theatre awards in the spotlight - Ambush Mag awards in the spotlight In addition to the major...

5
6 • 6 • 6 • 6 • 6 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM theatre awards in the spotlight In addition to the major categories, whose nominees were listed in our last issue, we shall continue the tradition of acknowledging some special achieve- ments that don’t fall into any of the stan- dard categories with our tongue-in-cheek Glammie Awards. Some of the catego- ries to be presented are Most Diabolical Laugh, Outstanding One Act Play, Best Ghost, Quickest Nudity, Special Achieve- ment Award for Doing Theater in Unex- pected Places, Best Transsexual Perfor- mance by a Non-transsexual, Most Non- Traditional Casting, and Best Audience Response. Also, Hottest Man in a Jockstrap, Best Maid, Most Fabulous First Name, Best Ad Libs, Most Alcohol Consumed on Stage, Best Chest, Best Lisp (Betht Lithp), Mean- est Villain, Most Deadpan Chorus Boys, Best Pleasuring Oneself Onstage and many more. The evening will feature musical num- bers from many of the nominated shows including A...my name is Alice, The Apple Tree and Livin’ Janis. The Ambies is the season’s most inclusive award presen- tation as we recognize outstanding work in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany Parishes, as well as the area’s universities, high schools and youth the- ater. Le Chat Noir is located at 715 St. Charles Avenue. Reservations are strongly suggested; call 504.581.5812 after Janu- ary 25 to make them, though all are wel- come to come and hang out at Le Chat’s bar. There’ll be no charge (tho donations to NOCCA will be appreciated). We hope that all nominees will be able to attend. Please spread the word and wish a hearty “Break a leg!” to all whose names appear below: Uniquest Theatrical Experience: Jim Fitzmorris’ Cabinet of Wonders, Le Chat Noir; My First Time, fourfront theatre; A Purrfect Evening: The Songs of Eartha Kitt, Anais St. John; The Uprising, Le Chat Noir/Southern Rep; Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads, Le Chat Noir Best Production of a Musical: A...my name is Alice, Cutting Edge Productions; The Apple Tree, NOCCA; Honk!, JPAS Summer Youth Musical Theatre (East Bank); South Pacific, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre; THE SWEETEST SOUNDS The Music of Richard Rodgers, NOCCA; The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, forefront theatre Best Production of a Drama: The Glass Menagerie, Marigny Theatre & To Do Productions; I Am My Own Wife, South- ern Rep & All Kinds of Theatre; Loup Garou, ArtSpot Productions & Mondo Bizarro; The Piano Lesson, Anthony Bean Community Theater; The Skin of Our Teeth, NOCCA; Some Girl(s), Actor’s Theatre of New Or- leans Best Production of a Comedy: The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare Festi- val at Tulane; Mr. Marmalade, The NOLA Project; Pterodactyls, Cutting Edge Pro- ductions; Sick, Southern Rep; Silent Night of the Lambs!, Running With Scissors; We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!, The Cripple Creek Theatre Company Best Original Work: Livin’ Janis, Dorian Rush/Le Chat Noir; Loup Garou, Raymond “Moose” Jackson/ArtSpot Pro- ductions & Mondo Bizarro; Short Takes, Mary Louise Wilson/All Kinds of Theatre; Soul of the City, Jim Fitzmorris & John D. Fitzmorris, Jr./Tulane Dept. Of Theatre; Taste, Gabrielle Reisman/The NOLA Project; Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads, Jeffery Roberson, Jacques Lamarre, Ricky Graham, Brooks Braselman/Le Chat Noir Best Director of a Musical: AJ Allegra, The Apple Tree; Blake Coheley, THE SWEETEST SOUNDS The Music of Ri- chard Rodgers; Jonne Dendinger, A...my name is Alice; David W. Hoover, The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Diane Lala, South Pacific; Frannie Rosenberg, Honk! (East Bank) Best Director of a Play: Lorenzo Gonzalez, The Comedy of Errors; Jason Kirkpatrick & Janet Shea, The Skin of Our Teeth (NOCCA); Gary Mendoza, Ptero- dactyls; Buzz Podewell, Soul of the City; Kathy Randels, Loup Garou; Carl Walker, I Am My Own Wife Best Actor in a Musical: Christopher E. Carey, South Pacific; Keith Claverie, All Shook Up; Kasey Marino, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; David Murray, Honk! (East Bank); Jeffery Roberson, Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads; Jamie Wax, Damn Yankees Best Actress in a Musical: Elizabeth Argus, South Pacific; Jenna Ibieta, Honk! (East Bank); Idella Johnson, Aida; Leslie Limberg, All Shook Up; Fran Love, The Women of Brewster Place; Dorian Rush, Livin’ Janis Best Actor in a Play: Rus Blackwell, Shotgun; Brad Caldwell, Hand Over Fist; Bob Edes, Jr., I