Pride Guide 1999 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE L

Music and comedy on three stages to highlight Pride

by Brynna Fish

Cleveland-The 11th annual Cleveland Pride parade and festival, this year titled "Peace, Love, Pride," begins at 12:30 pm Saturday, June 19 with the parade's assembly on Euclid Ave. at East 18th St.

A rally will take place in front of the Cleveland State University law school adjacent to the parade assembly, from 1 to 2 pm, with the parade stepping off promptly at 2. All parade participants will receive a special gift from Pride.

The rally and parade assembly will be entertained by the Melissa Etheridge tribute band Silent Legacy. For the past three years Silent Legacy has been playing Etheridge's best-known hits to audiences throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

San Diego comic Matt Bragg will emcee this year's rally stage. Bragg has been working on performing openly gay comedy since the day his mother told him being a smart-ass never pays. He plans to a make a lucrative career as a funny boy just to spite his family.

"The therapy bills have to be paid somehow," retorts Bragg. At his parents' urging he served four years in the Navy, and says that the only good thing about it was that it was a great place to pick up guys.

The rally keynote speaker is Candace Gingrich, who will also emcee later at the festival's main stage. Gingrich has emerged as one the most thoughtful and effective spokespeople advocating for gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual equal rights since she came out, shortly after her brother Newt became House speaker in 1995. (Interview, page 9.)

The parade will step off at 2 pm, marching west on Euclid Ave. to East 9th St., then north to Voinovich Bicentennial Park on Lake Erie. There the Pride Festival will begin, and continue to 8 pm.

The festival will feature over 120 vendors, an expanded food court, a beer garden, dancing, and many surprises. A first for this year is that the park and adjacent East 9th St. Pier are complete-there is no construction. Ample public parking is available. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the gate, more if you can, less if you can't.

The main stage

"Peace, Love, Pride” 1999 will be doing some rocking and rolling and dancing and hopping due to an amazing line-up on the two festival stages. Headliners for the event start out with Human Rights Campaign National Coming Out Project manager Candace Gingrich, Canadian singer Ferron, dance legend Crystal Waters and young rockers the Murmurs.

Cleveland's own Karen Williams and Dana Austin return to Pride '99 as main stage emcees. Williams, a professional comedienne of national note and international acclaim, is affectionately known as the Diva of Comedy and the Queen of Improv. She is the creator and facilitator of the Humor-at-Large workshop series and founder of the International Institute of Humor and Healing Arts, or HAHA, and the National Women's Comedy Conference. With too many film, stage

and television appearances to mention, her writings are presently included in over 12 anthologies.

Dana Austin is best known for her appearances as emcee at Oven Productions' annual Womyn's Variety Show.

Performance times for Williams, Austin, featured performers Ferron, the Murmurs and Crystal Waters, and many others are listed in Cleveland Pride's center spread, pages B-15 to B-18 of this section.

The Pride stages have always been a venue to showcase local talent, and this year is no different. The main stage will kick off with an appearance by the North Coast Men's Chorus and Wedge.

Just two years old, Wedge has proven that you can be successful having a

sound that is all over the map. With Tom Zavesky on vocals and guitar, J.C. Smith on guitars, Jim Flynn on bass and Steve Zavesky on drums, the band has taken disparate influences such as P.J. Harvey and the Cocteau Twins and created songs that highlight their talents as a "pedal band"-using many effect pedals for their trademark rich guitar and bass textures.

Critics clearly don't know what to do with Wedge. One critic went so far as to label them "punk."

"Please," responds Tom Zavesky, “I have an MBA and a Subaru."

Trisha Tinney and Heather Gmucs return to the Pride main stage this year along with Steph Dlugon as the acoustic trio Honest Opinion. From Fem-Fest 1998 at Peabody's to the Brick Alley Theater and Cleveland Undercurrents 1999, this lively trio combine a rich vocal harmony with guitar, violin, piano and occasionally mandolin and the native didgeridoo to evoke sounds reminiscent of early Odd Girl Out and the Indigo Girls.

Speaking of Odd Girl Out, Alexis Antes, also appearing on the main stage, was the youngest, at 18, of the band's three founding members.

In 1998 Antes released her first solo recording, Stronger, and has continued to thrive as a singer and songwriter with her own distinct musical style. She has shared stages with Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, Jonatha Brooke, Jennifer Kimball and Sarah McLachlan. Last summer Antes was selected to represent Cleveland as the only local artist to be part of the Lilith Fair at Blossom Music Center.

Additional performers appearing on the Pride mainstage include Sam Ingram and special guests Scott Hammond, Ralph Diludorico and Stefana.

The dance stage

The dance stage, beginning at 3 pm, will

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feature DJs and dancing provided by the Grid nightclub, as well as special appearances by many Cleveland favorites.

Twiggy will be the dance stage emcee grand dame. Twiggy's glbt community involvement spans 35 years, not only as a former nightclub and restaurant owner, but as a founding member of the North Coast Athletic Association, Northern Ohio Coalition, Inc. (NOCI) and MTM Productions.

Although Twiggy has garnered many titles, two recent accomplishments bear noting. She has received the lifetime "Ozzie" Award from NOCI and currently appears in the new gay film Edge of Seventeen.

Diamond Santiago and Her Gems have been performing for the past three years in New York, New Mexico and most recently, here in Ohio. Santiago is a student at Cleveland State University and a member of the

CSU Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance.

"Peace, love and happiness is what it's all about," says Santiago. "Believe in yourself and know that you're beautiful just how you are, dammit!"

Heather St. Clair, Indigo Diamond, Magnolia Thunderpussy and Ivana Grump will also be making dance stage appearances.

In addition to the traditional Pride parade, rally and festival there is a wide range of Pride-affiliated events all weekend long. Please support those who help make it a spectacular Peace, Love, Pride weekend.

It's not too late to get involved as a vendor, parade participant or volunteer. To do so, or for more information, call Cleveland Pride at 216-371-0214.

Brynna Fish is coordinator of Cleveland Pride.

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