The tasteless, anti-LGBTQI+ comic is scheduled to perform three shows at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, July 26-29. Perhaps the LBC staff and board are unaware of Chappelle’s numerous anti-Trans comments that are well-documented and of which he has offered no apologies. Chappelle identifies as a so-called “TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist)” joining author KJ. K Rawlings in such dangerous hate speech. Netflix has come under fire for producing and airing two recent Chappelle shows that feature anti-Trans comments. Recently, a Minneapolis show switched locations as a direct result of a protest organized after Chappelle refered to Monkeypox as “a gay disease.” Should the North Bay’s LGBTQI+ Community allow hate speech and inflammatory comments to be staged in our backyard? Make no mistake – this is not an attack on free speech. This is about making LBC aware that Trans people are harmed and even killed as a result of such despicable comments. We value this venue, but should not allow them to present a show that so many members of this community finds offensive, inflammatory and even dangerous.
If you aren’t aware of this man’s exploits, check out these articles:
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AS POSSIBLE.
Let the Staff and Board of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, its sponsors, those who share the Center’s campus, and elected officials know that such hate results in harm to members of the LGBTQI+ Community. Email and call, as many as possible and as often as possible.
Let’s stop these shows and send a message to every venue in the North Bay that anti-LGBTQI+ hate speech will not be tolerated!
The answer is simple and profoundin this one-of-a-kind theatricalexperience.It’s the story of a man who, at age seven, in order to cheer up his mom when she first tries to end her life begins compiling a list of the minutiae that make life worth living.Things like ‘ice cream’ and ‘water fights’ give way years later to ‘listening to Miles Davis’ and ‘falling in love.’ Eventually, the ever-growinglist is as much for him as it was for his mom.Since 2015, the show has captured hearts and minds as an Off-Broadway hit, a World Tour, an HBO adaptation and runs at both large and small theatres across the country. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive by audiences and critics alike.And now Every Brilliant Thing is coming to the intimate Monroe Stagefor a one-weekend run to benefit the Playhouse’s ‘Buy the Building’ fund.
Every Brilliant Thing July 29 — 31, 2022A Benefit Performance for the ‘Buy the Building’ Fundby Duncan Macmillan & Jonny Donahoedirected by Princess Kannahperformed by Craig A. Miller(Playhouse Artistic Director from 2011-2018)
Craig explores poignant and humorous themes in Every Brilliant Thing.
A Brilliant Performer
Craig helms the show, tackling a serious subject with disarming, comfortable frankness. Most interesting is that theaudience is part of the show. Craig, as only Craig can, invites participation in a warm, engaging way putting everyone at ease right from the start.The stage is bare, the lights are on, classical jazz music plays on and strangers soon become friends. Both humorous and heartrending Every Brilliant Thing is an unforgettable night of theatre!
A Brilliant Cause
Experience the BEST live theatre has to offer. AND Support the Playhouse!The VIP experience includes a receptionwith Craig right after the 85-minute performance, champagne and dessert and front-row seats, $145Reserved seats, $68 Please book your tickets today. And spread the word!
Sunday July 24 at 4 pm. 3 Acre Holler at Occidental Center for the Arts Amphitheater. 3 Acre Holler was founded by Occidental’s beloved meter reader Cori Wood and singer/multi-instrumentalist Layne Bowen. Joining Cori and Layne are Paul Shelasky on fiddle and mandolin, Cary Black on bass and Michael Capella on dobro. 3 Acre Holler offers Appalachian inspired material, with a penchant for songs with darker themes such as unnrequited love, moonshine, tragedy and death. In addition to their own songs, 3 Acre Holler covers songs by contemporary writers including guys named Hank. They do like to sing a few happy songs, so you will likely leave with a copy of their new CD in your hand! Tickets $20 GA, $15 for OCA members at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org, or at the door. Outdoor event – please bring your own seat cushion or low back chair. Disabled patrons may reserve seating at ground level @ [email protected] . Fine refreshments for sale, art gallery open during intermission. Become an OCA Member and get discounts/free admission. Occidental Center for the Arts, 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental,CA. 95465. 707-874-9392.
The Raven Players, resident theater company at Healdsburg’s Raven Performing Arts Theater, announced today their popular Shakespeare-under-the-stars performances will return in July and August with Twelfth Night (with a twist). These shows are free and open to the public.
