Reverend’s Interview: Gay Theatre Master Guides Fonda’s Return

As Moisés Kaufman was writing his play 33 Variations, he didn’t anticipate that two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda would ultimately appear on stage for the first time in over four decades to play the leading role. That’s exactly what happened, however, and both Fonda and Kaufman received Tony Award nominations for their work on the 2009 Broadway production. 33 Variations is having its first Los Angeles production, headlined by Fonda, starting tonight through March 6 at the Ahmanson Theatre. Kaufman directs, as he did in New York.

“It has been fantastic working with Jane,” Kaufman reported during a January phone interview. “She’s not only a great actress but a wonderful human being. It’s been wonderful to watch her become part of a company of actors, especially since it is her first time in a play in over 40 years.”

Fonda plays Katherine, a present-day musicologist who becomes intrigued by Beethoven’s obsession over what would become 33 variations of a waltz he composed during the final years of his life. Kaufman’s play transports the audience back and forth between modern New York City and 19th century Austria as Katherine tries to solve the mystery. Zach Grenier, also a Tony nominee for the original production, embodies Beethoven and Samantha Mathis (Grey’s Anatomy) plays Katherine’s daughter.

“Most of the original cast is still intact; it’s a wonderful ensemble,” according to Kaufman. Although Fonda, who is now 73, is better known as a movie star with such classic films as Klute, Coming Home, On Golden Pond (in which she co-starred with her father, Henry Fonda) and Barbarella on her resume, she got her start on the stage. The New York success of 33 Variations marked a sweet homecoming for the actress.

Kaufman has been the guiding force behind such acclaimed GLBT-interest theatrical works as Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (writer and director), I Am My Own Wife (director) and his controversial The Laramie Project (writer, with members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, and director), about the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard. Kaufman also helmed the 2002 film version of the latter.

“In 33 Variations, both Beethoven and Katherine are outsiders in their respective worlds,” Kaufman said. “That theme of the outsider, the other, has always been of interest to me, whether it’s Matthew Shepard, Oscar Wilde, or Katherine in this play.” Kaufman was born and raised in Venezuela, and is of Romanian and Ukrainian Jewish descent.

When I asked about the initial inspiration behind 33 Variations, Kaufman related, “I became obsessed with why Beethoven became obsessed” with his final composition. The original Broadway production of Kaufman’s play wracked up an impressive total of five Tony Award nominations.

Kaufman reflected at length on a question I posed about whether 33 Variations had any specifically GLBT content or interest. “It is interesting that a gay playwright would explore the outsider idea through non-gay characters,” he said. “Neither Beethoven nor Katherine are gay or lesbian, yet both are pushing boundaries and find themselves isolated as a result.” GLBT theatergoers will likely relate to their plight.

Once the Los Angeles production of 33 Variations has opened, Kaufman will return to New York and begin staging the Broadway production of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Robin Williams (another Oscar-winning actor known primarily for his movies) will star in Kaufman’s latest play which, in an ironic reversal, had a tryout run in Los Angeles two years ago.

“One is always very fortunate as an artist when one is able to continue developing their craft,” Kaufman says of his growing success and reputation. “I’m exploring very much the same themes while pushing the boundaries of theatre as a space for artistic expression.”

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Lesbians in Love

An acclaimed documentary about a trailblazing lesbian couple and a hit women’s romance from last year’s festival circuit have both made their home video debuts recently: No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon is available now from Frameline, while Elena Undone premiered last week courtesy of Wolfe Video.

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are regarded as the founders of the modern lesbian rights movement, which the documentary reveals as both distinct from and unavoidably intertwined with the gay rights movement. The women were partners for nearly 60 years until Martin’s death in 2008.

They established the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis, in San Francisco in 1955. The couple was also well known as co-authors of several books about lesbian life, as life-long political activists and as prominent speakers on LGBT topics.

No Secret Anymore (which was produced in 2003) serves as an intimate, inspirational look into Lyon’s and Martin’s relationship and historic achievements. The film was directed by Joan E. Biren (a.k.a. JEB) and is narrated by lesbian comic Kate Clinton. Archival and contemporary interviews with original members of the Daughters of Bilitis are incorporated and provide important insights.

