San Francisco Weekly June 27, 2012 : Page 12

sfweekly.com THU PAGE 12 Heklina from Trannyshack performs at Phantoms Arise! FRI PAGE 12 Laundromatinee dance promises to be good, clean fun. TUE PAGE 14 New book celebrates cartoonist Walt Kelly’s legacy . LETTERS Night + Day ® WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 4 | CONTENTS | THU /6.28 [FILM] FREE Poe-try in Motion SF WEEKLY Imagine Edgar Allen Poe filtered through a Euro sensibility and the delirious excesses of the ’60s, and you’re apt to conjure cin-ematic pleasures great and, uh, less great. But even the don’t-quite-work moments in Spirits of the Dead (1968), the infamous, lavish, three-story compilation film based on Poe’s works, are weirdly fascinating. The curtain raiser, Metzengerstein , finds Jane Fonda playing a spoiled French countess with a thing for her cousin — played, perversely, by brother Peter. (She and husband-slash-director Roger Vadim re-teamed on Barbarella immediately after this project.) Louis Malle conceived and directed William Wilson , starring the pompous Alain Delon as a brutish military man tormented by a double whose play-thing includes Brigitte Bardot. The final tale, Toby Dammit (based on the short story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head”), is not just the best of the three but a cer-tified classic, with Terrence Stamp as a breathtakingly dissolute movie star speed-ing (well, tripping) like a lunatic through Federico Fellini’s Rome. The remarkable thing about Poe is that, across borders and centuries, his tales haunt and inspire other people’s deranged nightmares. Spirits of the Dead starts at 7 p.m. at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St. (at Mission), S.F. Admission is free-$5; call 347-5000 or visit www.sfmoma.org. MICHAEL FOX | gay. When it comes to all things Starman, we need to look no further than the First Church of the Sacred Silversexual, a cover cult band dedicated to the worship of the Thin White Duke. The Reverent Father Lysol Tony-Romeo leads tonight’s service, Bowie on Broadway , which, in addi-tion to music, includes a ch-ch-charming burlesque performance by Bowie beloveds Kitty Von Quim and Honey Penny, go-go dancing by The Pretty Things from the al-ways arousing Lusty Lady, and live painting by local artist Nicole Valerie Schach. Break out your metallics, your tights, and your smudge-free guyliner for a “sermon” you won’t soon forget. Oh, and if you’ve mis-placed your face paint, fret not — folks are on the scene to give your cheek its very best lightning bolt. Bowie on Broadway starts at 8 p.m. at Broadway Studios, 435 Broadway (at Columbus), S.F. Admission is $10; call 291-0333 or visit www.sacredsilversexual.com. ANNA PULLEY FILM BOOKS | NIGHT+DAY | SUCKA CITY | [DANCE] GO ON A GENDER BENDER THIS IS WHAT I WANT See Saturday [PERFORMANCE] San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum houses the largest collection of Asian art in the Western world. But once the sun goes down tonight, the traditional art museum kicks off its amazing summer lineup with Phantoms Arise! , an after-hours art mashup of epic proportions. Poets, DJs, drag queen divas, and tattoo artists are on hand to celebrate “Phantoms of Asia,” the museum’s first large-scale contemporary art exhibit about spirituality and the su-pernatural in Asian culture. Determined to use the museum’s space for more than just artwork, organizers of the event aim to provide a place for artists in different disciplines to intermingle and experiment. 12 Litquake poets, including Paul Hoover and Let the Spirit Move You Geof Teague Justin Chin, wander the galleries, read-ing work inspired by the 60 pieces in the “Phantoms” exhibit. Heklina, of the long-running drag show Trannyshack, leads a performance conjuring dead divas. A screening of the locally filmed episode of the tattoo artist web series, Gypsy Gentle-man, plays in the background. And DJ Vin Sol, who has worked with acts like M.I.A., Die Antwood, and Too Short, provides a phantom-inspired soundtrack for dancing. Phantoms Arise! starts at 5 p.m. at the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin (at McAl-lister), S.F. Admission is $10; call 581-3500 or visit www.asianart.org. EMILY WILSON FRI /6.29 [GLAM] Gettin’ Ziggy wit It San Francisco has a reputation for being a godless city. We’re not sure why — we certainly spend a lot of time on our knees! While we may not have much religious fer-vor (except in the arena known as brunch), this doesn’t mean we aren’t ardent devo-tees where it truly counts. We speak, of course, of the iconic rock god David Bowie, whose wildly bouncing package in the ’80s movie Labyrinth probably turned us There was a time when the laundromat served a social