Thank You Arthur Laurents

I'm sad at the news of the death of Arthur Laurents. I understand that while he wasn't universally loved as a person; he was respected by everyone that could hum a Broadway tune.


In the fifties, with West Side Story and Gypsy, Arthur Laurents made theatrical history. Later he became famous for his lacerating tongue. At 91, both he and it made a comeback.


Arthur Laurents was famous for saying what was on his mind and doing what he thought was best. These traits made his work courageous and his personal life prickly.


Arthur Laurents met Tom Hatcher in LA in 1954. They moved to NYC, beginning an openly romantic relationship during a time when the practice was far from common, or safe.

Mr. Laurents, whose partner of 52 years,Tom Hatcher passed away in 2006, had this to say about their relationship:

"I had the most marvellous life that anybody could have with another person - that I’m proud of. That’s an achievement - ‘cause most people quit on each other, and we never did. "

In a New York Times Magazine article, Tom Hatcher was described as  part enforcer, part enabler, and part keeper of Arthur's flame and of the grudges. Hatcher made Laurent's writing life possible.


Arthur Laurents, the director, playwright and screenwriter who wrote such enduring stage musicals as "West Side Story" and "Gypsy," as well as the movie classics "Rope" and "The Way We Were," died Thursday. He was 93.


This is one of my favourite sequences from the movie version of "Gypsy".

But I Don't Want to be the Black Swan!

This post is inspired by the film, The Black Swan. I loved the movie; even with it's Red Shoes melodrama and totally over the top direction.  I was moved by Nina's hunger for fame and cried when her obsession for perfection destroyed her.  She won the role of Odette, the beautiful white swan of Swan Lake, but was destroyed when the evilness of the Black Swan, Odile possessed her.
Like many, I was very eager to fit in as a teen; especially that period of moving from elementary school to junior high.
I was the kid that other kid's moms loved; always eager to help with the dishes, polite and amusing. Yeah, you guessed it.

And if being gay wasn't enough, I was English in a Acadian Canadian household, my mother (Protestant) wasn't married to my father and we lived in a part of town that "nice" people warned their kids to stay away from.

Unlike my friends in the "Bowery" (as my dad liked to call our street), I took the other tack and choose to live a life as a saint.  This engendered some martyrdom at the hands of one bully in particular, but I was sure that if I stoically suffered through it, that I would sit at the right hand of God and close to Father Kelly.

Now, being the best little boy may have worked in pre-puberty, but once hormones kicked in and  my friends started swapping spit with girls instead of swapping comics with me, I realized I had to pull a "Sandy" and shake things up a bit.

 
So I starting sneaking smokes. But because of an unfortunate incident when Tommy and I, in a rush to get rid of the evidence, smoked a whole pack of Export A's behind the church, I couldn't look at another cigarette for at least -  a year.

I tried swearing; no more grammatically correct  sentences with polite "thank you's"  and "you're welcome's".  This, of course didn't apply to my friend's parents. How hard could it be?  Swearing was the lingua franca of home.

The result was humiliating.  My girl friends (platonic), would just giggle. It wasn't working. Seems I was just too good to be bad.

I was to play out the rest of my life as Sal Mineo to James Dean, as Jimmy Olsen to Clark Kent (okay, maybe not the best example).

Even today, I hesitate to let it all out – to let my evil queen reign supreme.  Yes, I may lose my temper on occasion and may not always at my best, but in public, or on a public platform such as a blog; I tend to be "safe for general consumption".

This is not a way to gain a following or to be noticed.

You have to be controversial. You have to have some edge – be a bad ass.
However, I find that there are many very nice people who are huge stars in the blogosphere. Even Perez Hilton has become well, nice. 

Do I have to pull a Sandy again to get noticed?  Is this grade nine all over again?

No, I'll just be me. But if someone thinks they can come by and slap me around, well, this martyr can now kick some butt!

Diana Day on Oprah!

