I’ve been more than a little surprised to see lots and lots of discounted tickets popping up on online bargain websites for the American Conservatory Theater’s production of The Normal Heart. Last year, A.C.T.’s lighthearted Tales of the City was a tough ticket, and its run was extended multiple times. But this season’s gay-themed mainstage production appears to be lacking buzz. As playwright Larry Kramer might say (or scream): Shame!

Kramer’s scorching 1985 autobiographical drama about the early days of AIDS in New York is a ferociously emotional and political work of theater that was “ripped from the headlines” when first produced and today might be called “ripped from the history books.” The play helped catalyze and amplify community anger over the dismissal of the burgeoning epidemic by government and the medical institutions, and begin to move our country forward toward saner policy. The Normal Heart proved that art can make a difference in American society.

Michael Berresse, left, and Tom Berklund in The Normal Heart. (Photo: Scott Suchman)

The production at A.C.T., directed by George C. Wolfe, won last year’s Tony for Best Revival of a Play. Currently in preview performances, it officially opens next Wednesday.

Do San Franciscans feel The Normal Heart will bring back too many difficult memories? In the face of Prop 8, Mitt Romney, and rising presence of AIDS among younger generations, are today’s gay men so ready to bury our heads and ignore the still urgent messages of this landmark piece of political art? Here’s a fascinating interview with Kramer, conducted in conjunction with the play’sopening in New York last year.

Man up, San Francisco, and support this important production.

John Epperson

Last week, we took our own Agenda advice and checked out John Epperson performing as his alter ego Lypskinka…who was in turn performing as one of her many alter egos, Joan Crawford. The Passion of the Crawford is a rich, sly salute to one of the great gay icons, in which Epperson recreates an interview with the legend in her later years, disappearing into character while flawlessly lip-syncing to a recording of the actual event. Lip-syncing the spoken word requires a level of precision beyond what’s required to mouth along to pop songs, but Epperson is so technically on point that one actually forgets that he isn’t speaking—this is no drag show, its a display of extraordinary acting and remarkable physical discipline.

While post-modern drag is all the rage here in San Francisco, the evening had me feeling a tinge of mournfulness for studious exercises in camp and diva worship like Epperson’s. My partner and I—both in our mid-40s—were among the youngest gay men in the audience. Even as The New Normal takes to the airwaves and new norms begin to elevate society as a whole, one senses that a certain reverence for the gay past is beginning to wane. “Gay history” has really only been a topic of study for the past half century or so, yet—reflecting other ageist ways of our tribe—cultural touchstones that go back more than a few decades are starting to be treated like “gay ancient history.”

Are there any twentysomething gay boys who will carry the torch for Joan Crawford? Seems like Lady Gaga is already over for most of them.

So, if you’re over 35, here’s your assignment:  Be a Daddy Dearest.School a twink! Treat a young friend to The Passion of the Crawford,—which continues through this Sunday at The Rrazz Room, lend them some classic movie DVDs (How quaint…haven’t you heard of streaming?), take them to task!

And for you discerning gentlemen who recognize timeless classics and have no inclination to ever brush them aside, come share your good taste with John Epperson, himself, making a rare public appearance in trousers, and at the piano, for a one night cabaret performance of “An Evening with Lypsinka’s Maid”  on Monday night, September 17, at the Rrazz. Expect songs, stories, and appropriate deference to our distant 20th century past.

More drag delights? Check out a local star in and out of character, here.

Welcome to a special “Double Take” Edition of Insider Tips.

J. Conrad Frank (Photo: Werner Images)

About three years ago, I was enjoying a Saturday lunch at the late lamented Blue restaurant in the Castro when I glanced across the room and spotted a tall lanky fellow with a handsome profile that struck me familiar. I racked my brain trying to figure out where I recognized him from before finally catching his eye and asking him where he worked, assuming I’d seen him at some shop, bar, or cafe I frequented.