Though Lyon is revealed as the funnier of the two, she and Martin are shown to have had a witty rapport that helped balance their deadly serious efforts on behalf of equality. They rarely held back in their criticism of oppressive institutions such as churches, and were also outspoken in their disapproval of what they considered to be gay men’s more frivolous attitudes toward society’s acceptance of gay and lesbian people. No Secret Anymore pointedly shows that it took the AIDS epidemic to shake many gay men out of their political complacency.

This certainly isn’t a movie just for lesbians. Gay men and students, both LGBT and straight, should also consider No Secret Anymore required viewing. An interesting companion piece is Elena Undone which, though fictional, has much to say about the current state of romantic relationships between women — and between women and men — from diverse backgrounds.

Written and directed by Nicole Conn, who previously made the lesbian favorite Claire of the Moon (also available on DVD), Elena Undone relates the burgeoning love story of a seemingly straight wife and mother, Elena, married to a fundamentalist Christian pastor and the single lesbian writer, Peyton, who unexpectedly rocks her world. The women mystically cross paths several times, culminating at a “Soulemetry” seminar (taught by an over-the-top Sam Harris) dedicated to helping people find their “ultimate love connection” or “your twin flame.”

The film employs the now familiar set-up of GLBT folks from opposite sides of the religious/conservative track who overcome their differences (Latter Days, Lianna, Desert Hearts, etc.) but largely plays it out in unpredictable ways, thankfully. The very attractive lead actresses, Necar Zadegan and Traci Dinwiddie, give better-than-average performances for the low-budget, indie genre, and Conn features them in several provocatively lengthy sex scenes that will no doubt set lesbian hearts (or other body parts) aflutter.

Reverend Ratings:
No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon: A-
Elena Undone: B

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend’s Interview: Gregg Araki Goes Kaboom

There is only one director who can adeptly blend sinister religious cults, apocalyptic conspiracies and kinky sexual escapades of all varieties… and his name isn’t Ron Howard (The DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons). Rather, out filmmaker Gregg Araki has created a diverse assortment of memorable movies over the past twenty years. From 1992’s angry and disturbing yet sexy AIDS tale, The Living End, to his last film, the very funny stoner comedy Smiley Face, Araki’s technique as a writer-director has only gotten better and bolder.

Araki is back on the big screen this month with the wild Kaboom (released by IFC Films), now playing in New York and opening in Los Angeles tomorrow. A campy thriller with GLBT and even supernatural elements, the film was an official selection at both the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals in 2010 as well as the current, 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

In a recent phone interview with Reverend, Araki explained his latest thusly: “It’s pretty crazy and hot; this is sort of the most autobiographical story I’ve made.” Thomas Dekker (A Nightmare on Elm Street) stars as Smith, a film school student of “undeclared” sexual orientation. Set in a seemingly idyllic Southern California seaside town, Smith’s life gets turned upside down one fateful night when he believes he witnesses a young woman’s murder. The movie’s ultra-photogenic cast also features Chris Zylka, who is adorable as Smith’s surfer dude roommate; Juno Temple (Year One); longtime Araki favorite James Duval; Kelly Lynch, looking better than ever, as Smith’s mother; and French actress Roxane Mesquida. The latter plays a lesbian witch who goes after Smith’s best friend.

“It’s about that time in your life when everything is a question mark,” Araki says of Kaboom. “Looking back from middle age, though, those are really some of the best times of your life.” Araki also said that gay men will like his latest because “there’s a lot of hot dudes in it, with definitely some hot sexual chemistry.” The director promises “plenty of eye candy for people of all persuasions,” and he delivers. There is guy-on-guy sex, girl-on-girl sex, guy-on-girl sex and, in one memorable scene, a guy and a girl both treat a bound and blindfolded Smith to a special birthday treat! Kaboom is colorfully shot by Sandra Valde-Hansen.

