May 4 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

From music to 'down there'

Anne E. DeChant takes a role in 'The Vagina Monologues'

by Janet Macoska

Anne E. DeChant is Cleveland'a-and the GLBT community's-own folk-poprock chanteuse. As a singer and songwriter, she won local and regional acclaim, first as founder and driving force behind the successful group Odd Girl Out, then as a dynamic solo performer.

Those who have witnessed Anne E's powerfully theatrical stage presentation should not be surprised at the news that she will appear in The Vagina Monologues during its month-long run at Cleveland Music Hall's Little Theater in May.

DeChant will take the stage alongside veteran stage actresses Starla Benford and Sherri Lee Parker during the week of May 7-13.

There is a 72-year-old woman who has never had an orgasm, and you know that is absolutely true. I'm just speaking truth, and I'm comfortable with that.

The Vagina Monologues, written by feminist Eve Ensler, is a series of stories, based on more than 200 interviews, in which women talk about the most secret part of their bodies. Ensler drew on conversations with women who were young and old, black and white, American and foreign, gay and straight, rich and poor. Their stories have humor, poignancy, and heartbreak, and reflect the lives of very real women.

Recently, this writer sat down with DeChant to discuss her transition into theater, as well as her musical career.

Janet Macoska: People know you as a musical performer. Do you have any anxieties about taking on this type of theatrical production?

Anne E. DeChant: It's actually pretty natural. I started in children's theater, did some theater in high school, and then in college. I started with a theater focus, so it's not as far off as people would think.

Has it entered your mind that acting might be another avenue you might want to entertain?

If this led to something more, I would try to balance it. I can grow from the experience of working with these talented professionals. I wouldn't turn down acting opportunities, but not at the expense of my band or my music. That's too valuable to me.

Did the vocabulary or subject matter of The Vagina Monologues create any trepidation in you as you thought about performing this in public?

Not for me personally, but knowing that maybe my mom or my sister might be in the audience does. Knowing that there may be discomfort on their part makes me a little

nervous.

I was raised Catholic, but I was always a little bit feisty. Then I went to a liberal college with a liberal program and a liberal atmosphere. My mom sensed that I needed that. Because of that, this material isn't a problem for me.

There are repressed women who speak within these monologues. There is a 72year-old woman who has never had an orgasm, and you know that is absolutely true. I'm just speaking truth, and I'm comfortable with that.

There were a series of questions, humorous and serious, that Eve Ensler asked the women she interviewed. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of those?

Go ahead.

Okay: "If your vagina were to speak, what would it say?" R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

"If your vagina were to wear clothes, what would it wear?"

Jeans. No shoes. And a really tight spaghetti-strap black top.

Describe how the world would change for you if violence against women did not exist.

A whole lot less worry for myself, my mother, my sisters, my nieces. To illustrate: After a gig at three in the morning when I'm going back to my truck, I wouldn't need an escort. It's just about the comments some men make or how they intrude on your space and think it's okay.

All women have to deal with these issues from the day they are born, but being a lesbian adds a whole other layer to that. To be honest with you, I've honestly never had anyone say anything derogatory to me in a public place. However, I can't hold my girlfriend's hand in public, walking down the street, and I wish we could do that.

Let's talk about your music a bit. You had a couple of important things happen last year. You released your second solo CD, Something of the Soul, and through the help of a corporate sponsorship with Crooked River Beer, you were able to quit your day job and begin working full time on your musical career.

Correct. I'd been a teacher in day care, and moved around a lot, but mostly worked with sixto ten-year-olds. I'm missing it more now. As a consequence, I'm always over at my sister's to see my nieces and nephews.

For SO long, though, I did both. Worked my day job, got done at six, then got in my truck to go to a gig. For so long I wanted to just focus on the music, so it's a really good thing, but I also know that if I'm to do anything different or more, it will be combining the two.

In fact, I'm looking into grant money right now

for a program where I would go to high schools to speak about what I do as a musician. I've already done some of that, and I'm amazed at the favorable response.

.There has been a major change in your band,

with guitarist Victoria Fliegel leaving.

She left about three or four months ago. Victoria reached a point where she didn't feel comfortable being out on the limb, which you always are as an artist and being self-employed. She felt more comfortable going back to a day job where she knew that she would have a 401-K and that financial security. It was too much of a risk for her, and I understand that.

So you needed to find a new guitarist. Who did you go looking for?

I was afraid to replace a woman with a man, because I thought there was a certain appeal to having a female lead guitarist, so we searched for that.

We hired a woman from New York, and I announced it to our fans, we got her an apartment, and two days before she was supposed to be here she decided not to do it. She didn't want to have a long-distance

relationship and it was too much for her.

In the meantime, I'd been working with a local guitarist, Bobby Pyles, on writing some songs, and he was going to cover some shows for Victoria.

How did you know he was “it”? Because we started to write together, and he got it. He knows when to embellish and when to lay off. We just clicked.

What differences do you notice now that Bobby is in the band?

Bobby is very prolific as a writer, so we're going to be churning out material together. I get no sense of hesitation that had to be there when Victoria was there, because she was always struggling with the issue of whether or not she should be in the band.

There is no doubt or hesitation with Bobby. He expresses his joy onstage. He's having so much fun.

I also know that there will be a whole segment of the community that will pick up on us because of him. Here you have a tall, cute guy who's so sweet, and that's another appeal.

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Is he straight or gay? Don't ask me that.

By another segment of the community, you mean...

The guys. The women too. There is some-

JANET MACOSKA

thing about Bobby that is really appealing.

This will enter into all your future musical efforts as well. All your future songwriting will change too.

Vic and I, in the time we were together, didn't write one song together.

You wrote separately?

She didn't write at all. She used to write all the time in the past, but she didn't write in this project. I need that. I need to have someone with me doing that.

One last question: What is currently in your CD player right now?

Neil Diamond. We're doing a cover of "Forever in Blue Jeans," so I'm learning that. I love his older acoustic stuff. It's so good. "Sweet Caroline," "Red Red Wine," those are great songs. He's got the gift.