What’s “the twist” in the Raven Players’ production? “I won’t spoil our spunky take on the traditional ending,” said director Steven David Martin, who is also the company’s artistic director. “But I will say I’ve always found it odd that the same person who penned, ‘To me she is married, not unto my clothes,’ also wrote plays where the female lead spends 90% of the play dressed as a man and inevitably a woman falls in love with the cross-dressed woman but drops her like a hot potato when the cross-dressed woman’s twin brother shows up because … wait for it … he is a he, not a she.”
There were a few other changes, as well. “Suffice it to say that we ‘borrowed’ a few lines from other Shakespeare plays and sonnets, then tied it all together with some verse by a lesser writer,” Martin explained. “Voilà, we have an ending that to me makes a little more emotional sense.”
If the surprise twist isn’t enough to rile the purists, Martin set the production in the roaring 1920s, whose jazz age spirit is the perfect environment for this high-spirited tale of love, lust, and misunderstanding.
Twelfth Night (with a twist) July 21-23; July 28-30; August 4-6, 7:30 pm West Plaza Park, Healdsburg, Chairs & Blankets Recommended Information: raventheater.org/twelfthnight
Today, the Television Academy announced the nominations for the 74th annual Emmy Awards, and there were many LGBTQ and LGBTQ-adjacent shows, specials, and performers represented in the list.
It should probably surprise no one that Emmy favorites RuPaul’s Drag Race and Queer Eyewere nominated in many of the reality TV categories. Drag Race is in the running for Outstanding Competition Program once again, while both shows are up for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series and Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program.
RuPaul himself is nominated for Host for a Reality or Competition Program along with all five members of the Queer Eye crew.
Meanwhile, YouTube’s The Randy Rainbow Show scored a nomination for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series.
Among the major acting categories announced live today by J.B. Smoove and Melissa Fumero, Sarah Paulson was the only out nominee, with her nod for Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her role as Linda Tripp in FX’s Impeachment: American Crime Story.
But she’s far from the only out talent nominated this year. Bowen Yang is nominated once again in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for his work on Saturday Night Live, and Murray Bartlett got a nom for Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for his role in The White Lotus. Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder and SNL’s Kate McKinnon are both up for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Nathan Lane and Jane Lynch are both up for guest acting nominations for their roles in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Jerrod Carmichael picked up a nomination for hosting SNL as well as one for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his special Rothaniel.
Last summer’s surprise hit The White Lotus is also up for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and openly bisexual creator Mike White is nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Plenty of actors who don’t necessarily identify as LGBTQ were also nominated for their performances as queer characters. Colin Firth got a nod for Lead Actor in a Limited Series for his role as bisexual Michael Peterson in HBO’s The Staircase. Both Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh were recognized in the Lead Actress in Drama Series category for their final turns as dueling assassins/on-again-off-again lovers in Killing Eve, while Alex Borstein was nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Susie Myerson in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And both John Turturo and Christopher Walken received nominations for their roles in Severance.
LGBTQ characters, creators, and performers are all over TV. Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series nominees Abbott Elementary, What We Do in the Shadows, Barry, Euphoria, and Yellowjackets all feature prominent queer characters and, in a couple cases (Abbott, Euphoria), actual LGBTQ actors.
Finally, and depressingly, Emmy voters were apparently more than willing to ignore Dave Chappelle’s unapologetic transphobia, giving the comedian’s special The Closernominations for both Outstanding Pre-Recorded Variety Special and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special.
6th Street Playhouse celebrates 50 years of presenting quality plays and musicals. The nonprofit theatre company is a staple of the community having something for everyone. 6th Street Playhouse has a robust Education Department featuring Classes, Camps and Performances for young people. Aja Gianola-Norris, first joined the Playhouse as the Director of Hair and recently, she become the Director of Education & Community Engagement. This Summer the Education Department presents Annie Jr. and Legally Blonde Jr. featuring the enthusiastic young actors as they have the opportunity to take their performance skills to the stage.
6th Street Playhouse’s Managing Director, Anne Clark states, “I am so thrilled to welcome Aja Gianola-Norris to our team at 6th Street Playhouse as the new Director of Education & Community Engagement. Her quiet strength, kindness, intelligence and joy for theater make her the perfect fit for this role and what she contributes will be a gift for our students and the community. Her connections to the theater community in Sonoma County run deep and her passion for theater education is inspiring! We are very lucky to have her.”