Am My Own Wife; Jason George, Jerker; Stephfon Guidry, The Pi- ano Lesson; Nick Slie, Loup Garou Best Actress in a Play: Donna Duplantier, Shotgun; Adella Gauthier, Bour- bon at the Border; Pat McGuire Hill, A Raisin in the Sun; Lyla Hay Owen, The Glass Menagerie; Jennifer Pagan, We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! ; Stacy Taliancich, Wait Until Dark Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Jo- seph Arrigo, Honk! (East Bank); Roland “Butch” Caire, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do; Brian Peterson, The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; George J. Sanchez, Damn Yankees; Dane Rhodes, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas ; Shad Willingham, South Pacific Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Becky Allen, A...my name is Alice; Eliza- beth Donner, Honk! (West Bank); Michaela Harrison, The Women of Brewster Place; Heidi P. Junius, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; Leslie Limberg, Aida; Lisa Picone, Songs for a New World Best Featured Actor in a Play: A.J. Allegra, Mr. Marmalade; Kenneth Brown, Jr., Shotgun; Bob Edes, Jr., Valley of the Dolls; Harold X. Evans, The Piano Les- son; Thomas Hellmers, The Member of the Wedding; Sam Henry, Pterodactyls Best Featured Actress in a Play: Samantha Beaulieu, A Raisin in the Sun; Trina Beck, King Lear; Sarah Fontenelle, Some Girl(s); Liz Mills, The Glass Menag- erie; Sarah Jordan Stout, The Scene; Jessie Terrebonne, The Little Dog Laughed Best Ensemble: A...my name is Alice (Becky Allen, Tara Brewer, Dana Deris Fatic, Francine Finley, Leslie Limberg); bobrauschenbergamerica (James Bartelle, Tyler D’Aquilla, Stephen Foley, Helen Jaksch, Alex Lemonier, Richard Mayer, Matthew Morris, Meredith Mullins, Carol Sutton); Pterodactyls (CC Falcon, Sam Henry, David Jacobs, Alex Lemonier, Jane McNulty); Silent Night of the Lambs! (Wesley Callaway, Jack Long, Brian Peterson, Lisa Picone, Dorian Rush); Soul of the City (Averis Anderson, Kirk “KB” Bush, Dave Davis, Shannon March, Kameron Moore-Mitchell, Ben Piemont, Zack Serota, Billie Stirewalt, Jennie Stumpf, Sarah Yeboah); Taste (A.J. Allegra, James Bartelle, Claire Gresham, Angela Papale, Richard Alexander Pomes, James Yeargain) Best Costume Design: Cecile Casey Covert, Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads; Linda Fried, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; Kelly James- Penot, Honk!; Valerie Johnson, Silent Night of the Lambs!; Veronica Russell, Camelot; Charlotte Svenson, The Apple Tree Best Lighting Design: Jonathan Foucheaux, Aida; Su Gonczy, My First Time; Darcy Jamison, The Trojan Women; Lorena Murry, Wait Until Dark; Selena Poznak, After the War; Dan Zimmer, The Skin of Our Teeth (NOCCA) Best Set Design: Jeff Becker, The Skin of Our Teeth (NOCCA); Kevin Griffith, Verses from Jordan; Geoffrey Hall, Shot- gun; David Raphel, I Am My Own Wife; Chad Talkington, A Raisin in the Sun; Stephen Thurber, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage Best Choreography: Tara Brewer, The Apple Tree; Jauné Buisson, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; Blake Coheley, THE SWEETEST SOUNDS The Music of Richard Rodgers; Kelly Fouchi, All Shook Up; Frannie Rosenberg, The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Christie Zimmerman, Honk! (East Bank) Best Music Director: Joel Britton, The Women of Brewster Place; William Bowl- ing, Major Archibald Swelling’s Salva- tion Salve Medicine Show; Jonne Dendinger, A...my name is Alice; Alan Payne, Honk! (East Bank); C. Leonard Raybon, South Pacific; Jefferson Turner, Let Freedom Swing! Best Sound Design: A.J. Allegra, True West; Richard Read, Valley of the Dolls; Marty Sachs, Betty’s Summer Vacation; Eric Shimelonis, Shotgun; Mike Single- ton, Opus; Christopher W. Wright, We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! Best Original Music: Noah Adams, The Father Clock; William Bowling, Ma- jor Archibald Swelling’s Salvation Salve Medicine Show; Barbara & Whit Connah, Loup Garou; Eric Shimelonis, Shotgun; Joshua Smith, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen; James Walsh, The Tro- jan Women by Brian Sands & Patrick Shannon The Seventh Annual Ambie Awards Feb. 1 at Le Chat Noir T he Seventh Annual Ambie Awards for Excellence in Theater will be presented at Le Chat Noir on Monday, February 1, sponsored by Ambush Mag. Bar service will begin at 6:30pm, doors open at 7pm, and the ceremony will begin at 7:30pm. There is a $20 suggested donation ($5 for nominees/performers/ presenters), more if you’re feeling generous—monies raised will benefit NOCCA High School’s Theater Department, a wonderful incubator of talent.