“I’m a performer,” he said, introducing himself as Conrad. In that moment, it all clicked—I’d seen his face for weeks, made-up and bewigged, in advertisements for a Christmas show he was performing as his drag persona, the Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. What a strange—and slightly embarrassing—sensation it was, to realize that I’d not been able to break through my perceptual gender wall to recognize Frank’s striking, singular face out of female context.

Well, Frank—who’s performed male roles in local productions of The Temperamentals and Sweeney Todd over the past year as well as doing regular gigs as Katya—is taking gender-blending one step further as the first drag headliner at San Francisco’s Penthouse Club, in a special Divas! Cabaret Brunch on Sunday, September 16.  The club—regularly packed with conventioneers and other afficionadoes of authentic boobage—advertises with the slogan: “Where the magazine comes to life.” Well, next Sunday, we can amend that to “Where the magazine comes to life…for those of us who read the Forum column with a cockeyed perspective.”

We’ve asked Conrad to answer our Insider Tips questionnaire below.  And if you click here, you can read Katya’s answers to the same queries.

One week from today marks the first San Francisco performance in 5 years of Lypsinka, the brilliant neo-drag creation of actor John Epperson, who—for 30 years—has been channeling the recorded voices of Hollywood royalty through his masterfully gestural body. Once a pianist for the American Ballet Theater, Epperson crossbreeds the camp of a diva-duping drag with the poetic control and technical precision of a dancer.

Epperson lip synchs speech more than song, performing to dialogue from movies or recorded interviews— as is the the case in The Passion of The Crawford, which he’ll be performing at the Rrazz Room from September 4th through the 16th. It’s easy to forget that Epperson is performing silently; his physical fusion with his soundtracks is uncanny. And spooky. And hilarious.

Without speaking, he speaks to us about the substance of style, and the ways in which celebrity is at once disembodied and all-encompassing.

If you’ve never seen Lypsinka before, this run is a don’t-miss start to your fall arts season.  Don’t believe us? See the video after the jump… Read more…

San Francisco’s stellar siren, Veronica Klaus

Knockout song stylist Veronica Klaus is a real San Francisco gem, delivering respectful yet singular interpretations of  Great American Songbook tunes that will please devotees while winning new converts from younger generations.  The resident Tuesday night performer at the late, lamented Enrico’s restaurant during its final two years, Klaus now performs regularly at the Rrrazz Room—where she’ll be showcasing selections from the Peggy Lee songbook this weekend—along with Joe’s Pub in New York, The Gardenia Room in L.A., and other marvelous boîtes hither and yon.

Her superb new album, Something Cool, has been on heavy rotation here in the San Francisco Agenda office. Among the highlights is  Klaus’ jaded, jazzy rendition—killer trumpet solo!— of “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game,” a song oddly unfamiliar to the general public despite having previously been recorded by performers ranging from Ella Fitzgerald, to the Marvelettes, to Massive Attack.

Clearly, our Ms. Klaus has a discerning musical palate. And she’s equally impeccable in her selections of food, fashion, et cetera. Which is why we asked her to answer our Insider Tips questionnaire. Read her answers, and buy her album, stat!

What’s your favorite cultural institution to spend time at in the city?  

 The Alameda Antiques flea market—held the first Sunday of every month—qualifies as a cultural institution for me! You can learn a lot at a museum, but you can also learn a lot about society by the things it saves and casts off. Put on your hat, dress up and make an occasion of it!

Where’s your favorite view in the city?  

 It’s great to take in the sites while riding a bicycle through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach. The park really is an incredible resource and presents LOTS of different opportunities for sightseeing and mind clearing. I do it as often as possible in good weather early in the morning.  There’s something about putting it in high gear and going as fast as you can downhill through the meadows and the mist that really starts the day right! Rent a bike and go!

Where is shopping central for you?

I’m an compulsive browser when it comes to antiques and vintage, and there are several places to get your fix:  For clothing and accessories it’s Torso Vintages near Union Square downtown. They have an exquisite collection of designer, vintage and accessories that always amazes me–from Yma Sumac estate vintage gowns to FABULOUS hats!  Full disclosure: I work there too, but believe me, I shop!

