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Cabaret, Camp & Consciousness
OK, so I did steal the title from the Los
Angeles Dispatch. I apologize. But after 20
minutes searching my trusty thesaurus, I
realized that I wasn't going to find any better
words to describe the leather-wrapped
dynamo that is Lynn Lavncr.
Bom and raised a "New York Jew,"
Lavner's "cabaret" aspect is as natural as sour
cream to borscht Or as a ladies mah-jong
group to Broadway matinees of Funny Girl.
She began tickling the ivories when she was
seven. After college came a "9 to 3" job as a
junior high teacher. And another "9 to 3,"
p.m. to a.m. this time, performing in piano
bars. She made good music and had lots of
fun. But something was missing.
Enter camp. How about a bit of "dyke
formal" drag like a tux shirt? And maybe
songs sung with pronouns made proper for a
lady of lavender leanings ? Well, the
audiences kept right on coming, even if they
were mostly straight. Then an agent liked
what she saw so much that a couple of cabaret
and concert dates were arranged.
Movies: Four for the Fall
Having survived the hype and hysteria surrounding Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation
of Christ, a sophomoric but serious adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' feverishly banal novel, I'm
taking in the fall movie season with renewed anticipation. This season's offerings arc
especially diverse. Herewith some comments on four movies currently playing around town.
Boyfriends and Girlfriends - The better French title, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, is more
evocative of the slyly comic goings-on in the sixth, and last, in Eric Rohmer’s series "Comedies
and Proverbs." Two young women who are best friends arc startled to discover themselves
increasingly attracted to each other’s crushes.
Boyfriends and Girlfriends is essentially a cheerful meditation on how we summon up the
nerve to act out and justify to ourselves our own instincts about how we should live our lives.
Rohmer’s films aren't like anybody clse's: his characters talk in long serene takes, laminating
ideas and feelings in dialogue that reflects true intimacy.
Dead Ringer -At
past David
Cronenberg films I
have had the pleasure
of watching a woman
devour her afterbirth
with gleeful abandon
and the spectacle of a
human head explode
like fireworks. His
new film features a
scene in which a
maddened
gynecologist verbally
abuses a woman
during an
examination in which Twin doctors Beverly and Elliott Mantle (Jeremy
he roughly probes Irons) dance with Cary (Heidi Von Palleske).
inside her with
silvery instruments that cause her to gasp in pain.
The film, loosely based on the true story of the mental collapse of twin brothers, is a
formidable achievement: it has a hushed, darkling tone that contrasts cooly with its distinctive
production design and Jeremy Irons' all-out brilliant performance. But you come away
remembering the film's lack of a point of view in the scene of the woman's pain and
humiliation, and wonder if Cronenberg secs in her bondage some sort of grisly humor.
Bagdad Cafe - The two previous Percy Adlon films I know, the affecting Sugarbaby and the
masterwork Celeste, are about powerfully observant characters whose bencdictine view of life
is expressed in the purity of their devotion to their work and loved ones. This newest film, set
in a forlorn cafe at the edge of the Mojave Desert, draws together a band of out-of-step
eccentrics who form a kind of family out of their private desolations. But Adlon here appears
concerned less with the souls of his characters than with treating them as sentimental objects in
some sort of metaphorical sideshow.
Patty Hearst - Better than you'd think. Paul Schrader's best film to date devises a technical
method in which the viewer is freed from the usual movie storytelling techniques. The picture
dwells on complex parallel themes: the psychological and political effects on a young woman
who is kidnapped, repeatedly raped, physically and mentally abused, and who on gaining her
freedom is treated pitilessly by the American judicial system and maligned by much of the
American public.
Bird - The press have been pushing this film about the life of jazz great Charlie Parker, and
after seeing it you'll wonder why. The jazz press, particularly, are fawning, apparently because
"any" film has been made about a jazz artist, the way some gay critics fawn when "any" film is
made about gays (i.e., the dreadful Maurice and Prick Up Your Ears).
Clint Eastwood's film makes Charlie Parker seem a bumbling clod and the splintered
structure of the film is dopily reminiscent of improvisational jazz techniques. Aside from
Lcnnie Niehaus' superb work as musical supervisor on the soundtrack, and Forest Whitaker and
Diane Venora's performances in the lead roles, all you get are cliches and the film's superficial
response to an artist's descent into self-destruction. Look around. You can do better than this.
-Terry Francis
And then along came consciousness. Not
that stuffy stuck-up kind of consciousness that
smothers creativity and leaves audiences
wondering "when will this end ?" But the
kind of consciousness that acknowledges that
lesbians and gay men are the pioneers of the
'80s. You know it, the stuff Armistead
Maupin is talking about when he says, "You
are queer, you lucky fool, and that makes you
one of life's buccaneers...start hoisting your
sails. You haven't a moment to lose."
And Lavncr hasn't lost a minute since.
Lynn has performed her unconventional blend
of piano, song and comedy to critical and
community acclaim in more than 30 states
and three foreign countries. "Four, if you
include Provincctown," she adds.
Along with Lynn's leap in consciousness
came the realization that traditional "political
correctness" just was not correct for her. For
instance: She looked good in leather. She
liked performing in leather. But, some
segments of the lesbian community look at
leather as a symbol of dominance, oppression
and intimidation. Threatening.
Lynn's response ? "At five feet tall I can't
be anything but non-threatening...I enjoy the
contradiction."
That contradiction is also the source of
much of Lavner's music. Tunes such as
"Shelly, You've Gone Nelly on Me," "The
Role-Playing Tango," and "A Mother's
Lament (Don't Wear Your Leather to the
Seder)" poke playful fun at stereotypes and
preconceptions. Even the more politically
proper members of the audience can be seen
suppressing sniggers. And men love it
Men at a women's concert? Lavner draws
raves for her performances, but she also gets
standing ovations for structuring a show that
generally attracts equal numbers of men and
women. Those lucky enough to have seen
her Atlanta performance two years ago will
remember the excitement that swelled
through the audience as we slowly realized
that men and women were sitting next to each
other. Gossiping with each other. Laughing
together. And crying together.
Of course audiences with gender parity
have become more common recently, but
Lavncr continues to be on the forefront of
providing performances that, according to the
New York Native, "...make us laugh at
ourselves, take stock of our values, and place
them at arms length for more rational
scrutiny."
Opening for Lavner will be Doug Lothes,
who won high praise for his performance in
Different this past spring. His hilarious, 21-
minute rendition of Gone With the Wind is
one of the funniest performances you'll see in
Atlanta this year, it's rapidly on its way to
becoming a cult classic. Doug, like Lynn,
melds cabaret, camp and consciousness with
style and aplomb. Mark November 4 on your
calender now.
SAME will present two performances of
Lynn Lavner and Doug Lothes on Friday
November 4 at 7:30pm and 10:00pm at
Seven Stage Collective Theater. Tickets are
$10 in advance and $12 on the day of the
show. They can be purchased atCharis
Books and More, 419 Moreland Avenue or
by calling SAME at 584-2104.
-Gary Kaupman
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