Transcript of theatre awards in the spotlight - Ambush Mag awards in the spotlight In addition to the major...

6 • 6 • 6 • 6 • 6 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM

theatre awards in the spotlight

In addition to the major categories,whose nominees were listed in our lastissue, we shall continue the tradition ofacknowledging some special achieve-ments that don’t fall into any of the stan-dard categories with our tongue-in-cheekGlammie Awards. Some of the catego-ries to be presented are Most DiabolicalLaugh, Outstanding One Act Play, BestGhost, Quickest Nudity, Special Achieve-ment Award for Doing Theater in Unex-pected Places, Best Transsexual Perfor-mance by a Non-transsexual, Most Non-Traditional Casting, and Best AudienceResponse.

Also, Hottest Man in a Jockstrap, BestMaid, Most Fabulous First Name, Best AdLibs, Most Alcohol Consumed on Stage,Best Chest, Best Lisp (Betht Lithp), Mean-est Villain, Most Deadpan Chorus Boys,Best Pleasuring Oneself Onstage andmany more.

The evening will feature musical num-bers from many of the nominated showsincluding A...my name is Alice, The AppleTree and Livin’ Janis. The Ambies is theseason’s most inclusive award presen-tation as we recognize outstanding workin Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and St.Tammany Parishes, as well as the area’suniversities, high schools and youth the-ater.

Le Chat Noir is located at 715 St.Charles Avenue. Reservations are stronglysuggested; call 504.581.5812 after Janu-ary 25 to make them, though all are wel-come to come and hang out at Le Chat’sbar. There’ll be no charge (tho donationsto NOCCA will be appreciated).

We hope that all nominees will beable to attend. Please spread the wordand wish a hearty “Break a leg!” to allwhose names appear below:

Uniquest Theatrical Experience: JimFitzmorris’ Cabinet of Wonders, Le ChatNoir; My First Time, fourfront theatre; APurrfect Evening: The Songs of EarthaKitt, Anais St. John; The Uprising, Le ChatNoir/Southern Rep; Varla Jean and theMushroomheads, Le Chat Noir

Best Production of a Musical: A...myname is Alice, Cutting Edge Productions;The Apple Tree, NOCCA; Honk!, JPASSummer Youth Musical Theatre (EastBank); South Pacific, Tulane SummerLyric Theatre; THE SWEETEST SOUNDSThe Music of Richard Rodgers, NOCCA;The 25th Annual Putnam County SpellingBee, forefront theatre

Best Production of a Drama: TheGlass Menagerie, Marigny Theatre & ToDo Productions; I Am My Own Wife, South-ern Rep & All Kinds of Theatre; Loup Garou,ArtSpot Productions & Mondo Bizarro; ThePiano Lesson, Anthony Bean CommunityTheater; The Skin of Our Teeth, NOCCA;Some Girl(s), Actor’s Theatre of New Or-leans

Best Production of a Comedy: TheComedy of Errors, Shakespeare Festi-val at Tulane; Mr. Marmalade, The NOLA

Project; Pterodactyls, Cutting Edge Pro-ductions; Sick, Southern Rep; Silent Nightof the Lambs!, Running With Scissors;We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!, TheCripple Creek Theatre Company

