On the Town- October 2002- by Diane Sofia Frank (Part One)

This October is one of the busiest months I’ve seen for safe, accepting events and collecting local resources and it’s only half over. I could probably fill the newsletter by myself this time…but I’ll exercise restraint and try to summarize things for people who missed all this, which from my count was just about everyone.

Fanfares of Love- This 1951 German film was the origin of the iconic "Some Like it Hot" (SLIH). The differences and similarities between the two films could take hours to discuss. (For a detailed discussion of the jokes, symbolism and other inner workings of SLIH see http://www.filmsite.org/some.html ) In the German film, the heroes, Hans and Peter are established from the beginning as nice guys down on their luck, always willing to lend a helping hand. This contrasts sharply with Tony Curtis’s character, a cheating, charming, unreliable schemer. Hans and Peter are musicians just like the American version, and joining an all girl orchestra is the third ‘impersonation’ that they undertake. The sequences of them as Hungarian Gypsies and "Negro" Jazz musicians complete with black face and nappy wigs, though politically incorrect by today’s standards are quite funny. They also set a very different basis for the protagonists joining the women’s orchestra.

In SLIH, the musicians join a women’s band in order to escape from the mob having witnessed a St. Valentine’s Day-like massacre. There is a foreshadowing of the gangsters in the Fanfares. In an early scene in the movie, Peter is jostled on the street by a large, thuggish man who is a dead ringer for one of the gangsters in the American film. The thug doesn’t take kindly to being called on his brutish behavior by Peter. Fanfares has fun with this in a different way than SLIH. Once in drag Hansi and Petri are again jostled by the thug, but this time, seeing that it’s ladies he becomes quite apologetic. (In SLIH, the deadringer makes a pass in the elevator). But to top it off, Hansi intercepts an errant soccer ball and raising his skirts redirects it with a swift kick hitting the retreating thug’s head and knocking his hat off. Hansi and Petri then just stand there, pictures of innocence.

In SLIH, Geraldine and Josephine are never clocked. In Fanfares, the Marilyn Monroe character reads Hansi and Petri and tries to have some fun with it…but eventually falls for Hans anyhow. Both films honor the drag show convention of having characters doff their wigs to prove they’re really guys. The Joe E. Brown subplot however is only hinted at in the German film, and for that last line, "no one’s perfect", I have to concede that the American re-make is the better picture.

The Cockettes- This 2001 documentary on the fusion of hippy and gay culture in San Francisco was fascinating for the exuberant costumes and the liberated social atmosphere. For a group so named, I was surprised to learn that three of the members were women. Communal love, and total freedom of self expression in vintage clothing were the orders of the day. The troop was also overtly political, satirizing American morés with its notorious "Tricia’s Wedding". But as you might expect a large percentage of the members, (not the women) died of AIDS. The now famous and notorious John Water’s and Divine were also involved with the C’s as well. "Give me a torn dress, a hit of acid and let’s go to the beach".

Both films played at the Cleveland Cinematheque in University Circle. There is convenient, lighted parking immediately adjacent to the entrance. "Sordid Lives", featuring an all star cast (Delta Burke, Bonnie Bedelia,Beau Bridges, Olivia Newton-John, plays the Nov 1 weekend.

"Being Beautiful" is a musical play about the life of an African-American Drag queen in the late 1930s as viewed through the present. Many of the expected stock parts of the drag mythos are present, from the son (Afton) who is cast from the family for his queerness, to the drag mother who takes him in and teaches him to earn a living as a drag performer, to the bickering and fierce loyalty of the other queens, to the gentleman caller who pursues them. There was no lip synching in this performance, and while I can’t remember a single tune from it, the baritone and tenor harmonizing and the 4 piece accompaniment were outstanding. A woman sitting next to me was quite moved as the play’s themes of estrangement and reconciliation had immediate connection to her own life.

There are three dramatic high points in the play, first when Afton demands his sister honor his accomplishment of supporting her and her illegitimate daughter, no matter that he did it in drag. He did his duty as a man to support those who depended on him. This point, that drag queens may like beauty, wear dresses and emulate women, but at the core they are men, gay men, emphasized as one of girls appears after joining the army to serve in the Second World War. All are dressed in suits (or in uniform) at this point, as the Drag mother has been on the lam after hitting a police officer for beating on one of her girls (foreshadowing the Stonewall riots). An masked man shows up, anguished and vengeful because his wife has mocked his manhood when she found out of his liaisons with some of the drag queens. He shoots all of them dead but Afton. Afton, confused and upset afterwards, rejects his lover, and gives up the stage, returning to his original career goal of having a flower shop. He continues to support his sister and her daughter. The third moving scene is the reconciliation at the end among the brother, sister and daughter and the promise that Afton and his lover will reunite after many years.