The inaugural Concert Series features Shana Morrison & Caledonia on Saturday, July 30th. Shana Morrison is the daughter of Music Legend, Van Morrison. She is a talented singer with a great band. Also, on July 30th, Moondance, an after party with 3 DJ’s round out the evening for your dancing pleasure from 10:30pm to 1:30am. DJ Loisaida explains, “People love to dance to uplifting music and we are thrilled to offer the opportunity to showcase some great music from various genres.”
Every Brilliant Thing tackles a giant subject: What is it that Makes Life Worth Living?
This one-man show starring Craig A. Miller, the former Artistic Director of 6th Street Playhouse (2011-2018) deals with mental health issues in an uplifting way. It’s the story of a man who, at age seven, in order to cheer up his mom when she first tries to end her life begins compiling a list of the minutiae that make life worth living. Things like ‘ice cream’ and ‘water fights’ give way years later to ‘listening to Miles Davis’ and ‘falling in love.’ Eventually, the ever-growing list is as much for himas it was for his mom.
The production of Every Brilliant Thing from July 29-31, is a benefit for the Buy the Building fund for 6thStreet Playhouse.
The New Season has 10 great productions; including Pride and Prejudice, Cabaret, River Bride, Scrooge in Love, A Year with Frog and Toad, Little Shop of Horrors, Raisin in the Sun, Always…Patsy Cline, Smart People and Something Rotten! The 2022/2023 Season opens on August 11 with Pride and Prejudice; however, this is not the old-fashioned version but rather, an updated contemporary rendition written by Kate Hamill and based on the classic novel by Jane Austen. 6th Street Playhouse your go to place for top-notch entertainment.
For more information, visit: 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Would it be Pride without a truly fabulous playlist? While there are some great Pride anthems out there that we all know and love (“I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross or “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga), you can never have enough queer goodness on your playlist.
One wonderful thing about Pride is it allows us the opportunity to celebrate artists from the community itself, so let’s shout about seven queer artists you need to be searching for and adding to your playlists. Because whether you want a timeless bop that will have you singing hairbrush karaoke or a power ballad that’ll get you in your feelings, they’ve got you covered.
Fletcher
Known mononymously by her last name, Cari Elise Fletcher is an American singer-songwriter who makes bops for the girls and the gays. You might know her from her breakthrough single “Undrunk,” which was a hit in 2019.
The singer, who identifies as queer, makes no secret of her love for women, both online and in her music, previously stating that she is “attracted to strong feminine energy which just so happens to more likely than not be women.”
If you want to start off with a bop, listen to “Cherry,” a seductive pop banger in collaboration with the lesbian Jesus herself, Hayley Kiyoko.
The Aces
The Aces consists of guitarist Katie Henderson, bassist McKenna Petty, and sisters Alisa Ramirez and Cristal Ramirez. Three out of four members of the alternative band are lesbians, and they make beautiful and authentic queer bops.
The band has two albums to their name: their debut When My Heart Felt Volcanic and their latest Under My Influence. However, it’s taken them a while to get to a place of releasing unapologetic women-loving anthems, after initially avoiding pronouns in their music after being told their songs “wouldn’t sell.”
Thankfully, that changed, and now we have them to thank for bangers like “Bad Love,” “Don’t Freak” (which tackles the issue of anxiety and panic attacks), “Kelly,” and more.
Years & Years
If you don’t know Years & Years, get to know them! Now the solo project of British singer Olly Alexander, the band originally formed in 2010. Alexander makes electropop, mixing R&B and 1990s house elements to create anthems that will have you sprinting to the dance floor.
Alexander has collaborated with gay icons like Elton John and Kylie Minogue, to name just two, and his music is a breath of fresh air for the queer community. It’s unabashedly him and what shines through is the care he has for others and the responsibility he feels to be a voice for his community. If you want to start off with a timeless bop, listen to “Starstruck” or “All For You.”
Kehlani
Kehlani garnered a legion of fans following the release of their debut record, SweetSexySavage, in 2017. They’ve been making open and honest music ever since, documenting the ups and downs of their life, from sexuality to pregnancy and depression, offering visibility and representation for non-binary people in the process.