Best Original Work: Livin’ Janis,Dorian Rush/Le Chat Noir; Loup Garou,Raymond “Moose” Jackson/ArtSpot Pro-ductions & Mondo Bizarro; Short Takes,Mary Louise Wilson/All Kinds of Theatre;Soul of the City, Jim Fitzmorris & John D.Fitzmorris, Jr./Tulane Dept. Of Theatre;Taste, Gabrielle Reisman/The NOLAProject; Varla Jean and theMushroomheads, Jeffery Roberson,Jacques Lamarre, Ricky Graham, BrooksBraselman/Le Chat Noir

Best Director of a Musical: AJ Allegra,The Apple Tree; Blake Coheley, THESWEETEST SOUNDS The Music of Ri-chard Rodgers; Jonne Dendinger, A...myname is Alice; David W. Hoover, The 25th

Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee;Diane Lala, South Pacific; FrannieRosenberg, Honk! (East Bank)

Best Director of a Play: LorenzoGonzalez, The Comedy of Errors; JasonKirkpatrick & Janet Shea, The Skin of OurTeeth (NOCCA); Gary Mendoza, Ptero-dactyls; Buzz Podewell, Soul of the City;Kathy Randels, Loup Garou; Carl Walker,I Am My Own Wife

Best Actor in a Musical: ChristopherE. Carey, South Pacific; Keith Claverie, AllShook Up; Kasey Marino, Irving Berlin’sWhite Christmas; David Murray, Honk!(East Bank); Jeffery Roberson, Varla Jeanand the Mushroomheads; Jamie Wax,Damn Yankees

Best Actress in a Musical: ElizabethArgus, South Pacific; Jenna Ibieta, Honk!(East Bank); Idella Johnson, Aida; LeslieLimberg, All Shook Up; Fran Love, TheWomen of Brewster Place; Dorian Rush,Livin’ Janis

Best Actor in a Play: Rus Blackwell,Shotgun; Brad Caldwell, Hand Over Fist;Bob Edes, Jr., I Am My Own Wife; JasonGeorge, Jerker; Stephfon Guidry, The Pi-ano Lesson; Nick Slie, Loup Garou

Best Actress in a Play: DonnaDuplantier, Shotgun; Adella Gauthier, Bour-bon at the Border; Pat McGuire Hill, ARaisin in the Sun; Lyla Hay Owen, TheGlass Menagerie; Jennifer Pagan, WeWon’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!; StacyTaliancich, Wait Until Dark

Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Jo-seph Arrigo, Honk! (East Bank); Roland“Butch” Caire, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do;Brian Peterson, The 25th Annual PutnamCounty Spelling Bee; George J. Sanchez,Damn Yankees; Dane Rhodes, IrvingBerlin’s White Christmas; ShadWillingham, South Pacific

Best Featured Actress in a Musical:Becky Allen, A...my name is Alice; Eliza-beth Donner, Honk! (West Bank); MichaelaHarrison, The Women of Brewster Place;Heidi P. Junius, Irving Berlin’s WhiteChristmas; Leslie Limberg, Aida; Lisa

Picone, Songs for a New WorldBest Featured Actor in a Play: A.J.

Allegra, Mr. Marmalade; Kenneth Brown,Jr., Shotgun; Bob Edes, Jr., Valley of theDolls; Harold X. Evans, The Piano Les-son; Thomas Hellmers, The Member ofthe Wedding; Sam Henry, Pterodactyls

Best Featured Actress in a Play:Samantha Beaulieu, A Raisin in the Sun;Trina Beck, King Lear; Sarah Fontenelle,Some Girl(s); Liz Mills, The Glass Menag-erie; Sarah Jordan Stout, The Scene;Jessie Terrebonne, The Little DogLaughed

Best Ensemble: A...my name is Alice(Becky Allen, Tara Brewer, Dana DerisFatic, Francine Finley, Leslie Limberg);bobrauschenbergamerica (JamesBartelle, Tyler D’Aquilla, Stephen Foley,Helen Jaksch, Alex Lemonier, RichardMayer, Matthew Morris, Meredith Mullins,Carol Sutton); Pterodactyls (CC Falcon,Sam Henry, David Jacobs, Alex Lemonier,Jane McNulty); Silent Night of the Lambs!(Wesley Callaway, Jack Long, BrianPeterson, Lisa Picone, Dorian Rush); Soulof the City (Averis Anderson, Kirk “KB”Bush, Dave Davis, Shannon March,Kameron Moore-Mitchell, Ben Piemont,Zack Serota, Billie Stirewalt, Jennie Stumpf,Sarah Yeboah); Taste (A.J. Allegra, JamesBartelle, Claire Gresham, Angela Papale,Richard Alexander Pomes, JamesYeargain)