function much like the long-gone community well. People caught up on the weekly goings-on, kept an eye on each other’s children, shared space and soap with friends, and occasionally maligned neighbors. As households became more autonomous, unrestricted social grooming became optional, and the coin-op became villainized. Experimental choreographer Heidi Duckler noticed the loss. In 1988, the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre presented Laundromatinee at the Thriftiwash Laun-dromat in Santa Monica. Since then, this piece has been performed and workshopped by hundreds of dancers around the world. In 2010, the National Endowment for the Arts named it an “American Masterpiece.” Clad in housedresses and accompanied by simple lighting and a recognizable score, the danc-ers rise up around one oblivious and belea-guered homemaker who continues to fluff and fold. The washing machines become a stage. Legs pop in and out of dryers. Surfaces are scrubbed with synchronized, flippant glee. Laundry carts and folding tables turn into youthful amusements. The dance is short, but sweet, triumphant, and a little wistful, and there are fewer stages every day, so catch it while you can. Dancers from a four-day workshop, led by Duckler and company member Eva Wilder, perform. Dirty Dancing J UNE 27-J ULY 3, 2012 | MUSIC | EAT |

Night & Day

THU/6.28 [FILM] Poe-try in Motion Imagine Edgar Allen Poe filtered through a Euro sensibility and the delirious excesses of the ’60s, and you’re apt to conjure cinematic pleasures great and, uh, less great. But even the don’t-quite-work moments in Spirits of the Dead (1968), the infamous, lavish, three-story compilation film based on Poe’s works, are weirdly fascinating. The curtain raiser, Metzengerstein, finds Jane Fonda playing a spoiled French countess with a thing for her cousin — played, perversely, by brother Peter. (She and husband-slash-director Roger Vadim re-teamed on Barbarella immediately after this project.) Louis Malle conceived and directed William Wilson, starring the pompous Alain Delon as a brutish military man tormented by a double whose plaything includes Brigitte Bardot. The final tale, Toby Dammit (based on the short story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head”), is not just the best of the three but a certified classic, with Terrence Stamp as a breathtakingly dissolute movie star speeding (well, tripping) like a lunatic through Federico Fellini’s Rome. The remarkable thing about Poe is that, across borders and centuries, his tales haunt and inspire other people’s deranged nightmares. Spirits of the Dead starts at 7 p.m. at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St. (at Mission), S.F. Admission is free- $5; call 347-5000 or visit www.sfmoma.org. MICHAEL FOX [PERFORMANCE] Let the Spirit Move You San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum houses the largest collection of Asian art in the Western world. But once the sun goes down tonight, the traditional art museum kicks off its amazing summer lineup with Phantoms Arise!, an after-hours art mashup of epic proportions. Poets, Djs, drag queen divas, and tattoo artists are on hand to celebrate “Phantoms of Asia,” the museum’s first large-scale contemporary art exhibit about spirituality and the supernatural in Asian culture. Determined to use the museum’s space for more than just artwork, organizers of the event aim to provide a place for artists in different disciplines to intermingle and experiment. Litquake poets, including Paul Hoover and Justin Chin, wander the galleries, reading work inspired by the 60 pieces in the “Phantoms” exhibit. Heklina, of the longrunning drag show Trannyshack, leads a performance conjuring dead divas. A screening of the locally filmed episode of the tattoo artist web series, Gypsy Gentleman, plays in the background. And DJ Vin Sol, who has worked with acts like M.I.A., Die Antwood, and Too Short, provides a phantom-inspired soundtrack for dancing. Phantoms Arise! Starts at 5 p.m. at the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin (at McAllister), S. F. Admission is $10; call 581-3500 or visit www.asianart.org. EMILY WILSON FRI/6.29 [GLAM] Gettin’ Ziggy wit It San Francisco has a reputation for being a godless city. We’re not sure why — we certainly spend a lot of time on our knees! While we may not have much religious fervor (except in the arena known as brunch), this doesn’t mean we aren’t ardent devotees where it truly counts. We speak, of course, of the iconic rock god David Bowie, whose wildly bouncing package in the ’80s movie Labyrinth probably turned us Gay. When it comes to all things Starman, we need to look no further than the First Church of the Sacred Silversexual, a