‘Lasting Appeal…Zany…A Sly Message’This Little Shop Has It All!Don’t believe us?Read why the show has devoured the hearts of theater-goers (and critics) for over 40 years!
“Based on a 1960s cult B movie, this campy dark comedy skirts the edges of satire, horror and science fiction… with a terrific rock score and a clever, tightly-written book.”—Revue
“A zany, oddball nature…a bizzarro, delightfully good time…Little Shop weaves in everything from a sadistic motorcycle dentist to a soulful Motown trio to a truly masterful bit of puppetry.“—BroadwayWorld
“This musical has its own sly message for an era in which celebrity is regarded as a constitutional right: Embrace fame at your peril. It’s a killer.“—New York Times
Little Shop of HorrorsA Deviously Delicious Sci-fi Cult Musical! Follow a geeky flower shop assistant who’s secretly harboring a man-eating plant. His conundrum grows out of control to the nostalgia of ’60s rock, doo-wop and Motown sounds. JAN 26 – FEB 19, 2023music by Alan Menkenlyrics and book by Howard Ashmandirected by Aja Gianola-Norrismusic direction by Lucas Shermanchoreography by Serena Elize FLores
Weekly PROJAM Concert with Blues Defenders, Special Guests, swing dancing.
Come dance to the strong blues grooves every Monday with hosts the Blues Defenders
BLUE MONDAYS the doors open at 5:00pm Show starts at 6:00pm
Jan 9: Leah Tysse
A San Francisco-based singer with considerable experience in blues, gospel, jazz, and and soul music. She has recorded with and / or shared stages with Taj Mahal, Michael Front, Patty Austin, Katherine McPhee, Latoya London, The Sounds of Blackness, Ashford and Simpson, Dwayne Wiggins, Tommy astro, and many more.
” DO NOT miss this girl when her bus rolls into town” – Billboard.
With the regular swing dancing, good times and Blues Defenders ProJam.
Join Cheryl King and a great group of performers presenting comedy, dance, songs, burlesque, sketches and more. Starring Malia Abayon, Spencer Blank, Martin Gilbertson, Jamin Jollo, Brandy Noveh and Velvet Thorn.
AND BRING IN YOUR ORIGINAL DIRTY LIMERICK FOR OUR CONTEST
Print out or handwrite your limerick and turn it in at the box office when you arrive for the show. Our judges will pick the top three, and the audience will choose (with applause) the best one! That winner will receive a pair of tickets to a future Forbidden Kiss performance!
This year brought a fascinating and eclectic number of books by Latino authors to store shelves and online selections, spanning different genres and earning high praise from readers and reviewers alike.
Below is our list of 10 very distinctive works by U.S. Latino authors.
‘Trust’ by Hernan Diaz
The award-winning Peruvian American writer organizes this novel about the life of powerful financier Andrew Bevel and his wife, Mildred, into four sections, each forcing the reader to question what’s true and who really holds the power as it examines the ruthless pursuit of wealth. The novel, which is being developed as an HBO limited series, is a fictional dive into the world of finance, the 1920s and the ensuing Great Depression.
The compelling novel has been recognized as one of the top 10 books of 2022 by The New York Times and The Washington Post and as one of the best books of 2022 by Time, NPR, Vogue, Oprah Daily and others.
‘High-Risk Homosexual: A Memoir’ by Edgar Gomez
Labeled as a “high-risk homosexual” after a doctor’s office visit, Edgar Gomez describes his experience growing up as a gay Latinx man and the issues around Latinidad and machismo in this highly praised debut memoir.
Through his humorous and touching storytelling, he invites readers into different aspects of his world — from his uncle’s cockfighting ring in Nicaragua to the queer spaces where he learned to love being a gay Latinx man.
‘Olga Dies Dreaming’ by Xochitl Gonzalez
In this novel about an Ivy League-educated high-end wedding planner — whose parents were Puerto Rican activists — the author deftly depicts a woman trying to balance the different worlds within New York, as well as family, work, romance and, more importantly, herself.
“The author paints a vivid and lively story throughout, highlighting various family dynamics, politics, history, queerness, inter-generational trauma, love, and more,” said Karen Ugarte, the manager at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore in Los Angeles. “It has a little bit of everything!”
‘A Ballad of Love and Glory’ by Reyna Grande
Inspired by true events and historical figures in the Mexican American War, Grande’s novel follows the story of Ximena Salomé, a Mexican healer whose hopes of building a family come crashing down after the Texas Rangers kill her husband. After she joins the Mexican army to honor her late husband’s memory, she meets an Irish immigrant who eventually joins the Mexican army — and they fight for a future together.
Grande is the award-winning author of the acclaimed novel “The Distance Between Us,” as well as “Across a Hundred Mountains” and “Dancing with Butterflies.”
‘Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality’ by Tanya Katerí Hernández
“Because it’s so entrenched to deny that we have these problems with racism,” she said in a recent interview, Afro Latina legal scholar and professor Tanya K. Hernández’s book uses legal cases and accounts to show how Latinos have discriminated against Black Latinos and other people of color in different areas — from housing to employment to education.
Her book emphasizes the importance of recognizing the prevalence of Latino racism and its impact on everyday life as the Hispanic population grows, as well as its corrosive, real-world impact on Black Latinos’ and others’ livelihoods, economic opportunities and well-being.