Best Costume Design: Cecile CaseyCovert, Varla Jean and theMushroomheads; Linda Fried, IrvingBerlin’s White Christmas; Kelly James-Penot, Honk!; Valerie Johnson, SilentNight of the Lambs!; Veronica Russell,Camelot; Charlotte Svenson, The AppleTree

Best Lighting Design: JonathanFoucheaux, Aida; Su Gonczy, My FirstTime; Darcy Jamison, The Trojan Women;Lorena Murry, Wait Until Dark; SelenaPoznak, After the War; Dan Zimmer, TheSkin of Our Teeth (NOCCA)

Best Set Design: Jeff Becker, TheSkin of Our Teeth (NOCCA); Kevin Griffith,Verses from Jordan; Geoffrey Hall, Shot-gun; David Raphel, I Am My Own Wife;Chad Talkington, A Raisin in the Sun;Stephen Thurber, Flaming Guns of thePurple Sage

Best Choreography: Tara Brewer, TheApple Tree; Jauné Buisson, IrvingBerlin’s White Christmas; Blake Coheley,THE SWEETEST SOUNDS The Music ofRichard Rodgers; Kelly Fouchi, All ShookUp; Frannie Rosenberg, The 25th AnnualPutnam County Spelling Bee; ChristieZimmerman, Honk! (East Bank)

Best Music Director: Joel Britton, TheWomen of Brewster Place; William Bowl-ing, Major Archibald Swelling’s Salva-tion Salve Medicine Show; JonneDendinger, A...my name is Alice; AlanPayne, Honk! (East Bank); C. LeonardRaybon, South Pacific; Jefferson Turner,Let Freedom Swing!

Best Sound Design: A.J. Allegra, TrueWest; Richard Read, Valley of the Dolls;Marty Sachs, Betty’s Summer Vacation;Eric Shimelonis, Shotgun; Mike Single-ton, Opus; Christopher W. Wright, WeWon’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!

Best Original Music: Noah Adams,The Father Clock; William Bowling, Ma-jor Archibald Swelling’s Salvation SalveMedicine Show; Barbara & Whit Connah,Loup Garou; Eric Shimelonis, Shotgun;Joshua Smith, Not Not Not Not NotEnough Oxygen; James Walsh, The Tro-jan Women

by Brian Sands & Patrick ShannonThe Seventh Annual Ambie Awards Feb. 1 at Le Chat Noir

The Seventh Annual Ambie Awards for Excellence in Theater will be presentedat Le Chat Noir on Monday, February 1, sponsored by Ambush Mag. Barservice will begin at 6:30pm, doors open at 7pm, and the ceremony will

begin at 7:30pm. There is a $20 suggested donation ($5 for nominees/performers/presenters), more if you’re feeling generous—monies raised will benefit NOCCA HighSchool’s Theater Department, a wonderful incubator of talent.

GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 77777

8 • 8 • 8 • 8 • 8 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM

the "official" dish ...from 4

1021 1021 1021 1021 1021 WWWWW..... J J J J Judgudgudgudgudge Pe Pe Pe Pe PererererereeeeezzzzzChalmette, LA 70043Chalmette, LA 70043Chalmette, LA 70043Chalmette, LA 70043Chalmette, LA 70043

504.279.6312504.279.6312504.279.6312504.279.6312504.279.631224 Hour Beeper:

504.259.8061A proven communityleader in value andcustomer service!

• Free Prescription Delivery• Direct Billing to

Medicaid/Medicare• Private Insurance &

Third-Party Payers• Billing Assistance• Competitive Pricing• Confidential, Personal,

Professional Service

Rodney Culotta, RPh

OPENOPENOPENOPENOPEN

• We Deliver or ship toyour home/office

• We AcceptMedicaid/Medicare

9am-5pm Mon.-Fri.9am-12noon Sat..

[continued on 9]

to perform at the TOGA! PARTY! (Free andopen to the public.)

And what Bacchanal would be com-plete without togas, food and wine? JoinSouthern Rep’s artists and staff to cel-ebrate with a TOGA! PARTY! that will fea-ture a complimentary feast along with acash bar. Togas may be purchased at thedoor for a small donation! January 29 at10pm. $5 at the door.