cover cult band dedicated to the worship of the Thin White Duke. The Reverent Father Lysol Tony-Romeo leads tonight’s service, Bowie on Broadway, which, in addition to music, includes a ch-ch-charming burlesque performance by Bowie beloveds Kitty Von Quim and Honey Penny, go-go dancing by The Pretty Things from the always arousing Lusty Lady, and live painting by local artist Nicole Valerie Schach. Break out your metallics, your tights, and your smudge-free guyliner for a “sermon” you won’t soon forget. Oh, and if you’ve misplaced your face paint, fret not — folks are on the scene to give your cheek its very best lightning bolt. Bowie on Broadway starts at 8 p.m. at Broadway Studios, 435 Broadway (at Columbus), S.F. Admission is $10; call 291- 0333 or visit www.sacredsilversexual.com. ANNA PULLEY [DANCE] Dirty Dancing There was a time when the laundromat served a social function much like the longgone community well. People caught up on the weekly goings-on, kept an eye on each other’s children, shared space and soap with friends, and occasionally maligned neighbors. As households became more autonomous, unrestricted social grooming became optional, and the coin-op became villainized. Experimental choreographer Heidi Duckler noticed the loss. In 1988, the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre presented Laundromatinee at the Thriftiwash Laundromat in Santa Monica. Since then, this piece has been performed and workshopped by hundreds of dancers around the world. In 2010, the National Endowment for the Arts named it an “American Masterpiece.” Clad in housedresses and accompanied by simple lighting and a recognizable score, the dancers rise up around one oblivious and beleaguered homemaker who continues to fluff and fold. The washing machines become a stage. Legs pop in and out of dryers. Surfaces are scrubbed with synchronized, flippant glee. Laundry carts and folding tables turn into youthful amusements. The dance is short, but sweet, triumphant, and a little wistful, and there are fewer stages every day, so catch it while you can. Dancers from a four-day workshop, led by Duckler and company member Eva Wilder, perform. SAT/6.30 [PERFORMANCE] Eat Your Art Out In the cloud of champagne-soaked, rainbow- underwear-clad revelry that surrounds Pride, it’s easy to forget the ugly history behind the holiday — the intolerance, the bullying, the criminal charges, and the hate crimes that have made a simple statement of sexuality a courageous act. But once the party ends and the hangover wears off, it’s invaluable to reflect on the struggles of the past and plan for the future. This Is What I Want, the annual four-day queer performance festival, kicks off with new works by local drag powerhouses Dia Dear and Mica Sigourney, and culminates with today’s Slow Sex Symposium and a participatory exploration of audience members’ desires. The symposium is hosted by Carol Queen, renowned sexologist and chief cultural officer for sex-toy emporium Good Vibrations, and features theorists and performers on the subjects of yearning and economy. If you’re plagued by the question, “Can I escape capitalism through a performance of queer desire?” expect to have your curiosity sated. After a week of absorbing shows, audiences have the opportunity to engage in a (ahem) hands-on experience, guided by sex workers and artists eager to help budding performers and exhibitionists stage their intimate desires. The Slow Sex Symposium starts at noon at the Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission (at 10th St.), S.F. Admission is free-$25; call 863-1414 or visit www.whatiwantfestival.com. KATE CONGER [WORKSHOP] The Revolution Will Be Faxed Long before online petitions, flash mobs, and hackers, there was the fax-bomb. A politician’s office could be flooded with letters that crippled productivity for hours. A corporation could be targeted with an all-black page, depleting expensive toner cartridges within minutes. But even more recently, when the Egyptian government shut down Internet and cell phone service, a group called We Re-Build set up ham radios in Europe to receive Morse code from Egypt, and hacker group Anonymous used common fax machines to relay information around the world. Tonight’s presentation and workshop, “Fax(Facts)Bomb,” considers the more incendiary role of the humble fax machine, in congruence with the global exhibition “FAX.” Launched in 2009, “FAX” began by Independent Curators International in New York. Artists were asked to view the fax machine as pen, paper, canvas, and printing press. The work was sent over phone lines, accompanied, of course, by a cover sheet, and the resulting images — ghostly and grainy but surprisingly diverse and arresting — were