After updating their pronouns on Twitter to she/they, the singer shared with Byrdie Magazine in 2021 that they prefer “they” because “something feels really affirming when people say they” and that “it feels like you really see me.”
Kehlani has become a staple in R&B music for LGBTQ people and it’s easy to understand why.
Baby Queen
Baby Queen—real name Arabella Latham—is a South African singer whose work was taken into the hearts of millions after she wrote her hit “Colours of You” for Netflix’s coming-of-age series, Heartstopper. But she’s no one-trick pony. Baby Queen’s discography is bursting with fun, thrills, emotion, and pride. She’s got songs about unrequited love, the angst of being in your early twenties, and just stumbling through life. She even penned a track about Killing Eve star Jodie Comer (“Want Me”).
Latham has said she wants her music to be “uncomfortably honest,” and that’s certainly what it is. If you want a starting point, try “Dover Beach.”
Muna
When Muna members Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson first started their band in 2014, they carefully considered whether they wanted to be an “out” band or not. Fortunately for their queer fans, they chose to be loud and proud, with all members being queer and McPherson non-binary.
Muna said “gay rights” when they collaborated with Phoebe Bridgers for “Silk Chiffon,” which is basically a sweet and tender love song about how soft girls are. They also offered a safe space for their community with “I Know A Place,” which has become something of an LGBTQ anthem.
All of their songs are so carefully crafted with such heart and feeling, whether they’re singing about how the world could be ending and all you’d be thinking about is that one person (“Everything”) or tackling dark matters like sexual assault (“Loudspeaker”), listening to their tunes offers communion and catharsis.
James Rado, co-creator of the groundbreaking hippie musical “Hair,” which celebrated protest, pot and free love and paved the way for the sound of rock on Broadway, has died. He was 90.
Rado died Tuesday night in New York City of cardio respiratory arrest, according to friend and publicist Merle Frimark.
“Hair,” which has a story and lyrics by Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot, was the first rock musical on Broadway, the first Broadway show to feature full nudity and the first to feature a same-sex kiss.
Tributes came in from the theater world, including André De Shields, who tweeted “Rest in power, James Rado,” to playwright Michael R. Jackson, whose “A Strange Loop” just won the Tony Award for best new musical. He tweeted “rest in peace.”
“Hair” made possible other rock musicals like “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Rent.” Like “Hamilton,” it was one of only a handful of Broadway shows in the past few decades to find its songs on the pop charts.
The so-called “American tribal love-rock musical,” had its world premiere at the Public Theater in New York City’s East Village in 1967 and transferred the following year to Broadway, where the musical ran more than 1,800 performances. Rado played Claude, a young man about to be drafted and sent to the war in Vietnam.
Clive Barnes, theater critic for The New York Times, called the show “the first Broadway musical in some time to have the authentic voice of today rather than the day before yesterday.” The New York Post said it had “unintentional charm,” contagious high spirits and a “young zestfulness” that “make it difficult to resist.” Variety, however, called it “loony.”
It lost the Tony in 1969 to the more traditional “1776” but won a Grammy Award. The show was revived on Broadway in 1977 and again in 2009, when it won the best revival Tony. It was made into a movie directed by Milos Forman in 1979 starring Treat Williams and Beverly D’Angelo.
The “Hair” Broadway cast album spawned four top four singles on the American pop charts, including the No. 1 hit “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” by the Fifth Dimension, which won the Grammy Award for record of the year and best pop vocal performance by a group in 1970. Others included “Hair” by the Cowsills, “Good Morning, Starshine” by the singer Oliver and “Easy to Be Hard” by Three Dog Night. The cast album itself stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks
“Hair” tells the story of Claude and Berger, best buddies who find freedom in the late 1960s. Between draft-card burnings, love-ins, bad LSD trips and a parade of protest marches, the two wander through a New York filled with flower children, drugged-out hippies and outraged tourists who don’t approve of the wild goings-on. In one song, Claude poignantly sings, “Why do I live, why do I die, tell me where do I go, tell me why.”
Will Swenson, who played Berger in “Hair” in the 2009 revival, on Twitter called Rado a “crazy, wonderful psychedelic visionary” and said his show ”changed my life. The tribe is forever.”