Tickets for the Workshops and Read-ings are $10 per performance. BACCHA-NAL passes, which grant access to thewhole nine yards, are available for $20-$25. Southern Rep Theatre is located onthe 3rd floor of the Shops of Canal Place,where validated parking is available. Formore information and to order tickets, call

504.522.6545, or visit southernrep.com.

ACLU Presents LifetimeChampion Award to LarryBagneris March 20

On March 20, the ACLU ofLouisiana will give its 34thannual Ben Smith award to

Larry Bagneris, Executive Director of theCity of New Orleans’ Human RelationsCommission. This award is given annu-ally to someone with a demonstrated com-mitment to the advancement of civil liber-ties in Louisiana and is named for the lateBen Smith, a founder of the ACLU of Loui-siana and a civil rights lawyer.

Since he was 16 years old, LarryBagneris has fought for equal rights for all.He picketed against segregation in NewOrleans and participated in sit-ins that ledto desegregation of public facilities. In1967 he was the first black person electedas Vice-chair of the Young Democrats ofNew Orleans. As an openly gay man, Larryhas advocated for equal rights for theLGBT community in addition to rights forracial minorities. In recognition of his lead-ership for equal rights, Larry was appointedthe head of New Orleans’ Human Rela-tions Commission in May 2001 and isresponsible for receiving and mediatingcomplaints of discrimination in housing,public accommodations, and employ-ment. In December of 2002 Larry waselected to the Board of Directors of theInternational Conference for Gay and Les-bian Elected Officials.

“Larry Bagneris embodies the spiritof equality and justice,” said ACLU Execu-tive Director Marjorie R. Esman. “He hasdedicated his life to ensuring equal rightsfor all. Few people have worked so hard,so consistently, to ensure that everyone istreated equally. It’s an honor to presentLarry with our Ben Smith Award.”

The dinner honoring Larry Bagneriswill be held on March 20, 2010 at LePavillon Hotel in New Orleans. Informa-tion and tickets are available at http://www.laaclu.org/events.php?id=29.

Houma Boast New VideoLounge, Pulse

Pulse is Houma’s premier videolounge located along thebanks of the coffee colored

Bayou Terrebonne just minutes fromdowntown Houma at 6441 West MainStreet. The hot spot features a swanksection for the after-work crowd and a fully-

stocked bar where patrons can cure theirworkday headaches. Large-screenplasma TVs, a 72" projection TV and anultimate sound system envelopes its pa-trons in a sensory experience like no other.Evening patrons can watch current andvintage music videos, a newly releasedmovie, the Logo channel or just sit backand watch their favorite sitcom or realityshow.

While it’s undeniably a gay bar, it’sabsolutely inclusive. Don’t expect to seerainbow flags or naked dancers. It’s justnot that kind of place. The logic behind thatis simple: "We don’t have to have explicit“gayness” to know who we are." One lookaround will surely put any concerns to rest.Drag divas mingle with lesbians; gay menplay pool with their straight brothers; and

all shades of a sunlit prism laugh, talk anddrink. For folks looking for a place to havea good time, Pulse Video Lounge is a no-brainer. For information, call 985.876.7777or email [email protected].

The Center & Ralph's on thePark Team Up

The LGBT Community Center ofNew Orleans teams up withone of the largest namesakes

in New Orleans cuisine: Ralph’s on thePark to present An Evening on the ParkSocial . All are invited to attend on Monday,January 25 at Ralph’s on the Park restau-rant, 900 City Park Avenue, from 5:30-7:30pm for a cocktail social to start off your

GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • GayEasterParade.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • SouthernDecadence.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 99999

the "official" dish ...from 8

sappho psalm

by Toni J.P. PizanieEmail: [email protected]

Royals, Friday Night, Theatre& Judges in the Cold with a Cold

For me this all started the Friday night before deadline. It was the evening ofthe Petronius Royals Party and I was happy to attend as the 42nd Queen andfirst female queen of this illustrious krewe. I joined Petronius years ago

because of its history and appeal that kept it alive and well, while interest in other krewesseemed to be fading.

The freezing temperatures didn’t faze me as I pulled on layer upon layer of warmclothing. JohnPaul’s was quiet when I entered. It was early. But it wasn’t long beforeothers joined me upstairs, and the party began. I met some delightful men that hadserviced either before or after me. I found that I especially enjoyed the company of Arthur,last year’s king and Freddie his queen.

