermission.

When act two began, there were five microphones set up, the empty one in tribute to co-founder Michael Callen, who died in late December. The four remaining Flirts dedicated "Time After Time" to his memory. It was also fortunate to have an extra mic since once again there was a failure. I held my breath to see when the next line would fail but fortunately the sound system lasted the rest of the performance without further disaster.

For those who have seen the Flirtations before, it was a sharp performance with a healthy dose of new material. If you are a "Flirt virgin" (as I was), the live singing is far better than the group's recordings and the constant flirting remarks in between songs made it seem like these boys were hot to trot. Now I know how they came up with their name.

The concert ended with the Chorus joining the a cappella quartet, backing them on "Something Inside So Strong" from the South African movement. Their signature "We're the Flirtations" song served as encore. Audience reaction to both groups was very positive and supportive throughout the concert. With the bounty of music and professionalism of the Flirtations, the technical vortex was weathered.

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Cruise completes festivities

by David Ebbert

The G.I.F.T.-Pride Cruise set sail at 7 p.m. on June 11, right after all of the Pride festivities on Public Square. The Goodtime III played host to 622 people this year for Lake Erie's biggest gaylesbian fest, leaving no one disappointed.

The truly magnificent

sunset and calm breeze made it all worth it for me. The DJ on the first

deck played a variety of

music that everyone enjoyed and could dance to while the second and third decks attracted

more serene moment the bright orange glow of the sunset on Cleveland's skyline and on the water with the sun seeming to sink into the lake simply mesmerized many people.

Upon docking, I overheard several firsttime "cruisers" say that they couldn't wait

Upon docking, I overheard several first-time

"cruisers" say that they couldn't wait until next year.

those who didn't mind having the breeze muss up the hair a little. From the top decks, it was easier to see gay and lesbian boaters holding up rainbow flags, following the Goodtime III like porpoises. That got the crowd clapping and cheering, while at a

until next year. Everyone had a good time and gave to a good cause at the same time.

Pride weekend is also the weekend of the annual G.I.F.T. (Gay Invitational Fellowship) bowling tournament in Cleveland. G.I.F.T.

donated one dollar from the sale of each ticket to the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, but has promised to round it off to $1,000. This was my second year and I'm already making plans for next years' events. I hope to see you all there!

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