The show is playful and chaotic, but there’s also a sense of outrage in its protests against war, racism, sexism, pollution and the general hypocrisy of an era dominated by the American involvement in Vietnam.
“I’d still like ‘Hair’ to be about what it was about then,” Rado told The Associated Press in 1993. “‘Hair’ had a spiritual message, and it has a mystical message I hope is coming through — there’s more to life than the way it’s been devised for us, explained to us, taught to us.”
The songs of “Hair” have been used in everything from the films “Forrest Gump,” “Minions” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” to TV shows like “Glee,” “So You Think You Can Dance” and “My Name Is Earl.” Billboard magazine lists “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” at No. 66 of all-time top 100 songs.
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Some stars who had roles in “Hair” include Diane Keaton, Joe Mantegna, Meat Loaf, Keith Carradine, Donna Summer, Tim Curry, Elaine Paige and David Patrick Kelly and Charlayne Woodard.
At one point there were 14 companies running simultaneously all over the globe, including a London production which ran for nearly 2,000 performances.
In 2019, the original 1968 Broadway cast recording was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden deemed “these aural treasures worthy of preservation because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”
Rado was born in Venice, California, and raised in Rochester, New York, and Washington, D.C. After serving two years in the U.S. Navy, he moved to New York and studied acting with Paula and Lee Strasberg.
Rado was part of the ensemble of the Broadway play “Marathon ’33” in 1963 and played Richard Lionheart in “The Lion in Winter” in 1966 opposite Christopher Walken. He met Ragni when he was cast in the off-Broadway musical “Hang Down Your Head and Die.”
The two were interested in birthing a new kind of show and focused on the hippie scene. They wrote the script while sharing an apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. Rado originated the “Hair” role of the draftee Claude on Broadway.
“Hair” met resistance across the country. In addition to the use of four-letter words, the flouting of authority, sexual references and gross-out humor, the end of Act 1 had the entire cast strip naked to “Where Do I Go” and there was what many believed was desecration of the American flag.
There were church pickets in Evansville, Indiana. Municipal officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee, denied a request to stage the show, determining that it would not be “in the best interest of the community.” In Denver, police threatened to arrest anyone who appeared nude onstage. A Boston visit was challenged in court on the basis of flag desecration.
The original Public Theater production had cut the nude scene, but the creators wanted it back for the Broadway debut. Under the law at that time, New York City allowed nudity onstage onstage as long as the actors weren’t moving, which is why the whole cast of “Hair” stood together in a row, nude and perfectly still.
After “Hair,” Rado wrote the music and lyrics of the off-Broadway show “Rainbow,” co-authoring the book with his brother, Ted Rado. He later teamed up with Ragni to create the book and lyrics for the show “Sun.” Ragni died in 1991. Rado wrote a new show called “American Soldier” with his brother.
In 2009, Rado, MacDermot and Ragni were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., of the group The Fifth Dimension, were joined onstage by the Broadway cast at the time for a finale that brought the ceremony’s approximately 1,000 guests to their feet. MacDermot died in 2018.
Rado told the Hudson Reporter in 2009 that none of the show’s creators anticipated that it would have such an enormous impact. “We thought we’d stumbled on a great idea, and something that potentially could be a hit on Broadway, never thinking of the distant future.”
He is survived by his brother Ted Rado, sister-in-law Kay Rado, nieces Melanie Khoury, Emily DiBona and Melissa Stuart, great-nieces and a great-nephew.
When his golden-haired, blue-eyed brother Jimmy mysteriously died in Vietnam in 1975, gay filmmaker Peter McDowell was just a kid, growing up within his family’s “veil of silence.” As an adult, armed with a video camera, Peter embarks on a quest to uncover the possibly queer brother he never knew. Plotted like a terrific detective story, Jimmy in Saigon follows Peter’s search for the truth about the strikingly enigmatic Jimmy—a rebellious kid drafted into the war, who stunned his family by returning to Saigon after his tour of duty to enjoy “hedonistic pleasures.”
The film will screen at Frameline 46 San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival at the Castro Theatre June 19 at 1:15 p.m. It will be available for streaming online June 24 – 30. For tickets and more information go to www.frameline.org
Gaysonoma’s Gary Carnivele recently interviewed director Peter McDowell.
Gary Carnivele: Congratulations on the success of “Jimmy and Saigon” Peter.
Peter McDowell: Thank you.