My long time friend Randy Chauvin will be queen this year and captain for the 50th

Anniversary Ball. We had a fine time exchanging stories and telling jokes on oneanother. Finally it was time to say farewell until our next gathering and I headed to mycar without pole dancing as I had done two weeks earlier. What’s the sense of pole [continued on 10]

showed up and the food was enjoyed byeveryone. Randy’s next career will be as aparty planner/caterer – he prepared thefood for the event and Julie said it was abeautiful presentation and delicious.Congrats!

It was not until Sunday afternoon thatI bothered to get dressed, take out thegarbage for Monday morning pick-up andturn the outside faucets back on. Sundaynight was being reported on TV as thecoldest night of the winter. That part of methat must be a gay-man watched “De-Lovely” twice and listened to my favoritesinger Ella Fitzgerald sing the Porter SongBook album in between showings.

I was determined to attend the FridayNight Before Mardi Gras party atJohnPaul’s. With chills and a minimum ofwarm water – the pipes were still frozen –I prepared to step out for the evening. Myhead was swimming by the time I got intothe car. Now I’ve driven in that conditionbefore but it is usually coming home from

dancing if Steven Forster is not there totake your photo and you are afraid of freez-ing to the pole?

It was that very short walk to the carwhen the sneezing started. I rushed home,opened the outside faucets, took two as-pirin, and snuggled under my electric blan-ket (a must have when you get older)which I had set on high just to warm up. At4am I awoke wet from sweat, the housewas insanely cold for a New Orleans’winter but my head was burning. I took twomore aspirin without a care to what thatmight do to the ulcers festering in mystomach.

As daylight finally dawned, I was stillsneezing while sitting at my computerplaying games on FaceBook. I knew Iwould have to tell Julie Thompson that Icouldn’t make it to PFLAG’s Art OpeningFundraiser. Guilt! I hate guilt and I do it sowell. I didn’t even get dressed on Saturday.I wanted to start my column but . . .

Randy Trahan and I did talk about theevent and he said it was very successful.Several paintings had sold, a large crowd

obituary

David Boyd

Age 63, David died on Thurs-day, January 14, 2010. Davidwas a member of the Lords of

Leather since 2005 and would have cel-ebrated his third bal masque as Captainthis year. He was also the second King ofthe Mystic Krewe of Satyricon. He is sur-vived by a daughter, son, grandson, twogranddaughters, a brother, two sisters,and several nieces and nephews.

Services were held on January 18followed by a celebration of his life atJohnPaul's in New Orleans.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are sug-gested to Lords of Leather HurricaneRelief Fund, PO Box 741089, New Or-leans, LA 70174 or your favorite charity.

week right. There will be free light horsd’oeuvers, select specially priced drinksand a full cash bar. Guest will be able tospeak with the Center’s Board of Direc-tors to see what the Community Center isall about and will have the opportunity tobecome a member of the CommunityCenter on this evening.

For more information about the LGBTCommunity Center of New Orleans, visitwww.lgbtccno.org. Please RSVP to AnEvening On the Park by emailing Christo-pher Schlumbrecht at [email protected] by calling 504.945.1103.

Reach the MarketOut On Time Every Time

Ambush [email protected]

10 • 10 • 10 • 10 • 10 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM• January 19-February 1, 2010 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM

a party. I was half into the street beforesomething like sanity took over and I pulledback into the drive-way and struggled backinside the house.

Two days locked inside the housedoesn’t make me pleasant so I decidedthe column could wait another day. SurelyMonday will be better, I thought, ha. Therewere two interviews sitting on the deskwaiting for me to write but the strengthwasn’t there.

Now it is Monday before deadline.Already today I have had to cancel twointerviews. Randy Trahan called to tell meI’d feel better after a hot lunch. I just can-celled lunch with Ed Potratz and Billy Henry,I told him. I’m coming to you, he said. Andhe did, and I did feel better.

Anyone can tell you to go to theFriday Night Before Mardi Graswebsite to get a good idea of

what the organization does and why. Ithought talking with Ed Potratz and BillyHenry would bring to the surface somefunny stories about the event over theyears that would inspire more people toattend. Randy said to write anything Ithought would sound funny because ev-eryone was too drunk to remember andthey’d probably agree with me. I liked thatthinking so here goes – I had a funny storyhere but the ones that Ed sent me wereeven more unbelievable and funnier. Ed’semail: “After your message today, I calledIvan Sherman and asked him to take a tripdown memory lane and write down someof his thoughts about some of the FNBMGparties on Short Street.”

