10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

JANUARY 8, 1999

ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS

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Elton John tops box office; Lilith Fair to return

by John Graves

Openly gay pop star Elton John became the top U.S. concert draw for 1998, beating out the Dave Matthews Band for the top spot with $46.2 million.

It was the first time John topped the list, and his finish was something of a surprise. He wasn't even among Pollstar's five nominees for its honorary distinction as the year's top concert tour. But interest in John's shows has revived since he sang a reworked version of "Candle in the Wind" at Princess Diana's funeral.

The Lilith Fair tour, led by Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Merchant, is well on its way to establishing itself as a summer staple. The show, a favorite among lesbian music fans, earned $28.3 million in its second year, up from $16.4 million in 1997.

Concert promoters are optimistic about 1999, particularly with two queer favorites-Madonna and Barbra Streisand expected to tour next year.

Network execs called 'cowards'

Lesbian author Rita Mae Brown commented on ABC's cancellation of Ellen in an interview with Associated Press reporter Lynn Elber. Brown told Elber, "I think the way it played out was disheartening because the network executives-I call them the administrivia-wouldn't really cop to their cowardice. But the cowardice is not about who's gay and who's straight. The cowardice is about profit. If there's a fear this might affect their profit centers, then they're going to back off. But that won't last. Gay people are getting too smart, and they're coming out."

Midnight is now on cable

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, based on John Berendt's nonfiction best-seller, is now playing on HBO. The film is about a wealthy, closeted antique dealer who shot his lover, but most important are the colorful residents of Savannah, Ga. that surround the story. These include the Lady Chablis, a transgender woman who plays herself in the film.

Other films playing on cable that feature openly lesbian or gay actors include Ellen DeGeneres's wife, Anne Heche, in the action-adventure film Volcano and the 1996 comedy Walking and Talking; gay comic Scott Thompson in the film Hijacking Hollywood; Rupert Everett in My Best Friend's Wedding and Wilson Cruz as a gay teen in the film Joyride.

Out on the job

Issues faced by lesbians and gays in the workplace are examined on the cable special Out at Work now airing on HBO. Included are profiles of two gay men and a lesbian who were harassed and lost their jobs because of their sexual orientation.

McLaughlin featured in story

Cleveland Plain Dealer theater critic Marianne Evert wrote a nice article on Cleveland native Kenn McLaughlin, a moderator of the gay and lesbian Liberation United Church of Christ and the newly-appointed director of educational programming for the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

The article noted that, in addition to his work with the festival, McLaughlin played the role of Joe Pitt in Dobama Theater's production of Angels in America this fall, and has spent the last five years as a counselor at Camp Sunrise, a camp near Cincinnati for kids living with, or from families living with, HIV and AIDS.

I've noticed that the Saturday "Homes" section of the Plain Dealer sometimes features the homes of lesbian and gay couples.

Most recently, the Bay Village home of William Potoczak and William Spark was featured in a "Homes" cover story on the rising popularity of townhouses.

Not an amusing backdrop

My thoughts on the media this past year are mixed. The cancellation of Ellen was perhaps the biggest disappointment. Although I find the new sitcom Will & Grace charming and I think its star is a dreamboat, it definitely is not a replacement for Ellen. And without Ellen, we are left with tokenism.

Lesbians and gays on television seem to be there as an amusing backdrop for straight people. At least Ellen showed us interacting with our own people in our own culture. It's as if all of the shows centered around

African-Americans and their families were scrapped, and we returned to the days of Beulah and Jack Benny and Rochester.

Will & Grace and Spin City would be much more enjoyable if Ellen was still on the air. And though the Matthew Shepard tragedy brought national attention to our issues and a call for more inclusive hate crimes legislation, the Lewinski/Clinton affair soon overshadowed all else. We are left to wonder if there will be any actual follow-through on hate crime legislation, or was the tragedy used by politicians as an opportunity for a catchy sound bite.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.

Tale of incestuous love mixes pain, laughs

by Dawn E. Leach Columbus-Lesbian playwright Paula Vogel has made a name for herself with her controversial Broadway hit How I Learned to Drive. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playVogel is the first openly lesbian woman to win the award-went into extended runs on Broadway. According to American Theatre magazine, it is the most frequentlyCAROL ROSEGG Produced play this sea-

Paula Vogel

son.

Set in rural southern Maryland, the one-act play tells the story of a complex incestu-

ous relation-

ship between

a young girl,

Li'l Bit, and an older man, her Uncle Peck. Li'l Bit narrates the story as she journeys through her memories of driving lessons with Uncle Peck. The play takes a path that is at times wildly funny, and it avoids a stereotypical portrayal of victim and perpe-

trator.

Uncle Peck is a man fighting his own demons and struggling to find peace. To Li'l Bit, it seems as if he is the only person who understands her intelligence and ideas, and her spirit, which is reaching out for beauty, calmness and compassionate love. Like her, Peck searches for a human connection that will transcend the sordidness of what Li'l Bit calls their "cracker background."

Cleveland's Largest Futon Selection

GEOFF NELSON

Li'l Bit (Debra Whitfield) and Uncle Peck (Ed Vaughan) go for a driving lesson.

The attraction between the teen and the older man is mutual, and Peck dreams of leaving his wife to start a new life with Li'l Bit. Some have even called it a love story.

"I want to seduce the audience," Vogel said of her play. 'If they can go along for a ride they wouldn't ordinarily take, or don't even know they are taking, then they might see the high-charged political issues in a new way."

Vogel has written a number of plays which explore the complexity of a character that would traditionally be portrayed as a one-dimensional, passive victim, including The Baltimore Waltz, A Play About a Handkerchief, and Hot and Throbbing.

How I Learned to Drive, perhaps more than any of the others, will doubtless stir up difficult questions with its taboo subject.

"This is a deeply creepy play," one critic wrote. But Vogel feels that the discussion of incest is very relevant to our times.

"This culture trains us to be pedophiles," Vogel told the New York Times. "The eroticizing of children is all around us. It's on film, television, it's in those Calvin Klein ads.”

How I Learned to Drive opens Tuesday, January 12 and runs through Sunday, February 14 at CATCO, the Contemporary American Theatre Co. The theatre is located at 77 S. High St. in Columbus. Call 614461-0010 for ticket information.

Maric G. Bielefeld, Ph.D.

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