GC: Tell us a bit about your education on professional background
PM: I’ve been interested in film my whole life. I made some short films as a kid and an ended up interested in opera. Then I got my degree in arts administration and arts management and I ended up working for a short time for the San Francisco Opera in the early 90s. Then I went into a big career in arts management in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. I made a few short films in San Francisco in the 90s that were in Frameline in ’94 and ’95. Then, I kind of let the filmmaking go for a while and it wasn’t until 2010 that I decided to take it up again with the with this project.
GC: Talk about your brother Jimmy and the impact his life and experiences had on you and your family.
PM: I’m originally from Champagne Urbana Illinois, the college town in the middle of Illinois about 2 1/2 hours south of Chicago. I’m the youngest of six children. Good Catholic family. Most of my siblings and I were born in the 50s and 60s. My brother Jimmy was the oldest in the family born in 1948. He was almost 20 years older than I and he died in 1972 when I was five years old. He was 24 when he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances in Saigon, Vietnam and of course I was just a little kid I remember when he died. I remember the terror and agony in my house when everybody found out. I’m not sure I was aware of who he was at that young age. I have some lovely pictures of the two of us together that prove that we definitely spent time together. I’m so sorry that I don’t really remember those times. I’ve always been very drawn in by history and wanted to know a lot more about Jimmy.
GC: In 2010, you decided to make the film. At the time did you see the structure of the film or did you just think I want to start investigating what happened and I’ll see if there’s a film there?
PM: The latter. I decided to just go for it. The task that I gave myself was to try to interview everybody that ever knew him, almost 40 years after he died. Other people I contacted were floored to hear from me because they hadn’t been in touch with anyone in our family at all since he died. So I set off just trying to talk to all these people as well as members of my family and I really thought at that point that I would be going to Vietnam right away. My goal was to go to Vietnam and try to see if I could walk in his footsteps and retrace his steps and also try to find some people that he knew/. It took me a good six years. I started in 2010 and it took me about six years to get to Vietnam.
GR: What surprised you most about Jimmy’s service in Vietnam, his decision to return soon after the end of the war, and his life after he return to Vietnam?
PM: I’m lucky that my brother left behind about 200 letters and he wrote tons of letters to my mom. My mom is the most fabulous pack rat who saves everything. Thank goodness she had his letters. One of my brother’s friends is a former librarian and stored in archived all of his letters from Jimmy. I have this sort of treasure trove of letters and I tried to piece together his life. A couple of things surprised me and it was very surprising to everybody that he went back as a civilian. He was in the army, did his duty and recieved an honorable discharge. Then within six months he decided to return to Vietnam, which was unheard of – nobody really did that at the time and then I noticed some inconsistencies of things that he was saying to some friends but not to others. Some things that he said my mother were actually not true and so I realized he was probably hiding something if he was making up some things
GC: Were you prepared for what you would find out in Vietnam or were you truly surprised?
PM: I really had no idea. I was looking for people that knew him and I didn’t know whether they would be alive or dead. I didn’t know if they would still be living there or know the answers to my questions. I cannot say publicly because you have to go see the film to find out whether they’re alive or dead or whether I found them or where they were. I didn’t necessarily know that much. I had some hunches and some suspicions. I came upon a major discovery in 2018 that changed everything and allowed me to finish the film.
GC: Talk about some of the people you did meet in Vietnam who you would like to talk about that won’t reveal too much about the film. There are some fascinating twists and turns.
PM: One of the things I found out about my brother is that he loved living there. Maybe I would love it too and it was very kind of heartwarming to me that that when I went for the first time. I went twice but when I went first time in 2016 I truly am almost immediately felt that love for the country and I found it very curious and hopeful and energetic and fun and really engaging. There’s a segment of the film where we see me going down this rabbit hole – little streets – to try to find anything. I met so many people who said come with me in an effort to help me on my quest. There were a lot of false starts. I eventually met a couple of Vietnamese women who are a combination of super strong women, who’ve been through a lot, very empathetic, very earthy and very intelligent. Many of the people I was coming across were people who lived in great poverty and without formal educations so I was really impressed by the level in which we communicated about deeply emotional things, about the level of emotional intelligence. Some of these people have been through unspeakable trauma of losing family members, losing children, losing their property, losing everything. Essentially the same between the late 60s until the early 90s was really just hell in Vietnam and I think people lived through so much and the people that survived and are still around today to talk about it have this real resilience that I admire. It’s remarkable that the Vietnamese are so resilient and so willing to forgive. You know most Americans who lived through the Vietnam war zone are traumatized by what happened so it’s just hard to fathom how these folks felt.