See what he came up with. “First of all,Tommy Tune came to a party with ChuckKunz. But Tommy was not the only celeb-rity to attend the parties. At the secondextravaganza at the Carrollton, our celeb-rity guest was Gennifer Flowers, who sanga few songs to the accompaniment of thepiano magic of Mimi Guste and they bothcompletely overwhelmed the crowd. Thatyear, Billy Henry and I were dressed asPlayboy Bunnies (we were much thinnerthen and I went on the Hollywood Diet toget ready for the event. That diet resultedin me having to rush to Frederick’s ofHollywood to get a black silk bustier onesize smaller), but Billy and I were hot, hot,hot and those who remember keep ask-ing us to get back into our bunnie outfits.

During the first extravaganza, theTimes-Picayune sent Steven Forester tocover the event. Steven Forster took aphoto of the FNBMG Board Members, whowere all delighted to give him their names,but I was not sure what my co-workerswould think if they saw me in drag on thesociety page, so I told Steven that my namewas Miss Lucille Pinckley and Billy chimedin that my last name was “Pinckley” spelledwith a “c”. Steven wasn’t buying it one bit,so he stopped a passerby (who inciden-tally was in beautiful drag with a properDallas big hair doo, to ask what my namewas and he said, why that’s LucillePinckley. Steven shook his head and gaveup the noble battle. What Steven didn’tknow was that purely by chance, he askeda friend of mine who I had gone to schoolwith since elementary school in Shreve-port, LA. We both went to QueensboroSchool and I suppose that we weredoomed since the first grade. Neverthe-less, I appeared in the Times-Picayuneas Lucille Pinckley and my co-workers

who had much to say about the spreadnever figured it out.

Back to the parties on Short Street atthe 'Big House' — I will never forget whenmy good friend, Sandra Pailet decidedthat she wanted to wear one of my U.S.Army battle dress (camouflage) fatiguesand boots to the party. I convinced her thatshe should let me paint her face withcamouflage grease. After a martini or two,I finally finished my makeup artistry onSandra, who was always impeccablyturned out, and she gasped in horror andtold me, 'But, I’m not pretty now.' I just toldSandra to have another belt of gin andeverything would be pretty and off to theparty we went - her in her Army uniform andme in my high heels and see-throughbody suit - I was an exotic entertainer thatyear.”

Ed’s memories: "Another favoritememory of mine was when Sam Luceroand Jeffrey Reeder arrived at the party inwonderful antebellum drag. The only prob-lem was that every time they sat down,their hoop skirts flew over their headsrevealing their lacy panties.

And speaking of panties, one of thehosts, who just happened to be quite avirtuoso on the piano, forgot to wear pant-ies at one of the parties. Just imagine thesight when he decided to liven up thescene by playing a few rowdy tunes on thepiano. Well, just imagine the amusementof all in the parlor, when he hiked up hisskirt and sat down to tinkle on the ivoriescompletely unaware that he was showingmuch, much more than his musical skills.

Those parties, originally on GeneralPershing and later on Short Street (at theformer home of Governor Leche), werewonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The spiritof those parties is what the organizers ofFriday Night Before Mardi Gras Extrava-ganzas have dedicated themselves toperpetuating.”

There are more stories but no morespace. I thank Ed Potratz for collectingthem for me.

Rip wrote about their charity work lastissue. The people of FNBMG are comfort-able and fun to be with and I encourageeveryone to check outwww.fridaynightbeforemardigras.com.Mark February 12 on your calendar. Cos-tumes are preferred for the Cirque duSoGay! at the Audubon Tea Room or for-mal wear is required. I’ll be there and I’mhoping you will too.

One of the interviews I did getto recently was with KarenShields. Karen is Break the

Mold Productions and she will be produc-ing and staring in The Last Reading ofCharlotte Cushman by Carolyn Gage,directed by Glen Meche. The show is run-ning for only ONE weekend – January 21– 23 at 8pm and January 24 at 6pm;admission is $15; The Marigny Theatre,2240 St. Claude Avenue. For informationcall, 504.427.4816.

This is a brilliant play about the un-usual and successful life of Victorian ac-tress Charlotte Cushman.. It won the 2008Lambda Literary Award. Charlotte washighly respected and admired woman ofher time. One remarkable quality was herindomitable spirit which brought herthrough a mastectomy in the 1870’s.

Charlotte was one of the foremostShakespearean actors of her time in an all

sappho psalm ...from 9

[continued on 12]