For antiques and such there is Stuff on Valencia–two floors of fantastic and fantastically priced things that I may not end up buying but NEED to
visit often. For instance, there’s a folding screen made up, probably in the 70s, of authentic 30s hand-painted movie boards used to advertise in theater
lobbys.  NO ONE does this sort of calligraphy painting by hand anymore and it is exquisite!

Name one thing a visitor shouldn’t miss eating in San Francisco?

 The sweetbreads at Florio!  I don’t know exactly what they are–and please don’t tell me–but they are the most decadent succulent treats in town! What’s even better?  Though they used to only be an appetizer, they recently added them as an ENTREE size dish!  Oh, and did I mention there is bacon involved?

What’s your cocktail spot of choice? 

Two places for different moods:  Most of the time when I go out to a club I want to see some live music with my cocktail, and the best place in town for that is The Rrazz Room!  It’s a fantastic room to see a show in:  great sight-lines, sound, and a stellar array of artists!  It’s downtown at the Nikko Hotel in Union Square so it’s very centrally located.  You might be lucky and catch renowned artists like Della Reese, Mary Wilson formerly of the Supremes or the amazingly talented Tammy Hall playing piano with her own trio or accompanying any number of wonderful singers! [Ed: Including Ms. Klaus...but, while she's biased, we completely agree with her recommendation.]

For those nights when you just want a quiet cocktail with friends, The Comstock Saloon in North Beach has been in continuous operation since 1907 and is a great holdover from the old days of the Barbary Coast!  They are serious about their bartending there and take great pains to make you the PERFECT Manhattan….though a good Scotch neat is more my style.  One of the attractions you must look for is the original porcelain trough running along under the bar stools which used to function as a spittoon and supposed urinal for lazy, and intoxicated 49ers.  Don’t worry, it’s only a conversation piece now.

You’ve got $50 or more per person to spend for a meal, where would you choose?  

Da Flora restaurant on Columbus in North Beach—home of the sweetbreads!  Flora and Mary Beth run this fine Venetian cuisine establishment in a tiny little10 table space that is dark and cozy–just what I would imagine a fabulous century old Venetian restaurant to look like.  The gnocchi will start the meal off with delicious comfort and the menu usually includes a risotto orduck livers and other assorted ultra fresh and delicious regional specialties.  Try to take it easy on the house made focaccia bread because you will need the room.  They have their specialty cheeses flown in and for wine aficionados, Flora is adept at suggesting the perfect compliment to their amazing menu!  Call for reservations.

So now you’ve got less than $15 per person to spend for a meal. Where will it be?  

It’s got to be Pancho Villa Mexican restaurant on 16th St. near Valencia.  For a budget meal, there is NOTHING better than Pancho Villa’s carnitas burrito with black beans and guacamole.  You can smother it with Pico de Gallo at the salsa bar for free!  Delicious, and a bargain! Oh yes, and if you want seconds you don’t have to stand in line again….don’task how I know that.

What would you tell a visitor that they absolutely must do while in San Francisco which they probably wouldn’t find in a guidebook? 

The rooftop garden at the Fairmont Hotel is a gorgeous and chic place to spend a free hour and is open to the public!  You can take a free City Guides tour of the hotel
and get some wonderful insights on its history in San Francisco: it was built before the 1906 earthquake and has quite a storied past.

Before I chat about one of the greatest good times you can have in SF this weekend, let me point out one of the big fails in gay men’s general efforts to have a good time these days. Let’s call it the “Want Ads” factor, in honor of the 1971 #1 hit by the rollicking R&B trio, Edna Wright & The Honey Cone, which also scored big with the similarly sassy, sing-along worthy singles “Stick Up,” One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” and “Girls, It Ain’t Easy.”