GC: Did you come to an understanding as to why Jimmy felt so safe going back to Vietnam?
PM: I think safety means different things to different people. I think he knew he was in danger physically because of the war but I think emotionally he felt kind of at home and comforted and protected by being in Vietnam. There’s a line in the film – it’s in one of his letters – where he writes: “I can’t stand the United States.” Jimmy was 24-years-old when he wrote this. Jimmy is going through a lot of angst. A lot of people were feeling at the time of the Vietnam war in the counterculture movement real frustration. I’m really fascinated by the fact that this is the 50- year anniversary my brother’s death. He died on June 6, 1972 exactly 50 years ago so it really gives us a moment to take a pause and look back and see what was happening 50 years ago and if I, a gay man, look back and see like what happened in the world over the last 50 years. Well, a lot of things didn’t happen until after Stonewall. The first pride marches kind of started around country in the 70s but it was the landmark American Psychiatric Association ruling that being LGBT was not a disease also in the 70s, so it was a really fertile time for a change. It was a time that I am I am deeply fascinated by.
GC: You’ve really been raking in the laurels at film festivals all around the world. What are some of the experiences where you were present and able to gauge the reaction of the audiences?
PM: Thank you. It’s been an incredible experience. Our world premiere was at the British Film Institute Flare Film Festival which started off as the London LGBTQ Film Festival. It was an absolutely rapturous experience, partially because I think that it was one of the first things to really come roaring out of the pandemic – not to say that we’re totally post-pandemic but in London in March we felt comfortable going out in public and feel comfortable going into theaters and so we had a screenings at the BFI Southbank space in London. I haven’t been to London in 14 years and I was blown away by the kindness and the warmth of the British audiences. People came up to me afterwards to talk about the film people lit up my Twitter account account and was added as part of their best so London was just an exceptional experience. From there we went to Miami and had a great time in Miami at the Outshine Film Festival estival there to the lovers phone customer which is apparently the oldest festival festival Europe and I was in Torino Italy for the week and we ended up winning the top award
GC: That’s really impressive! You have attended Frameline with two short film, but this is your first full-length film at the world’s biggest LGBT+ film festival. How excited were you to learn that “Jimmy in Saigon” would be screened there this year.
PM: I was over the moon! San Francisco is my home away from home. I currently live in LA but I lived in San Francisco twice. I lived there in the mid 90s. I worked at San Francisco Opera and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. I’m really fond of the city. I also came back briefly in the 2000s and lived in Berkeley which I also love so it’s really important for me to be able to showcase the film in the city where I have so many friends and I have so much love. The Castro Theatre just takes the cake for me. The film has been screened in a lot of 100-seat theaters around the world, which is great and I love them for that nice intimacy but this will be the first time in a huge theater. The Castro has 1400 seats, so it will be great to see how it looks in and sounds in the historic theatre.
GC: What’s the date and time of the of the screening?
PM: It’s on Sunday, June 19 at 1:15 p.m., which is Father’s Day and Juneteenth which is you know not really related to my film but it’s a day of celebration and healing and I hope people can come out to see a film that is also both a celebration and ultimately healing.
GC: Tell us about your family members’ reaction when you informed them of your decision to make the film and then what their reaction was when they first saw the film?