The Karamu Theatre is a cultural treasure of Cleveland’s African American community. Alpha Omega received an invitation from Karamu to attend this long running show. I regret that I appear to be the only person to attend. AO has no African American members, and I hope the contacts I made there will be a start towards outreach to them and service to presently unserved segment of our community. Karamu has a fenced, lighted, guarded parking lot, immediately adjacent to its well laid out, intimate theatre.

In a totally different vein, Chevrei Tikva, Cleveland’s GLBT Liberal Jewish congregation installed its first Rabbi, Rachel Rembrandt on October 4th. The Shabbat installation services filled the Cleveland Heights Unitarian Church and 6 rabbis from other liberal congregations came to help with the ceremonies. On the following Saturday evening, CT celebrated it’s 18th anniversary with a Gala Party at the Crawford Auto Museum. A wonderful time was had by all, including your light-footed correspondent, who had a lot of fun playing Ginger Rodgers to the music of a wonderful little swing band. (Never you mind who Fred was). And the next time someone says to you that Ginger did everything Fred did except backwards and in hi-heels, you can tell them for me…Nu? (Literally "well?", Yiddish for so? or so what?)

On Thursday, October 10th, nationally renowned transgender activist Leslie Feinberg spoke to a variety of student and community groups in the Kiva of the Student Center at Kent State University. Feinberg, who has at times identified as a stone butch or as a transman, is an unreconstructed ‘60s labor activist. Natty in a silver gray suit, coordinating tie and fine close cropped silver grey hair, Feinberg focused mostly on current events and the need from zhe’s point of view (yes, Feinberg doesn’t use standard gender binary pronouns) for renewed social activism. Zhe did make one very important point to all of us. "What", Feinberg asked, "Do L, G, B and T have in common?". Answering zhe’s own question Feinberg replied, "Absolutely nothing…….except that society views us as all the same and oppresses us all." We need to stand together to change society’s viewpoint on issues of sexual and gender identity.

We have a very exciting new resource if you’re willing to drive to Mentor and play by the rules. LA and NY designer Laurie Chesbrough has landed back in the family business complex in Mentor and set up Mimi’s Warehouse. She specializes in helping women expand their fashion palette with deeply discounted pieces she collects in NY, LA and London. (Deeply discounted means something that retailed in LA for $800 you can get for $200. This doesn’t mean a $40 Marshall’s knock-off marked down to $5, so save up your quarters and pinch your pennies). A big fan of Eddie Izzard, she’s very much interested in working with our community. Her London stock has been held up by the shipping strike so I’ll need to pay a return visit, but she proved her point when she got me try on a sleeveless cowl-necked crocheted orange and brown sweater, draping a brown shawl on my arms. This really set of my auburn hair. I never would have imagined sleeveless would work for me. Then she showed me a turquoise coat cut in such a way as to really give me a figure. Now if she can only find it in my size and in brown.

The matter has some urgency to it. I’ve been invited to be on November 15th as a member of a trans-panel that in turn is part of a number of activities down at U. Akron coordinating with the appearance of Dr. Drew Pinsky, MTV’s "Love Doctor". I wanted to have the right look for such an appearance. Something that says fashion savvy but not a over-the-top. And definitely not "conservative man in a conservative dress". Laurie’s collection by the way does tend towards the flashier items, and those of you who want something that will make the other girls at the clubs wilt with envy (at least until the get something of their own from Mimi’s warehouse) should plan on seeing her. But if you plan on seeing her, remember the following:

1. This is a by appointment business only. Don’t break an appointment. You will mess this up for everyone else if you show Laurie that she can’t trust members of our community to keep their commitments.
2. You can’t change there. You must arrive properly dressed. She’ll want to take measurements, so your foundation garments should be modest.
3. At present this is just fashion advice and clothing sales. No photo sessions. You can’t go put something on, take a picture, take it off and leave. That’s NOT what this is about. This is a chance to be treated as a woman who is serious about the image she presents in various parts of her life.
4. As a courtesy to other customers, don’t wear heavy perfume that might stick to clothing you try on.
5. Bring a towel or large handkerchief to put over your face when trying on pull-over garments. This is prevent makeup from getting on them
6. Have a half-slip and a full slip along so that skirts and dress’s hang properly.

