s'Newz

...another in an occasional series mentioning current events which caught my interest this week...

It looks like Jane Fonda is returning to Broadway after 46 years. During that brief hiatus, she won two Oscars, an Emmy, and the enmity of a lot of folks who called her Hanoi Jane. Even she now admits those photos of herself yucking it up with the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War were ill-advised. After a long period of self-imposed retirement, during her marriage to Ted Turner, she has returned to prominence as an elder stateswoman of the arts. I run hot and cold on Fonda, and not because of her political stances, upon most of which I agree with her. I'm not really sure she's as strong an actress as she's given credit being. Back when she was rebelling against her sex-pot image, she was trying to stretch herself (The China Syndrome comes to mind), and no one can argue with her Oscar winning work. Although I enjoyed her in Julia, the fact is she vanished in her scenes with Vanessa Redgrave, with Jason Robards, and even in her short scene with Meryl Streep (Streep is fabulous in her cameo appearance in the film). I admire her for snagging the film rights to the stage play On Golden Pond for the express purpose of appearing in it with her father. But here again, though she won an Oscar nomination for her work, she just couldn't keep up with her co-stars. Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn wiped the screen with her; even the little boy in the film fared better.










Speaking of actors who are well-known (and often ridiculed) for their political views, I was amused by the story of Tim Robbins on Election Day. There was some foul-up at his polling place in New York, but instead of giving up, Robbins pursued the error all day, ending up in court, where a judge ordered that he be allowed to vote. I'm loving that determination, particularly since we all know for whom he was voting, and New York was clearly going to Obama anyway. His particular vote was not going to make any difference, but he persevered. Democracy at work.





There was some sad news from the regional theatre front last week. Robin Farquhar, the long-time executive artistic director of the Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina, committed suicide. This sorry event happened just a day after the theatre had dedicated its new building which houses its educational wing. Farquhar took over the reins of the theatre from his father Robroy Farquhar, who himself had founded the theatre in 1952. I can't claim to have known Robin, though I met him once years ago, at a large cattle call audition in New York. I did not let him know at the time that the Flat Rock Playhouse held a special spot in my life. Back when I was a pre-teen, I spent several weeks every summer with the grandfolks in Hendersonville, NC. For reasons which escape me now, my grandmother one day announced that we were driving "down the mountain" to see a matinee at the Flat Rock Playhouse. I had never seen a play before. The show was Look Homeward Angel, and it made a lasting impression on me. In short, I was hooked. I knew that I wanted to have a career on the stage, and I owe that realization to the Farquhar family of director/producers.

Finally, this tidbit gave me the giggles and the icks at the same time. Last week, a packed house at the 9:30 club (a rock club featuring live music here in DC) was treated to an indoor shower. In the midst of a concert by a Grateful Dead tribute band, several patrons started to feel liquid streaming down on their heads. Looking up, they saw a grinning man leaning over the balcony, pissing on them. The man was arrested, and it was discovered that he was a Jersey City councilman. Spokesmen for the council assured reporters that Steve Lipinski, the Urinator in question, was a caring human being who always put the needs of others above his own. Lipinski himself apologized several days later, claiming to be an alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon at the concert. He was arrested for simple assault.

I'm sure it's not the first time a crowd got pissed by a politician.

The M Word

What a feeling. What a triumph of hope over fear, of positive over negative, of integrity over its lack. It's been a joyous few days. And though no one can claim that racism is now gone, we have proof positive that it will no longer be tolerated. A gentleman of color has risen to the highest office in the world, and he did so with a message of inclusion. There is no more room for bigotry and blind hatred in this wonderful new world.





Not so fast, Paleface.

















In the midst of the euphoria that the Obama victory brought about, its exact opposite is also running rampant. In several states, the equal rights of gays were once again denied. And nobody really cares. It's still OK, you see, to condone discrimination against homosexuals. Not just condone it, but encourage it, as in Arkansas, where it is now illegal for a gay couple to adopt a child. Nowhere is this attitude more shocking than in California, the nation's most populous state, and one of its most socially liberal. The passage of Proposition 8, though by a slim margin, once again approves the idea that all men are not created equal. The women aren't, either.


So, California joins the lengthening list of states (26) which have amended their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. In the past years, each and every time such an amendment is placed on the popular ballot, it has been approved. Each and every time. Except once. In Arizona, in 2006, the measure failed. A re-worded amendment was placed on this year's ballot, and passed. Which leads me to reiterate a question I wondered of gay activists in charge of this fight over a decade ago:

What the fu*k are you doing?

Certainly, the passage of Prop 8 had everything to do with the millions of dollars poured into the campaign by religious groups. They far outspent the "No on 8" group, and spread a thick goo of misinformation and hate-mongering all over the state.