gathered as a collection and sent on the road, picking up companion pieces as it traveled. Here, 22 local artists and four guest programmers reconsider the orphan technology. Adrienne Skye Roberts leads tonight’s lively program on pre-digital culturejamming with the exhibition as backdrop, along with archival works that have been stored appropriately in office binders. “Fax(Facts)Bomb” starts at 5 p.m. at San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, 401 Van Ness (at Fulton), S.F. Admission is free; call 55 4-6080 or visit www.sfartscommission.org. SILKE TUDOR SUN/7.01 [VISUAL ART] Sometimes a Cigar Box Isn’t a Cigar Box April Chartrand is a fiberalchemist and author of Angel’s Destiny: A Novel Story of Poems & Illustrations, who received her own day in 1997 — April Chartrand Day — courtesy of former Mayor Willie Brown. A fiberalchemist, according to Chartrand, is an artist who transmutes “baser matter or materials composed of fiber filaments into pieces of art.” Her multi-genre book does indeed contain poems and prose and art (but no novel, alas). Today, we’re concerned with Chartrand’s fiberalchemy, in the form of the exhibit titled “Treasured Cigar Box.” We know we have you: Art that uses cigar boxes is irresistible on many levels. But Chartrand kicks the genre up a few notches, linking tobacco, a major export of the New World, to the colonial slave trade and the global trading companies that profited by exploiting African slaves. Her boxes come across as totems from another time, ritual containers filled with all manner of evocative materials (keys, coins, and currencies from various countries, miniature skeletons, jewelry, beads, precious stones) arranged into haunting, mysterious tableaux — not unlike something you might see in the Museum of Jurassic Technology, to be honest. “Treasured Cigar Box” continues through Aug. 8 at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin (at Grove), S.F. Admission is free; call 557-4400 or visit www.sfpl.org. MICHAEL LEAVERTON [TheaTer] Get Served Our relationship with food has evolved into a twisted, torturous affair, where we often spend far more time looking at glossy cheesecake porn and doing comparative analysis of Korean BBQ joint ambience than we do actually eating. Author, actor, and playwright Tonya Foster makes eating out enjoyable again with her play Waiting..., a comedy about the circus act that is working in the San Francisco restaurant scene. The play is adapted from Foster’s book, Waiting on Humanity, a tribute to many years spent letting drunk tourists and even drunker corporate parties slowly strip-mine her soul. Performed in a hotel for that restaurant-like feel, the play also allows select audience members the option of brief stardom (one line, plus applause) with the play’s “interactive seats.” Guests are served desserts by Sweet D’s Galactic Treats during intermission and can marvel at the dreamlike cityscapes by local artist and set designer Veerakeat. Let Waiting... remind you why you eat out, why you don’t, and exactly why you’re glad you aren’t hostessing tonight. Waiting... starts at 8 p.m. (and continues through Aug. 5, with Sunday matinees at 2 p. m.) at the Larkspur Hotel Union Square, 524 Sutter (at Powell), S.F. Admission is $25-$75; call (800) 838-3006 or visit www.waitingsf.com. NEHA TALREJA Mon/7.2 [film] Those Summer Nights Say what you will about John Travolta — and we have, many times — the man is a miracle of career longevity. He’s successfully (re)invented himself a half-dozen times, all the while preserving his undeniable talents as a hoofer and comic foil. Frankly, it’s a shock to realize that the second-biggest box-office star in the world in 1978 — on the strength of back-to-back blockbusters Saturday Night Fever and Grease — remains an A-list actor with upcoming dramatic roles in an Oliver Stone movie (Savages) and opposite Robert De Niro (Killing Season). We have a soft spot for the young Travolta, full of brio and testosterone and plainly reveling in parlaying his no-frills New Jersey upbringing into neon stardom. (Welcome Back, Kotter, anyone?) He powers the young-love story of Grease with ease, while Olivia Newton-John does her mannequin best as his clean-scrubbed object of desire. From a contemporary standpoint, this adaptation of the 1971 stage musical satisfies our urges for post-1960s nostalgia for an imaginary 1950s. Don’t think too hard about it; just belt out the words at tonight’s Grease Sing-A-Long — and keep your eyes on John T. The Grease Sing-A-Long begins at 7 p.m. (plus 2:30 p.m. weekend matinees) at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro (at Market), S.F. Admission is $10-$15; call 621-6120 or visit www.castrotheatre.com. MICHAEL