DOUGLAS ZIMMER
SEPTEMBER 1, 1995
GAY PEOPle's ChroNICLE 25
EVENINGS OUT
Surviving, and outlasting the enemy
by Doreen Cudnik
Over 300 people gathered at Borders Books and Music in Beachwood to hear legendary lesbian folk singer and songwriter Janis lan perform songs from her new CD and to meet the woman behind such hits as "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child."
The east suburban Cleveland stop was one in a ten-city cross-country tour that has lan right there with her fans, greeting them one by one, signing autographs, and shaking hands. Ian commented that the bookstores of today are a lot like the folk clubs of the '60s and '70s, where people could come and just hang out while having the opportunity to meet a star.
Enjoying a career that is now entering its fourth decade, Ian began her journey at the impressionable age of fourteen. Remembering that time, she said it was like "living in a fishbowl."
"Sometimes, when I look at 14-year-olds today I think, 'How did I do that?' But my mom said to me 'Nothing could have stopped you.'
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At age 15, she wrote and recorded her first song, the controversial "Society's Child," about a young white girl in love with a black youth. The song was viewed as a militant protest and banned on several radio stations across the country.
"I knew at the time what all the fuss was about," Ian said, "but of course I didn't understand it with the kind of depth that I
understand it now. The confusing part about it was how people could be so angry at me over a song. I didn't understand why anyone would be so upset—after all, she was doing just what they wanted. It was confusing to have my work taken that seriously that young."
The song became a nationwide hit after conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein heard the song and featured it on a CBS special. The song became an icon for groups of all sorts, each of whom gave it its own meaning.
"I was writing and performing music foor people and all of a sudden it was turned into music for causes," Ian said.
With her music career in full-swing following the CBS appearance, Ian came in contact with luminaries like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, who she credits with influencing her life and music. "Joplin certainly made an impression," she said. "When someone of that stature takes time out to help you with your Spanish homework, it makes an impression."
In 1975, Ian released the critically-acclaimed album Between the Lines, which reached number one on the pop charts and gave rise to the haunting and beautiful single, "At Seventeen," perceived by some to be a song about same-sex love and coming out. The album earned Ian two Grammy awards.
Amid a career still rapidly on the rise, she walked away from it all. "I was turning into an idiot who could only discuss music and
Jeffrey opens on CSU stage at same time as screen
business," she said. "I needed to explore some other forms."
After studying acting and ballet, Ian returned to the music business in 1986, refreshed, renewed and with a new perspective. She teamed up with several Nashville writers that year, and produced a catalog of her more than 60 songs, a number of which have been embraced by other artists. She also made the decision to relocate from Los Angeles to Nashville.
"Nashville is a great place," Ian said. "In L.A. if you have a hit record, every maitre d' in town knows your name. In Nashville, things pretty much stay the same— unless your Garth Brooks, but even with him, people might go up and say hello, but that would be the extent of it." Living there with her partner Pat and their two dogs, Ian said, "It's the first place I've ever lived that feels like home. There's a sense of community that I haven't seen since Greenwich Village in the mid60s."
Janis lan
In 1992, she returned to recording with Breaking Silence, a stripped down acoustic effort that placed all focus on the songs and Ian's voice.
In addition to her music career, Ian is a regular contributor to the Advocate, bringing her a whole new generation of fans. Begun in March of 1994, the column appears in every other issue. Ian said that she donates money to various national gay and lesbian organiza-
tions without her name being attached, but expressed concern for the future of the gay and lesbian movement.
"I don't mean to sound so jaded,” she said, "but at the end of another day without legislation [to protect lesbians and gays from discrimination] it's all a lot of talk."
Her new album Revenge reveals yet another facet. The CD is a departure musically-it has a harder edge musically than her last album.
"Revenge is about survival," said Ian. "It is about outlasting the enemy." That, she has done.
by Barry Daniels
Sex in the age of AIDS is the subject of Paul Rudnick's award winning (Obie 1993) comedy Jeffrey, which is finally coming to Cleveland in a production that will
PLLAGE ASS
the play. It is a plea for us not to cave into guilt and denial when confronted with the disease. It is a call to face the death that surrounds us with the strongest weapons we have: pride and love." Alas, this message remains all too painfully current.
Jeffrey (Michael Anderson) and Steve (Jeff Caruthers) get to know each other in the Cleveland premiere of Jeffrey at the Factory Theatre.
coincide with the opening of the film version of the play. Rudnick artfully combines satire with romantic comedy as he depicts the picareque adventures of Jeffrey, a gay man who has sworn off sex and then falls in love with an HIV postive man. In my review of the New York production I drew the follwing conclusion: "Towards the end of Jeffrey, a character says, 'Make trouble, make out, hate AIDS, not life.' This motto sums up the message of
The film, directed by Christopher Ashley, retains the best of Rudnick's sharp wit and compassion, but makes the serious themes more ponderous than they were in his staging of the play. The film, released by Orion Classics, will open at the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights on Sept. 8, and at the Drexel Theatre in Bexley on Sept. 22 or
29.
Clevelanders will be able to compare the film with the play, which is being presented at Cleveland State University's Factory Theatre September 7 to 17. Director Marc Andreyko has assembled an engaging cast, and I hope readers will support this effort and prove to Cleveland theatres that they would be wise to program more "out" gay works. The opening night of Jeffrey is a benefit for the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland. For tickets and information, call 216-6872109. The Factory Theatre is at 1833 East 23rd St, just north of Chester Ave.
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