My gal pal, Fanny has invited me over to her pad this afternoon to watch Diana Ross on Oprah. Knowing that I'm a huge Miss Ross fan, it was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Although Miss Ross has aged (haven't we all), she has done so well. Aside from a few unfortunate DUI incidences at airports and highways caused by that demon liquor, she has, for all her diva statue, remained remarkably sane. And I might add, after watching Cher in "Burlesque" still human.


This video from one of the Diana Ross and the Supremes host The Hollywood Palace shows a side of Diana that many people haven't seen. It's not the "Baby Love" or "I'm Coming Out" diva here. It's a very young Divette who, in a very rare moment for her, gives her total attention to her co-star on stage. You can see that she is totally in awe of Ethel Waters. As well she should be.

Ethel Waters was a legend. Her singing of Irving Berlin's "Suppertime" tears me apart every time I hear it.

Enjoy.

Is Glee Causing Homophobic Backlash?

I came across this disturbing story in the Toronto Star today: Dozens in Gay Village harassed by teens…

Crossing guard Phil Ogison has had slushies thrown at his face.
Gay Village local Buddha Poitras spends many afternoons scrubbing pop off his windows.
And three weeks ago, Barbara Brown watched two teens walking down the street, loudly musing whether they should go “gay-bashing again…
In January, local florist Paul Winsor told police a group of 12 students believed to be from nearby Jarvis Collegiate Institute doused him with frozen drinks.
Days later, 30-year-old Ryan Lester, was kicked in the face and called a “faggot” at a Church St. restaurant.”

Does this sound familiar? If you’re a fan of GLEE, you may find a familiar theme here: slushing, harassment, bragging about bashing gays…


It seems from the report that a source of some of this behaviour is a high school situated nearby, Jarvis Collegiate.  I don’t remember this kind of shit going on when I lived in the neighbourhood – and this was before the major advances in LGBT civil rights. 


Could this be a Glee backlash?  Are the meatheads in school proudly associating themselves with the football team and head bully (and closet gay), Dave Karofsky?

Just as incidents of homophobic assaults have risen with the rise of equal rights for gays, has Glee, by being so G-A-Y, contributing to boys establishing their masculinity by over compensating like Dave?


It reminds me of how the most racist and bigoted adults I knew in the seventies would split their guts at things that Archie Bunker said.  And you’d ask yourself –“Don’t they get it?”  I guess they felt it didn’t apply to them. Or maybe they didn’t give a fuck because the dude’s funny and validates their own prejudices. 


Maybe that’s what these punks are doing; wearing their bigotry like shields to protect them from deadly gay rays.


 

My Favourite Musical…Today.

"Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn?

Don't I get a dream for myself?

Starting now it's gonna be my turn.

Gangway, world, get off of my runway!

Starting now I bat a thousand!

This time, boys, I'm taking the bows and

Everything's coming up Ray!

Everything's coming up Raymond!

Everything's coming up Ray!

This time for me!

For me! For me! For me!"

Think they'd ever remount an all male version of Gypsy?


Louise's story of always being second resonated with me so much when I first saw this musical classic. I was always silver, never gold; always the B student who had potential, never the A one whose potential was always very evident and celebrated.


I rooted for Louise. I shouted from my seat - "Sing out, Louise".  I felt her pain when she wasn't the girl Tulsa needed.  And when she morphed into Gypsy Rose Lee, me and a million other ugly ducklings strolled down that ramp right along with her and were FABULOUS!


I was thinking of about trying to decide what my favourite musical would be should anyone ask.  It's an impossible question. Like anything, your favourite changes depending on the mood you're in.


I love Sondheim, love Bernstein, love Rogers. But if I really had to give one show as the one I'd take to a deserted island, it would have to be Jules Styne's fable of Miss Gypsy Rose Lee.
It's got it all: comedy, drama, song, dance and a bit of burlesque.


"You either got it, or you ain't and this show's got it!?