Araki is often credited as one of the significant, openly gay filmmakers who ushered in the “gay new wave” of movies in the early 1990’s, along with Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Milk) and Todd Haynes (Poison, Far from Heaven). Reflecting on his career, he says, “I feel so grateful and so fortunate; I love making movies and everything that I do.”

The Los Angeles native grew up in Santa Barbara. He later attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television in the 1980’s. Araki has won numerous festival and critics’ awards over the years, many of them for his masterful, moving adaptation of Scott Heim’s novel Mysterious Skin, about two young men who have been sexually abused by their boyhood baseball coach. Current superstar Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception) gave an attention-grabbing performance in one of the lead roles as a gay prostitute.

I asked Araki if he has a personal favorite among his films. “My movies are all like my kids and all are very special to me, even with their flaws,” he said. “My movies are all kind of snapshots of where I’m at during that point in my life.”

Kaboom provided Araki a unique opportunity to reflect on his overall body of work. “Thomas Dekker calls this my ‘greatest hits’ movie,” said Araki, since it contains themes and elements from virtually all of his prior films.

Araki shows no signs of slowing down now that he is in his 50’s. “I have several projects in the works at all times,” he said, “like four or five right now.” Talented, intelligent and admirably unafraid when it comes to exploring the diversity of human sexuality: What more could anyone ask in a contemporary filmmaker?

Reverend’s Rating: B

UPDATE: Kaboom is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: A Burt, Liza & Gene Sandwich

Three of the biggest movie stars of the 1970's — Burt Reynolds and Oscar winners Liza Minnelli and Gene Hackman — teamed up with Stanley Donen — director of some of the silver screen's greatest musical-comedies, including Singin' in the Rain — to make 1975's would-be classic, Lucky Lady. Long out of circulation, the film is being released on DVD today for the first time courtesy of Shout! Factory. While hardly a classic, it is noteworthy for presenting the lead actors as Prohibition-era bootleggers in "a fully functioning ménage à trois," among other attributes.

Reynolds (sporting crisp white trousers with visible panty lines throughout) plays Walker, a down-on-his-luck booze runner in a Mexican border town who teams up with a cabaret singer (Minnelli) and fellow vagabond Kibby (Hackman). The three commandeer a boat christened the "Lucky Lady" and begin sneaking Johnny Walker whiskey across the maritime border to California. Along the way, they cross paths with a villainous rival (John Hillerman, who would later portray Tom Selleck's manservant on TV's Magnum P.I.), a law-enforcing Naval commander played by Geoffrey Lewis (Salem's Lot), and Robby Benson as a vindictive if innocent-looking young ship hand.

The trio also forms a unique romantic entanglement. Since both Walker and Kibby are attracted to Minnelli's Claire, they all decide to share each other. Lucky Lady includes racy sequences (at least for the time) of the three co-habiting a room, a bed and a bathtub. As Hackman's Kibby sarcastically remarks of the arrangement as he cozies up to Minnelli and Reynolds, "It's pretty unnatural, if you ask me."

Hackman would a few years later make a bigger splash as the villainous Lex Luthor in Superman and Superman II. Two other architects of this handsome production, director of photography Geoffrey Unsworth and production designer John Barry, would also work on Superman. However, whereas Lucky Lady screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz would write the 1976 blockbuster American Graffiti (directed by George Lucas), they ultimately created the disastrous Howard the Duck. The pair's work here, apart from the threesome element and a few scattered, funny lines, is generally negligible.

On the plus side, Minnelli sings two songs penned exclusively for the movie by gay composers John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago). While Lucky Lady doesn't represent the duo's most memorable work, their ditties serve the film and time period depicted well. Likewise, this is far from Donen's greatest achievement but many a big-name director has done a lot worse with even bigger stars and budgets (Spielberg's 1941 springs immediately to mind).

As Claire says at one point in the movie, "There are two ways of looking at things: your way and everybody else's." Lucky Lady may not be a classic in my estimation, but viewers are welcome to watch it and disagree.

Reverend's Rating: C+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.