New York City Weekend - Day 2

We had a great time yesterday afternoon and evening with the high point being seeing Hello Dolly with Bette Midler.   We had dinner in the theater district before the show and came across an interesting looking restaurant for dinner tonight.  After the show last night I had a chance to talk briefly with Gavin Creel - one of the cast members - as a collection for Broadway Cares (Creel is on the board of trustees) was taken up. We finished the evening with drinks at the Monster Bar located 1/2 block up the street from where we are staying. 

Today's agenda includes shopping, including some consignment shops where we have found great cowboy boots - we like them in the winter months - vintage formal wear and accessories.  This afternoon we are meeting the daughter of one of the husband's clients who lives here in NYC and works in the fashion industry.  Then it will be dinner followed by a gay themed off Broadway show.  Odds are we will end the day at the Monster Bar where there will likely be creative Halloween costumes based on what we saw last night (a guy in full Maleficent regalia was over the top).

The Out 100 - Congratulations

Some of my mail is still going to my house in Norfolk - including my subscription to Out Magazine which gets read by my cute, young gay tenant before he brings it in to my office - so I am a bit behind on some things, including the Out 100 for 2009. Through blogging and activism, it's amazing that some of this year's Out 100 are people that I've met in person through the 2008 LGBT Blogger Summit or with whom I've spoken with on the phone or otherwise communicated with directly. That someone like myself who came out later in life has actual had the opportunity to interact with some of these amazing people speaks to the power of blogging. I'd like to give my personal congratulations to those of the honorees that I have had the privilege to interact with (in no particular order):

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Pam Spaulding, blog mistress of Pam's House Blend

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Gavin Creel of the Broadway show Hair and the organization Broadway Impact

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Dan Choi, decorated West Point Graduate discharged under DADT

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Cathy Renna, blogger and communications guru

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For those coming out later in life, I strongly encourage you to get involved in activism both as a way to accomplish needed change, but also as a way to build a new network of friends and colleagues to replace those who may abandon you as a result of your coming out and living honestly. I also want to say thank you to the above individuals and others named to the Out 100 for the difference they are making.

‘Hair’ Closes for One Day So Cast Can March in NEM Rally

When the boyfriend took me to New York earlier in the month after a prior meltdown, we had the good fortune to be able to see the musical "Hair" and I posted about the experience and the activist work of lead actor, Gavin Creel, who co-founded Broadway Impact. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from Creel himself. As the New York Times is reporting, the musical will close down for one day so that the entire cast can travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Equality March. Once again, the momentum for this action came from Creel (pictured at left). I am excited about attending the March - the boyfriend bought us bus tickets on buses being run up to D.C. by HROC, a local LGBT groups for which I prepared the organizational documents. I expect it should be a long and crazy day. It will be especially fun since I will have press credentials! Here are some highlights from the New York Times:

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Playwrights and producers have used scathing commentary, heartbreaking drama and sharp satire to score political points about war, torture, presidents, AIDS, race relations and women’s rights with New York theater audiences. Now the Broadway musical “Hair” is expanding the concept of stage activism by taking to the streets and urging audiences to follow. The producers canceled a Sunday matinee so that the cast and crew could attend and perform at a march for gay rights in Washington on Oct. 11.

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That unusual — and expensive — decision to skip a popular weekend performance at the beginning of the theater season originated with the show’s star, Gavin Creel. “I said, ‘My God, we have to go, we have to go,’ ” Mr. Creel recalled when he first heard about the rally late last spring.

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[I]n May Mr. Creel met Cleve Jones, creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, when he came to see “Hair” with Dustin Lance Black, author of the Oscar-winning screenplay for “Milk.” At a party afterward for the release of the cast recording, they all talked about the Oct. 11 National Equality March that Mr. Jones was helping to organize. The rally’s organizers say they are seeking “equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states” for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

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[A]t the heart of “Hair” is a political message about equality, justice and freedom, and that everyone involved “knew what they were signing up for.” The Sunday matinee was canceled and a Monday-evening performance on Oct. 5 was added. Ticket-buyers could trade in their seats for another performance or get a refund. The cast and crew were essentially given the day off, although, as it turns out, Mr. Creel said he thought that nearly everyone in front of the curtain and many who work behind it plan to go to Washington.