FOX [cabareT / benefiT] Cast Away If you haven’t been living under a rock, then you’ve heard that the musical American Idiot, based on Green Day’s album by the same name, is back in town at the Orpheum. But do you know what else the cast of American Idiot is up to while the show is in the Bay Area? Tonight, the actors join jazz songstress Paula West and Broadway star and Emmy Award-winning Bruce Vilanch — of Hairspray acclaim — in the fight against AIDS. The cast is armed with the weapons of upbeat music, dance, and jokesmithing. These might not seem like the most powerful weapons, but in the capable hands of touring casts like these, they’ve helped the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation to raise and distribute over $2.6 million to AIDS service agencies. One Night Only with the Cast of American Idiot cabaret doesn’t include any songs from the musical, which may delight or annoy you, depending on your level of fandom. However, for an extra $20, you can hang out with the cast after the show and enjoy complimentary wine, cocktails, and desserts (limited tickets available). One Night Only with the Cast of American Idiot starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter (at Mason), S.F. Admission is $25-$65; call 273-1620 or visit www.helpisontheway.org. MATT SAINCOME Tue/7.3 [liT] Awesome Opossum “We have met the enemy and he is us,” says a swamp-dwelling opossum as he surveys the garbage dump that his habitat has become. This line from Walt Kelly’s long-running comic strip — named Pogo, after the opossum character — has become a part of American vernacular, but it can also be seen as an indicator of Kelly’s influence, which continues to be felt almost 40 years after his death. Kelly’s career as a cartoon artist began with a five-year stint at Walt Disney Productions, during which Kelly contributed animation to the first and best-known Disney features, including Fantasia, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Pinocchio. Most of his fans know Kelly for Pogo, an absurdist comic strip where the title character is joined by a chorus of swamp-dwelling animals for streamof- consciousness wordplay, political satire, and slapstick. Interest in the strip was revived last year when Fantagraphics released Pogo: The Complete Daily & Sunday Comic Strips, Vol. 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder to great fanfare and acclaim. Tonight, the authors of the new book, Walt Kelly: The Life and Art of the Creator of Pogo, pay tribute to Kelly’s legacy with a discussion and book-signing. Authors include Thomas Andrae, Carsten Laqua, Mark Burstein, and Scott Daley, Kelly’s stepson. Walt Kelly: The Life and Art of the Creator of Pogo starts at 7 p.m. at the Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission (at New Montgomery), S. F. Admission is free; call 227-8666 or visit www.cartoonart.org. CASEY BURCHBY Wed/7.4 [poliTical TheaTer] Mime or Reason Every town has its summer traditions. In Brooklyn, fire hydrants are opened for all the neighborhood kids. In Michigan, folks play rousing games of cow-pie bingo. In New Orleans, the snowball carts multiply like feral cats. Here, we know it’s high summer when the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe sets up its stage for the first show of the season. This band of brilliant, loony thespians has been tapping into the optimism of the silly season, exposing veins of corruption, and promoting resistance with a giggle for nearly 53 years. Last year’s show involved Mayan prophecy, ecological collapse, and a milquetoast rejoinder from our president. This year’s For the Greater Good (or The Last Election) takes a hard look at America’s economic crisis through the eyes of the much-maligned and beleaguered 1 percent. Bring your hankie because you’re sure to shed a tear for the banker Gideon Bloodgood, but arrive early because the troupe is only half the show. Their fans — a goodhearted rabble of cookie-selling hippies, beerswilling thugs, dog-walking dot-commies, sin-supporting Sisters, and free-thinking soapbox radicals — provide a heartwarming spectacle worth braving the fog. For the Greater Good (or The Last Election) opens with music at 1:30 p.m. in Dolores Park, Dolores (at 18th St.), S.F. Admission is free; call 285-1717 or visit www.sfmt.org. SILKE TUDOR Calendar submissions can be mailed or delivered to 55 francisco, Suite 710, San francisco, ca 94133; or e-mailed (no attachments please) to calendar@sfweekly.com at least three weeks in advance of your event. Earlier is, as always, better than later. We make every effort to include all appropriate events in our online listings, available at www.sfweekly.com.

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