I’m hopeful that Laurie can join us for our Christmas Party and get to know us a bit, before coming to a meeting as a featured speaker to give us some pointers on dressing well. There are lots of possibilities here and I can’t wait to see what unfolds. Contact information for Mimi’s Warehouse is posted on the web site.

I mentioned my auburn hair back a bit. On my way home from Mimi’s Warehouse I decided to drop in unannounced on the sheitl (Yiddish for the wigs worn by Torah observant Jewish Women) shop that it came from. You won’t find that chartreuse or lavender number at Hair Options. I’m pleased to report that the proprietress didn’t blink an eye. She helped me "grow" my hair a couple of inches in a shade quite close to the original in a luscious human synthetic blend. Hair Options is located on Green just north of Cedar. The shop is quite small, essentially private, and stocks higher end wigs, hats etc. Jacqueline is one of the better known lines they carry and as a brand it lists itself as TG friendly on its web site. So is Hair Options, a nearby location for people who live on Cleveland’s east side and have conservative tastes.

To top that particular day off, we had tickets for "The Producers". When I finally got home, my beloved partner looked me up and down and said, "why change? you’re dressed for the theatre already, why don’t we go as you are?". So I didn’t and we did. For those of you who don’t know Mel Brooks "The Producers", this over-the-top, engagingly vulgar musical version of the cult movie classic features sleazy slimy producer Max Bialystock, neurotic accountant and would be producer, Leo Bloom and one Roger DeVries, a flamboyantly gay Director. Roger makes his appearance dressed as the Grand Duchess Anastasia as he prepares for the costume contest at the Choreographer’s ball. The mirror silver gown that gives him a figure like Mae West is aptly described as looking like the Chrysler Building. (I wonder how much a knock off of that costs!). Also, in the highly acclaimed production number of little old ladies tap dancing with their walkers, half or more of the old ladies are members of the male chorus.

At intermission, I found myself explaining a bit about Mel Brooks to the other woman sitting next to me. She and her husband weren’t enjoying, as they’d come on the recommendation of their children without looking into the matter further. Brook’s studied crudeness and bad taste left them reeling. I think my explanation of some of the background and the various inside Jewish, musical theatre and political jokes helped her (if not her rather stiff husband) enjoy the second act more.

Last but not least for this month was the return to Cleveland Public Theatre of Varla Jean Merman, the illegitimate daughter of Ernest Borgnine and Ethyl Merman. Last year’s cheesy performance were so well received that Jeffrey Roberson’s dizzy drag queen was scheduled for 2 weeks this year. This year’s show, titled "I’ve Got The Music In Me" continues Roberson’s exploration of the self absorbed Diva. Varla is far nastier about her self absorption than a similar diva exploration by the Australian Drag persona of Dame Edna Everage. Dame Edna is genially condescending, whereas Varla gives the impression that her seemingly good natured condescension is just a marketing ploy that doesn’t always work, someone trying to act well above their class.

Along the way, this one-act 70 minute show takes side trips through the comedic bad taste that Mel Brookes left out of "The Producers." Varla’s stint as an organ transplant courier, a ventriloquistic dueling yodel competition with a singing frankfurter ( and exploiting every double entendre you can imagine), and a long overdue song entitled "Why Can’t Rappers Teach Themselves How to Speak" comprise just some the explorations around the theme of music that momentarily divert Varla from her self obsession. The "Whatever happened to Class" duet from the musical Chicago is done in vocal style with accompanist Ricky Ritzel. Roberson did a stint as Mary Sunshine, the "sob-sister" reporter who turns out to be a man in Chicago, presumably warbling the high notes and sustaining that last note in "There’s a Little Bit of Good in Everyone" with the same effortless coloratura that he presents as Varla Jean. Last but not least is Varla’s famous gargling easy cheese closing number. Of course there is an encore that apologizes for "not remembering anyone in the audience because it’s too much for this one small girl’s brain." This is not your standard drag act, and Roberson doesn’t doff his wig at the end to prove he’s really a boy. In case you hadn’t figured it out, there’s no lip synching here either. Varla Jean lives in a universe all of her own. Now that I’ve seen Roberson twice, I wonder what other universes this extraordinarily talented and versatile performer, comedian and author can come up with.

That’s it so far this month. I had a talk after the show with the marketing director for Cleveland Public Theatre, and there may be something special for our community coming up in December. And I’ve interviewed Jef Roberson, but that can wait for next month.