But still, I ask gay activists who have been pushing for legal gay marriage for many years: why?

Specifically, why are you intent on calling our unions marriage? It is that hotbutton buzzword that so inflames the religious right, galvanizing them to shut down any attempts to gain equal rights under the law. Polls show that the majority of Americans approve of equal legal rights for same-sex couples. Let me repeat that. Polls show that over 50% of the American public agree that it is fair for committed gay couples to have the same legal rights and privileges as straight couples. This is even true of people who believe they don't know any gays, even people from states like Wyoming, where they prefer their queers pistol-whipped and strapped to fences. Even there, people agree that same-sex couples should have equal rights under the law.

But about 15 years ago, Gay Activist Leaders (let's call them GALs) decided they wanted our relationships to be called something more than Civil Unions, or Domestic Partnerships. They wanted us all to be married.

It is that word which ignites the ignorant and brings the bigoted into action. Polling done this week in California reveals an astonishing statistic, that African-Americans voted overwhelmingly to deny gay couples equal rights. A minority group which has struggled for their own civil rights for well over a century jumped on the bandwagon to deny another group theirs. This development is solely due to Gay Activists' insistence on using the M Word: marriage. By continually shouting it from the rooftops, our GALs have allowed this issue to be framed as a religious one rather than one of civil equality. The "Yes On 8" crowd shrewdly targeted black churches throughout the state and turned a fight which, at its core, is about equal rights for all, into a question of condoning, and even approving of, homosexuality. Americans as a whole have never been known for their tolerance, religious or otherwise, and African-Americans are no exceptions, even after the fight they themselves seem to have won with the election of a black president.

There doesn't seem to be a solution here. As long as we continue to insist that our unions be called marriages, constitutional bigotry will continue to spread across the nation. If calling our relationships Civil Unions or Domestic Partnerships will no longer suit, let's come up with a brand new name for them. Who the hell cares what they are called, as long as they afford gays the same rights and privileges as the straights? And getting a constitutional amendment reversed is nearly impossible. So, despite what I'm hearing from the GALs, that the fight will go on and progress is being made by bringing this issue before the American public, I know in my gut that the cause of our equality is taking backward steps.

In California, and everyplace else in this country, that will continue to happen, as long as we use the M Word.

Michael Crichton

1942-2008

The noted science-fiction writer who created the source material for many big-budget films died today from cancer.

Westworld

The Andromeda Strain

Jurassic Park

The Lost World

Twister

In 1973, Westworld became the first film to use computer generated special effects. Crichton won the Oscar for Technical Achievement in 1995 for his development of computer programs to be used in film production. For his creation and writing of ER, he won back-to-back Emmy Awards and the Peabody. In 2002, a newly discovered herbivorous dinosaur was named in his honor.

Hanging With Chad

I have never had any kind of trouble voting here in DC, as my polling place is literally one block up the street. Located in a run-down middle school (all schools in DC are run-down), I usually wander up the street around mid-morning on election day. There has never been a line of people in front of me; the only waiting occurs while the election official laboriously tries to locate my name on her roster. In DC, our election-day volunteers usually find reading a challenge. And my name is a bit of a problem. I am registered, of course, with my first and last name, just like everybody else. Unfortunately, my name happens to be one of the most popular male names in the English language, so there is always some question about which "Robert Williams" I am.

But aside from that mild frustration, I have never, ever waited in line to vote in DC. But we've all been inundated with stories of the massive turn-out expected this year, so I thought I'd avoid any problems and vote absentee.

Last week, I walked downtown to the election board to pick up my absentee ballot. I almost always voted absentee in Los Angeles to avoid the crowds, though I suspect these ballots are never opened unless the election is close enough that they will make a difference. And here in DC, national elections are NEVER close, the city is so overwhelmingly Democratic. Presidential candidates don't even bother to campaign here.

But I want to do my civic duty and vote and all that. The elections board downtown was hosting DC's early voting, and a very long line snaked outside the office. Fortunately, I skipped right in to pick up my mail-in ballot. It was a pleasant walk.

I now have opened my ballot and read the instructions, which confuse the heck out of me. First of all, with this ballot, you have the option of mailing it in. At your own expense! And Warning! It may require additional postage! But why don't they already know whether or not the ballot requires extra postage? Haven't they weighed it? It's a single sheet of paper. Since they don't know for sure what the postage for the ballot will be, you have to take the ballot to the post office to mail it. Ironically, but completely typical of the DC government services, the lines at the post office are always substantial, while the line at the polling office is non-existent. Perhaps I'll decline to use the absentee ballot and just go vote.

But here's the even bigger riot. In order to obtain an absentee ballot, you have to claim to be out of town on election day, or too incapacitated to show up at the polling place. However, if you don't want to mail your absentee ballot, you can turn it in to the polling station on election day.