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Blunt appeals from the stage to attend the rally seemed inappropriate, but during the final number, when the audience is invited to dance onstage, cast members now hold up homemade signs about the Oct. 11 rally that say: “Our tribe is going. Are you?”

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At the same time, Broadway Impact is organizing at least 20 free buses to take people from New York to the rally and back. Performers like Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald, Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris, as well as the casts of “Hair” and another Broadway musical, “Memphis” (opening Oct. 19), have each donated the $2,400 needed to rent a bus. The tribe will be on one of them.

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Again, it should be an interesting adventure. At times, I truly believe that activism and this blog have saved my life - with help, of course from the boyfriend, my youngest daughter and my family and office staff.

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NOTE: Others seeking to attend the March from the Hampton Roads area can still purchase bus tickets at the HROC website.

FREE Buses to the National Equality March!

For readers in the New York City Area, Broadway Impact sent me a message indicating that due to the receipt of some sponsors, the organization will be providing FREE round trip bus tickets for those wishing to attend the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., on October 11, 2009. Broadway Impact is a community of actors, directors, stage managers, fans and producers, united by the simple belief that anyone who wants to should be able to get married. The group was co-founded by Gavin Creel, one of the lead actors in the Broadway musical Hair. Here are some highlights on the bus tickets:

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We are VERY excited to announce that we are organizing FREE buses to the National Equality March in Washington D.C on October 11th! Thanks to the incredible Broadway Community including our sponsors, Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald, Producer David Stone, The Broadway Cast of Memphis, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Broadway.com, and Co-Founder of Broadway Impact, Gavin Creel for leading the way in this movement.

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The special roundtrip bus tickets can be picked up in person at Vlada Lounge (331 West 51st Street) every night through October 7th from 6pm to Midnight. Instructions on how to reserve tickets online as well as ways to "Sponsor an Equality Bus" are available, along with additional information, at www.broadwayimpact.com.

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The National Equality March will take place on Oct. 11th on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and is demanding equal protection for LGBT citizens in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. We hope to see you all on the bus!

Hair - And Broadway Impact

The musical Hair last night was wonderful and played to a sold out house. Having been in my mid to late teens in the late 1960's I identified with the issues raised, particularly opposition to the Vietnam War and my own days of having shoulder length hair that I often wore in a ponytail. I also recall sweating bullets over maintaining a student deferment and then where one fell on the draft lottery - I was lucky and my birth date that year landed as 269 and safety from being drafted. The cast of the show was great and there was a great deal of cast interaction out amongst the audience and at the end of the show the stage was crowded with the cast and audience members.

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One cast member, Gavin Creel (pictured above), who played the role of Claude, stood out for a other reasons besides his terrific voice and looks: he is openly gay and has helped co-found Broadway Impact, which supports marriage equality for all citizens, gay or straight. The organization describes itself as follows:

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We are a community of actors, directors, stage managers, fans, producers — pretty much anyone who has ever seen, been in or worked on a Broadway show — united by the simple belief that anyone who wants to should be able to get married. Excited by the election of President Obama and angered by the passage of Prop 8, a group of friends came together with a hope to educate and inspire our community into action towards equality.

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We hope Broadway Impact can be a place for anyone and everyone out there who loves theatre, is passionate about equality, and wants to know how to sing out and make their voice heard. It's time for us to join together and use that voice in a way to make a huge difference. Join us on this journey to equality. It's time for action. We are ready. Are you?

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One of the activities that Broadway Impact is working on currently is organizing transportation from New York City to the National Equality March on October 10-11, 2009. Tickets are $20.00 round trip and are available through September 25, 2009. I hope people will take advantage of this option to join us all in Washington, D.C.