10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE June 21, 2002
eveningsout
Swedes for the sweet
by Anthony Glassman
There are few locales more fitting for a romantic wedding than the Greek islands. Beautiful, clear skies, crystal blue waters, golden beaches, family and friends gathered to share the joyous occasion.
Look, there's the mother of the bride, along with the bride's fathers...
No, this isn't Daddy's Roommate. This is Mamma Mia, a hit musical blending the best of theatrical comedic farce with the music of '70s Swedish icons ABBA.
Sophie is getting married. Before the wedding, however, she discovers a diary belonging to her mother, Donna, the former lead singer of the girl-band Donna and the Dynamos. According to the diary, one long-ago summer Donna had flings with three men, one of whom is Sophie's father.
Sophie invites all three to her wedding, and a whodunit emerges, a shell game in which any of the men could be the father.
Harry Bright, former headbanging rocker, now a staid British banker, is one of the possibilities. Wouldn't his boyfriend be surprised?
Bright is played by Cleveland native James Kall, who says that Harry's sexual orientation takes some audiences by surprise.
"In some cities, it's a bit of a shock," Kall said. "They make Harry a very fun, lovable character."
Kall was reluctant to take the part, having turned down the opportunity to be in the first North American production in Ontario. Film and television work, including Queer as Folk and a television biopic of Judy Garland, have kept him busy.
He's glad the producers asked him to be in the tour, though.
"It's quite fun," he admitted. "Never in my life did I think I would be doing this."
Kall grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, then moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University. He stayed there for ten years before heading off to graduate studies in Connecticut and then finally moving to New York City.
'Never in my life did
I think I would be doing this.'
After three years of border crossings to be with his Canadian boyfriend, Kall moved to Toronto four years ago. There he was impressed by the fact that Canadian immigration treated his relationship with respect and counted it towards the possibility of permanent resident status.
What brings him back, however, is the show.
"It kind of interesting to hear the songs with a different slant," he said, noting that some songs originally performed by Agnetha and Anni-Frid (the two As in ABBA) are now performed by men; other songs are now sung in 16-part harmony.
"It's a very funny piece of theater, even without the music," Kall opined. "It's won-
IOAN MARCUS
Don Noble, James Kall and Pearce Bunting, from left, are three possible fathers of the bride.
derful, though, how they wove in the songs, which were not originally written as part of a narrative."
For Kall, there are two things that make performing in the touring company a truly uplifting experience. The first is that his partner quit his job and packed up the dog to go on tour with him. The second is that, in fairly serious times with horrible things going on in the world, he gets to step on stage and make people forget their troubles and their worries.
"It is perhaps the most fun I've had on stage in a long time," he noted. “It's such a great gift to be able to bring this to people."
Mamma Mia will be presented at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus until June 30. Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets.
The show will play at the State Theatre in Cleveland from July 16 to August 4. Tickets can be purchased from the Playhouse Square box office, online at www.tickets.com or www.playhousesquare.com, or by phone at
216-241-6000.
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Califia
Continued from page 9
In terms of my own sexual orientation, I'd say that about 80% of my partners have been women, but the men I've had sex with or loved are very important to me. Men have taught me about a simple way of being in the body, a direct way of expressing desire, and an acceptance of lust and humor about it. They gave my sexuality a light-hearted quality instead of this very heavy "analyze-everything-to-death," process-junkie modality.
For the early part of my adult life it was important for me to identify as a lesbian feminist. That was the very best I could do in terms of understanding myself. But as I aged and my gender dysphoria got worse, that identity was no longer such a good fit. To be honest, I also got sick and tired of being told by lesbians that I didn't belong and didn't count as one of them. So I decided they were right and just started calling myself bisexual.
Both San Francisco and Boston now have “free” or sliding-scale clinics where hormones for people in transition are available. Have you tracked some of the efforts of these clinics? If so, how do you feel about these clinics and their work?
Well, in San Francisco I'm aware of Tom Waddell Clinic and Dimensions. It's really important to have these low-income services available because many of us can't figure out our career stuff until we are able to transition. And in mid-transition it is often impossible to find steady work or even stable housing. This is especially true for gender queer youth. These services rely on a lot of volunteer energy, and I just wish they had more funding from city mental health budgets
There's some controversy about these clinics departing from the Harry Benjamin standards of care. I like the idea that transsexual people deserve a high level of care from their doctors and therapists. But I
don't think every single person who goes through transition needs ongoing therapy. Often it's the decision to transition that fixes the anxiety or depression that was blocking that person.
The Harry Benjamin standards assume that the "patient" has middle-class resources. While I'm grateful to the handful of physicians who are willing to treat us, I am also well aware that a lot of them have gotten quite wealthy by making us pay out of pocket for their services, and I resent that.
If transgendered activism accomplished nothing but getting insurance companies to pay for the very well-documented services that are necessary for a medicallyassisted gender transition, well, we'd have done a whole lot to increase human happi-
ness.
You are scheduled to speak at the "Matter of Pride" conference about improving mental health and social services for transgender people. What information do service providers and the LGBT community need to understand about trans-people that can strengthen the quality of care that we receive?
I am really angry about agencies who assume they are "inclusive" because they've tacked a T onto their mission statement. That is not enough. In fact, it's worse than that, an agency that claims to serve transgendered people but doesn't really do that becomes an obstacle to establishing services that really work.
If a transgendered person walks into your agency and does not see anybody there who looks like them, they will leave. And they should, because gender-normative people do not understand what this feels like. If you want to serve our community, hire us. Hire people who are members of that community.
The "Matter of Pride" conference is June 21 at the Franklin County Veteran's Memorial, 300 W. Broad St. Patrick Califia will also be at Chrysalis, 747 Chambers Rd., at 7 pm.