Got that? You have to claim to be out of town on election day in order to use the ballot, but you are allowed to turn it in, in person, on election day.

Who's at the wheel of this thing?

s'Newz

...another in an occasional series mentioning current events which caught my interest this week...

Well, the final stretch of the presidential campaign has brought a few nuggets. It appears Barack Obama has an aunt (actually, a "half-aunt," if there is such a thing; she is his father's half-sister) who has been living in the country illegally for several years. Is this the October Surprise? It's a few days late.

Many folks are already calling the election in Obama's favour, which makes me nervous. Tempting fate, and all that. The worst offender may be one of my favorite political humorists, Garry Trudeau. The Pulitzer-Prize winning creator of Doonesbury is required to submit his strip days in advance, of course, and he has taken the initiative to assume Obama's victory in his daily strip for Wednesday, the day after the election. "If I didn't call the election, I'd have no premise for the week and be forced to write about something else. I didn't want to write about something else. This is history," he told the Washington Post. So, editors across the country have already received Wednesday's Doonesbury, confirming that Obama has won the election.

On the local theatrical front, the Shakespeare Theatre Company made news this week when it announced that their annual Free-For-All will no longer be a "Shakespeare-in-the-Park" experience. The event will move from the Carter Barron outside stage to the Shakes's home at the Harmon Center. There seem to be several reasons for the move. The idea behind the free performances was always to encourage new audiences to sample the regular season at The Shakes, but apparently, that has not been happening. What a surprise. Seats at Carter Barron are free. Seats for the regular season at The Shakespeare Theatre top out at 80 bucks a piece. It doesn't take a marketing genius to see those are two very different demographics. In addition, Carter Barron is not accessible by public transportation and is, of course, at the mercy of the elements, meaning that performances are regularly rained out. So, though the "free for all" concept will remain, future shows will be performed downtown, inside, and in early September. I applaud the move. At Carter Barron, the seats are uncomfortable, the sound is lousy, and, in June, the weather sucks. The Shakespeare Theatre will be adding performances to make up for the reduction in seating.




This last item is so horrendous, I had to save it for last. You just can't recover from it.

I can't recall an incident which has left me so sad, so flabbergasted, and so incensed, simultaneously. On Sunday, 8 year-old Christopher Bizilj attended a gun show in Massachusetts, advertised as "all legal and fun! No permits or licenses required!" with his father and his 11 year-old brother. A certified gun instructor placed a loaded semi-automatic Uzi in the child's hands, who proceeded to shoot at a pumpkin, while his proud papa reached for his camera. The recoil was too much for the third-grader, who lost control of the rifle and shot himself in the head. He died at the scene.

There are so many obscene elements of this tragedy, it's hard to write about. The gun show was a major event boasting that children under 16 were admitted free. To a GUN SHOW. The victim's father is a DOCTOR, the head of Emergency Medicine at a Connecticut hospital. He works in an EMERGENCY ROOM. After the senseless tragedy, this jackass father is quoted as saying, "This is a mystery to me. I really don't know why it happened." Are you kidding me? You placed a loaded submachine gun in the arms of a third-grader, and are now amazed that something went wrong?? You may be too stupid to live. You are CERTAINLY too stupid to have children.

And now you have one less.

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

"I came up the year the Titanic went down."

Radio host, black-listed activist, sometime actor, oral historian, and acclaimed author, Turkel won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Medal of Arts, among countless other awards. A mainstay on Chicago radio, he found international fame with his oral histories, including The Good War, for which he won the Pulitzer in 1985. Earlier, his examination of the lives of ordinary working people became the source material for an under-appreciated, problematic, but highly personal musical called Working.

Being the musical theatre maniac that I am, it is that contribution for which I am most thankful. Sadly, the show derived from Terkel's book is a mish-mash of styles, with the music written by more than a half dozen composers, including Broadway Babies Mary Rodgers and Stephen Schwartz, pop superstar James Taylor, and cabaret stylist Craig Carnelia. Predictably, such an eclectic mix prevented a single style to emerge. The show wasn't helped much by the musical's text, which consisted of a series of monologues delivered by various working folks: a UPS man, a telephone operator, a newsboy, a teacher, a housewife, a maid, a waitress, a truck driver, well, you name it. Even illegal aliens and hookers showed up to tell their tales. It's little wonder that the show failed in its original production, but the musical continues to be presented on college campuses and in regional theatres. Currently, a revised version of the show is being prepared for the Old Globe in San Diego.

Clearly, Terkel's oral history still resonates. In his honor and in his memory, please enjoy the clip below, in which the heartbreaking Eileen Brennan is paired with the musical voice-over of Jennifer Warnes, to present one of the many moving moments in Working.

MILLWORKER, from Studs Terkel's "Working"