Arts
Making Queer First Night Choices
Making Queer First Night Choices
A Brief Selected Guide
by Bob Wolff
If
you're going to First Night in Montpelier this year - and there's good
reason to go, with at least five lgbt performers holding forth - you might
want to know a little more about who some of these folks are. Janice Perry,
a.k.a. Gal, will present selections from "Holy Sh*t," her most recent
show (see the July 2002 issue of OITM for a review). She doesn't need
an introduction here. Likewise Round Barn author Suzi Wizowati (OITM September
2002), reading from a work in progress.
But the other three might evoke a raised
eyebrow of curiosity.
Jason P. Lorber (and he has on occasion
insisted on the "P.") has an MBA from Stanford - and he's a stand-up comedian.
He'll present "Howard Dean, a Moose and a Gay Rabbi Walk into a Bar..."
at First Night 2004 in Montpelier. He has performed stand-up since he
was a grad student. Having acted in high school and college, Lorber needed
a performance outlet while he studied for his business degree.
His first stand-up gig was in San Francisco
at Josie's Cabaret & Juice Joint, which has since closed. Jason continued
with an appearance at Piaf's, also in San Francisco. Piaf's closed. Then
Jason was profiled as "One of the Up-and-Coming Comics" by San Francisco
Frontiers, a now-defunct magazine. He's gently self-mocking as he reveals
the pattern. But since moving to Vermont, he has had better fortune.
Venues such as Burlington's Flynn Space,
Moxie Production's "Thursdays @ 8" in Waterbury, and Montpelier's Lost
Nation Theater have continued operations, despite Lorber's appearances
there. A former member of the San Francisco Improv Troupe, he performs
sporadically with Vermont's Kamikaze Comedy Improv Troupe.
Lorber is also a frequent stand-up performer
for various community charities, including for Safe Space at the Rose
Street Co-op in Burlington last month, where, as usual, he wove together
his experiences as a gay, Jewish Vermont resident into his comedy.
Email him at jasonplorber@aol.com
to be added to his comedy email list.
Gabriel Q is one of those artists for which
'Vermont Living Treasure" status should be instituted. An artisan and
artist of the theatre, he finds wonder in nature's transformations, bringing
them magically to life for his audiences through masks and puppets.
Since he was a teenager and long before
he moved to Vermont, Gabriel made and performed with Venetian-style Mardi
Gras masks and puppets. The White River Junction-based artist likes Vermont
because in the Green Mountain State he can be both theatrical technician
and performing artist. His studio is at Tip Top Media & Art Building on
Main Street in White River Junction, a project of Matt Bucy, Gabriel's
partner.
Particularly attentive to the sort of metamorphosis
that is part of every gay person's experience, Gabriel envisioned giant
butterflies, each a breed from one of six continents and operated from
below by an oversized "caterpillar." When the electric illuminated butterfly
is seen at a distance in a parade, one sees the butterfly, not the caterpillar.
Then, as the butterflies pass by they are above the viewer's heads and
the caterpillars become the prime focus.
At night performances and parades, the
butterfly wings are illuminated by electro-luminescent wire. The fantasy
technician's butterflies perform choreography including circling, clustering
and other flight patterns. You have to see these oversized puppet-butterflies
to believe their wonder! I predict they will be a big hit at First Night
in Montpelier.
San Gordon is a Vermont musical whirlwind
with a smoky, sexy voice, pitched in the range where it is ever-so-easy
to listen forever. Gordon will perform funky, bluesy, jazzy pop rock at
First Night. With the two other members of her power trio, Mike Gray (drums)
and Chris Martin (bass), San on guitar and vocals will provide the energy-packed
music that night for listening and dancing in one's seat if not on the
dance floor. If you catch San on her CD, Life So Fine, you will be sure
to attend her performance at First Night. In my judgment she could be
doing a gig anywhere that night, but happily she will be in Montpelier.
Gordon began her musical life at age nine.
But she loved the Supremes and the Beatles from the age of four or five.
San says, "Music is my true passion." Life So Fine proves that she is
succeeding at her passion. Her performing, music study (currently jazz),
and teaching (guitar, piano, and voice), took her to Austin, Texas; Lawrence,
Kansas; and San Diego, California.
But San was a founding member of Virginia
and the Wolves, a Vermont-based all-female rock & roll dance band (1990-1994),
and was happy to return to Vermont. "Vermont is a good music scene: good
players and a sense of community lacking elsewhere," she says. Her newest
musical effort is Hell-Divin Divas in which San sometimes performs in
drag. Hell-Divin Divas performs at Charlie O's on Main Street in Montpelier,
the third Wednesday of each month, with special guests. Other divas in
the new group are Sue Schmidtt on drums and Linda Bassick on guitar. San's
website is currently down, but you can learn of upcoming performances
by contacting her at sanspot@aol.com.
So there you have it, a brief guide to
some of the queer talent mixed into an incredibly diverse batch of performances
for the last night/First Night of the new year.
Bob Wolff is a theatrical and performance space designer and potter who lives in Randolph.