The “Want Ads” factor works like this: You post an ad featuring a flattering photograph taken of yourself, oh 5, 10, 20 (?!?) years ago and are shocked—shocked!—when your OKCupid date or Grindr hook-up is disgruntled upon meeting today’s version of you. Gentlemen, what’s disgruntling is not just that we look different—or, if you insist,”worse”—these days; it’s that:

• We’re bait-and-switching
• We’re suggesting that we don’t like ourselves as we are (So why should anyone else?)
• We’re mutually disrespecting the value of each others’ personalities, life experiences, and talents as we bow to the altar of superficial aesthetics

As an (admittedly tangential) example, let’s look at the photo that the Rrazz Room has been using to promote Edna Wright & the Honey Cone’s shows this Friday and Saturday night (top), followed by a photo of Edna as she actually appeared last year (bottom):

Edna Wright (center), circa ???

Edna today. Smiling, seasoned, and ready to rock you.

As far as a good time goes, yeah, in her ingenue days, Edna Wright may have been sleek and polished.  But admit it, today’s Edna looks like waaaaay more fun.

And let me tell you—it’s the truth. Now in her mid-60s, the sparkplug sister of Darlene Love puts on a fierce, fabulous show. She’s Tina Turner without the Euro-pretensions. Along with her own hits—originally released on Hot Wax records by Holland-Dozier-Holland after the superstar songwriting/production trio left Motown—Wright plays some classic R&B covers, flirts madly with the audience, and generally has everyone in the crowd on their feet, letting their hair down (if they haven’t lost it all yet), clapping, and shaking their maybe-not-so-tight-anymore tuchuses.

When you get together with fellow grown-ups for an evening of live music like this, it reminds you that there’s much to celebrate in getting older, wiser, and more experienced. Embrace yourselves and boogie!

Want Ads video, after the jump

Read more…

Capurro wields his mic like a knife. Fair warning: He’ll cut you.

Last Thursday night, John and I took three unsuspecting straight friends to see Scott Capurro at the Punch Line. Perhaps not the wisest choice. The San Francisco-born, London-based comedian delivers some of the most provocative gay-oriented stand-up material around. At one past Capurro performance, I watched him coax a straight college boy into defining “rimming” in front of his parents and girlfriend; a festive family evening on the town.

Luckily for those of us whose funny bones are right up Capurro’s alley, he’ll be performing twice more locally in the next few weeks. On August 1 at George’s in San Rafael and back at the Punchline on August 14, where he’ll host his own salacious live talk show, Scott Capurro’s Position. Capurro is a regular favorite at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where the surrey-like comedy tastes do indeed have a fringe on top (and bottom, as the case may be). His material is actually significantly deeper than some of his audience members appreciate. Embedded amidst the snarky stories and unfiltered audience repartee about fisting, golden showers, and other exotica is a vitriolic rebuttal against prejudices of all sorts. When he’s at his sharpest, Capurro slyly forces you to wonder how far it is from being appalled at some particular sex act to reflexively passing judgement on all manner of more important social and political issues.

Bravery with a side of belly laughs.

Capurro  stand-up video, after the jump [Not safe for work!]…

Read more…

Paula West and Bruce Vilanch share an eclectic bill with cast members from American Idiot

Cast members from the touring company of American Idiot will break character and break out some distinctly unpunk performances this Monday night, July 2.  Members of the stellar troupe are using their night off to volunteer on behalf of the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation (REAF) in the latest One Night Only! fundraiser at the Marine’s Memorial Theater.

Among the Green team’s fellow footllghters in this crazy quilt of a benefit will be the extraordinary interpretive jazz singer Paula West—who has headlined the late lamented Oak Room at the Algonquin in Manhattan as well as our own Rrazz Room—and  Muppetoid writer/comedian Bruce Vilanch, who’s scripted quips for everyone from Bette Midler to Florence Henderson.

Expect an eclectic mix of music and laughs from this generous crew in a show that is not only a benefit but a bargain—tickets are as little as $25.

From  evidence we’ve dug up online, members of this American Idiot cast like to bust out a little country when they’re freed from their show’s rock and roll score. Video after the jump Read more…