GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE August 1, 2008

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

eveningsout

Where better to stage a musical about a bathhouse?

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-There are many reasons to go to a bathhouse.

Aside from the obvious, adults-only reason, they are an inexpensive place to stay for gay men out of town. Many have pools, most have Jacuzzis, and a bathhouse without a sauna or three is like a ice cream sundae without a maraschino cherry-rare and completely unsatisfying.

Workout equipment abounds, and some even have cafés in them now.

Going to the bathhouse to see a show, however, is a rarer occurrence, especially these days. It's even more out of character for Ohio.

However, Cleveland's Flex Hotel and Spa is hoping that a show will, indeed, pack them in.

Bathhouse: The Musical debuted at the 2006 Fringe Festival in Orlando, Florida, and was a runaway success. So much so, in fact, that another 30 minutes was added to the then-60 minute runtime and the show moved to a theater in town.

Now, it's on tour across the country, and Cleveland is its next stop.

The play, by Esther Daack and Tim Evanicki with additional material by Ryan Beck, Jason Wetzel and Katie Tricamo, follows young and innocent Billy as he makes his first trip to the bathhouse, with dreams of finding true love dancing through his pretty little head.

Unfortunately, the other patrons are less interested in true love than a quick shag, and the head that concerns them is a bit lower.

Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel called it "freaking hilarious," and who would argue with someone sharing the name of the only James Bond to face Grace Jones?

The production also continues a new trend that Flex is trying to start: holding events that allow women into the facility, which is almost unheard of for a bathhouse.

A separate entrance allows management to limit access of theater patrons to the café area and outdoor pool, so the regular clientele can be warned that there are others in the building that might not want to see them naked.

It's a ground breaking approach, and one that shows a daring departure from the typical di-

DOWNSTAIRS CABERET THEATER

Billy (Richard Baker, second from left) hopes to find true love in a bathhouse. In the halls

he finds Teddy (Matthew Barbato), Maurice (Guy Pugliese) and David (Jeffrey Brooks).

vide between gay men and lesbians.

Bathhouse: The Musical will play from July 31 to August 10, with shows at 8 pm on Thursdays, 7 pm on Sundays, and performances at both 8 and 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Tickets are $20 for Thursday and Sunday shows, $25 for Friday and Saturday. Flex is located at East 26th St. and Hamilton Avenue, with parking off Hamilton. For more information or to reserve tickets, log onto www.flexbaths.com or call 216-812-3304. For more information about the show, see www.bathhousethemusical.com. ♡

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Author Harris to speak

Author E. Lynn Harris comes to Cleveland Heights supporting his new novel, Just Too Good to Be True, on August 13.

A departure from many of his earlier works dealing with closeted gay men and the people around them, his latest work examines the relationship between Brady Bledsoe, a successful college football player on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy, and his mother, the indomitable Carmyn.

Carmyn will do anything to help her son succeed, and Brady would do anything to please his mother, but what secrets will emerge when Barrett, a nubile cheerleader, starts to come between them?

Harris' next novel, Basketball Jones, is about an NBA player and his "kept boy."

The event will be at Borders Books at Severance Town Center, 3466 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights. Borders will offer Just Too Good to Be

True and Harris' earlier books for 30 percent off for the event, which will feature a book signing and the author speaking.

For more information, call 216-291-8605.

Shaken

Continued from page 8

While the film is directly based on characters from the Jean Bruce novels, the overall feel owes much to James Bond, including scenes paralleling 007's preternatural ability to detect when the woman with whom he is mating is reaching for a knife.

Of course, the gay subtext also gives a clue as to why the spies pay so little attention to the women they court. .

That Soviet ship, though, was apparently filled with weapons, and there are at least two groups that want it: the princess' clique of royalists, and the fundamentalist Eagles of Kheops.

Unfortunately, OSS 117 seems to have trouble detecting the end of his nose. He's basically an idiot, believing in the natural superiority of his country, his age, and his religion, none of which do him much good in a Muslim country.

He also seems to get way to much joy out of flicking the lights on and off in the chicken farm. It's a running gag, and adds much to the humor of the film.

Unlike the Austin Powers movies, which were very broad, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies gets more of its humor from how campy the original films seem today. While few in the United States have seen those, even the old Bond movies at one level or another suffer from age.

-Anthony Glassman

Laser beam about to slice 007 in half, crotch-first? That's good for a laugh, especially when one sees how antsy Connery looks at the prospect of his wedding tackle being bisected. Roger Moore's oeuvre as Bond? Enough said.

OSS 117 illustrates how much the mores have changed while poking very gentle fun at the character, who despite being a killer is in some indescribable way a complete naïf.

What does not come out in the film, although it was apparently a major part of the original novels (and probably the earlier adaptations) is that the character is supposed to be American, a Louisianan of French descent who worked for the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In the case of this film, it would have been difficult to explain why he was working for the French government, and would have killed the running gag about his love for French president René Coty.

Director Hazanavicius points out that it's a film set in 1955 that looks like it was made in 1962, and that follows through every aspect, including the music and the opening and closing credits. The eye for detail on this film is incredible.

Now, even though this movie is a true comedic masterpiece, that doesn't mean we don't still want to see Daniel Craig doing full-frontal nudity this November. However, if he doesn't wind up schtupping the villain into submission, it won't be as big a loss. ✓