PM: The genre of documentaries that I made it’s called personal documentary it’s considered an unique art form because the filmmaker will put themselves in the phone because they know the audience wants to know the experience of what’s happening. 12 years ago, I went to my mom and I said I want to do this project, I want to use the letters you wrote and received. It’s an oral history of my family. I said I wanted to interview everybody whoever knew my brother and my mom was on board with that. She gave me a lot of names of people. I bought a camera and sound equipment, using my last couple bucks. I started interviewing everybody that I could, including everybody in my family. My mom has been incredibly participatory in the film. I interviewed her many times. She doesn’t want to see the film. She made a security line in the sand. Jimmy was her first child and she is still really broken up about the fact that he died at age 24, so she can’t bring herself to see it. She sort of apologized to me profusely for that. I don’t want it to reflect on her love for me or my film and I totally get it. I totally appreciate it. One of my brothers is hesitant to see it, but he might come around. My other brother, John, is actively involved in the film as the film’s composer. He wrote the soundtrack to the film. We worked on it every day for a year, so he’s seen it many times. My sister and I attended the Sonoma International Film Festival where “Jimmy in Saigon” was screened. My other sister who’s seen an early version of it but hasn’t seen the finished film yet. My family is super supportive and happy about it. There’s a little bit of the film about some of their initial resistance and when I revealed that it wasn’t just a history project but rather a work of art that I would like to share with the public. That took a little bit of adjusting to realize that your family stories would be out there and Jimmy’s story would be really, really out there.
GC: What are you hoping audiences take away from “Jimmy in Saigon?”
PM: I would say that I created this first and foremost as a cinematic therapeutic device for my family. People asked me did I get the closure or the healing that I hoped for and I say I don’t really believe in closure. I mean, no death is something that’s come to some sort of acceptance but it’s really hard to come to closure. I will say that I do think that our family has whether it’s related to the summer not I think our film families come closer together. A lot of audience members are really touched because they had a type of trauma in their family. I recently met some people that were in tears when I just told him about the story of the film and they said my uncle or my nephew sexuality or drug abuse or you know you’re right all these things that are really sad and deep and close to our hearts and most families haven’t I think people are really reacting to that. I even know a couple of men who had lovers in other countries where they had done it had difficulty with him being able to legally continue the relationship and they had tears in their eyes as well so I think it affects a lot of different people and I’m really pleased with
GC: In your documentary you touch on a good number of universal themes that many people can relate to. Most everyone’s lost a family member, many people have family members or close friends who had to fight wars. Obviously, this is a well thought out documentary, but were all these themes you set out in the beginning to explore or did you find yourself going down roads while making the film that you didn’t see that you would be going down?
PM: Yes, I did. I think mostly the roads that I didn’t see it going down were there the roads of contextualization meaning like I thought I was just going to tell Jimmy’s story from beginning to end or my story and making the phone but we realize we were putting it together that we needed to contextualize the story because I’m 54 and a lot of people in their 20s 30s maybe 40s and some teenagers they don’t really I know what the Vietnam War was like what the political climate was like in the 60s and 70s they may not have known how it was for gay people and even in the 80s which I talk about my coming out so you know a lot of them are sort of contextualization and laying out of history not only you know you are some world history but also my family and my purse Understand it and that was that was not something I anticipated but I think it’s something that works well.
GC: What future film festivals will include “Jimmy in Saigon?”
PM: We just announced three more film festivals in kind of smaller but important cites were going to be in Bentonville Arkansas which is a film festival that’s run by Gina Davis and Sandra Bullock so that’s exciting in the sort of new arts hub in Arkansas. We’re going to be in Des Moines Iowa on June 24 and then will be in Nyack New York, which is just outside of New York City, on August 15. There’s a bunch more screenings in the US and abroad on our website: saigon.com. There’s a place for people to sign up for emails so that they can learn about upcoming screenings and any word on a distribution. We’d love to get it out as a theatrical release so that it could be in some art houses around the country. We’d love to get it on PBS in this country as well as educational TV in other countries and I know eventually it will be available for streaming. That doesn’t usually come at the beginning of a film’s lifecycle. Frameline is offering a limited number of tickets for a limited number of days to see it on their streaming format.
GC: I know you’re in the midst of promoting “Jimmy in Saigon,” but have you started to think about what your next project will be?
PM: I’m not ready to rush back into another film project. I’m kind of like a parent that is just getting settled into parenthood. I do love documentaries and I love music and I’d love to make a music documentary, maybe multiple music documentaries. It was brought to my attention that “Jimmy in Saigon” is 70% music and I thought that was very touching as my brother Jimmy loved music. There’s a band that I love that I would love to make a documentary called The Roches. Love to throw my hat in the ring to make that documentary.
GC: I love the Roaches! Such a great band. I’ll be looking for that, fo sure. Thank you so much for joining us tonight Peter and best of luck with “Jimmy and Saigon” and all your future projects. Please come back when the next film is released.
PM: Thank you, Gary, I really enjoyed talking to you.