‘The Hurting Kind’ by Ada Limón
In “The Hurting Kind,” Limón, who this year became the first female U.S. poet laureate of Latino and Mexican American heritage, weaves indelible snapshots of experiences and people — both living and dead — with unforgettable images of the flowers, trees and animals around her or lovingly dredged from her memories.
“We’re still in the middle of a pandemic — bouncing from trauma to trauma,” Limón said in an earlier interview. “It’s been such a tormented time.” Poetry, she said, is a way to connect to feelings, emotions and even stillness.
‘The Prophet of the Andes: An Unlikely Journey to the Promised Land’ by Graciela Mochkofsky
Journalist and author Graciela Mochkofsky, the dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, spent years researching the incredible story of Segundo Villanueva, a Peruvian self-taught biblical scholar who converted to Judaism and led a group of followers first to the jungle and later to Israel. Although Villanueva’s life took a different turn, many of his followers and their children, known as “Inca Jews,” are still in Israel.
Mochkofsky, who is from Argentina, said in a discussion of her book that Villanueva was “a pioneer” of a movement that is spreading in Latin America — dozens of communities across several countries that have mainly eschewed Catholicism, turned to evangelicalism and then turned to Judaism.
‘A Kiss across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and US Latinidad’ by Richard T. Rodríguez
Why would Mexican and Chicano youths like British post-punk music? “The answer is ‘why not?'” University of California, Riverside, professor Richard T. Rodríguez says about his book.
“’A Kiss across the Ocean’ is more than an academic read!” said Sarah Rafael García, an author and the founder of LibroMobile in Santa Ana, California. “It intersects the personal with post-punk music and icons, creating an era for those of us in U.S. Latinx communities who felt left out of mainstream culture and genders in the ’80s, early ’90s and even to this day.”
‘Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir’ by Erika L. Sánchez
Published before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist Erika L. Sánchez’s memoir is an account of her life growing up in a working-class Mexican immigrant household in Chicago, exploring her sexuality, religion and feminism and grappling with racism and colorism. She writes about how an abortion saved her life and candidly details her experiences dealing with suicidal thoughts and depression.
Sánchez, who is also the author of “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” a 2017 hit that is being adapted into a Netflix film directed by actor American Ferrera, spotlights the issue of mental illness by describing her experience with electroconvulsive therapy and her time in a psychiatric ward. “It’s an illness that really takes over your entire life, and you need a medical specialist to determine what it is that you are suffering from and to get the right kind of treatment,” Sánchez told MSNBC host Alicia Menendez on her show, “American Voices,” in July.
‘Solito’ by Javier Zamora
In his captivating memoir, poet Javier Zamora relates his migration journey from El Salvador to the U.S. as a young boy. Writing from his perspective at 9, he talks about traveling thousands of miles alone to Arizona to reconnect with his parents, who fled El Salvador years before after the country’s civil war.
Zamora recalls his experiences with the help of strangers along the way, including learning to raise himself and facing challenges from Border Patrol agents. “Solito” has been recognized as a New York Times Bestseller and as one of the 10 best books of the year by the New York Public Library and as one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Washington Post and Kirkus Reviews, among other publications.
Acoustic Jazz: Saturday January 21 at 7 pm. Rhythm Future Quartet at Occidental Center for the Arts. This virtuosic foursome, named for a Django Reinhardt tune, offers up a newly minted sound, influenced by the classic Hot Club of France, yet wholly contemporary. Founded by violinist Jason Anick, the quartet performs dynamic and lyrical arrangements of both Gypsy jazz standards and original compositions that draw upon diverse international rhythms and musical idioms. With Max O’Rourke, Henry Acker, and Greg Loughman rounding out the quartet, Rhythm Future is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of a vital musical genre. Don’t miss the return of this exciting acoustic jazz quartet to our stage! Tickets are $30 GA, $25 for OCA members at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Fine refreshments available, art gallery open. Following current Sonoma County Public Health guidelines for indoor masking. Wheelchair accessible.OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center staffed by volunteers. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. 707-874-9392.
Sunday January 15 @ 3 pm. Words + Music 2023 with Laurie Lewis, Don Henry, Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan at Occidental Center for the Arts. You could call Words + Music a song circle, but with four of folk music’s most distinctive musicians rounding it out, it’s much more than that. When Laurie Lewis, Don Henry and Claudia Russell take the stage, they elevate the experience, singing harmony and accompanying each other instrumentally, while Bruce Kaplan provides the icing on the cake with tasteful guitar and mandolin. Magically, they are transformed into a pop-up band! Tickets to this performance are $35 GA, $30 for OCA members at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. Fine refreshments available, art gallery open. Limited capacity indoor auditorium for audience safety. Following current Sonoma County Public Health guidelines for indoor masking. Wheelchair accessible. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. 707-874-9392.
Saturday January 21 at 7 pm. Rhythm Future Quartet at Occidental Center for the Arts. This virtuosic foursome, named for a Django Reinhardt tune, offers up a newly minted sound, influenced by the classic Hot Club of France, yet wholly contemporary. Founded by violinist Jason Anick, the quartet performs dynamic and lyrical arrangements of both Gypsy jazz standards and original compositions that draw upon diverse international rhythms and musical idioms. With Max O’Rourke, Henry Acker, and Greg Loughman rounding out the quartet, Rhythm Future is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of a vital musical genre. Don’t miss the return of this exciting acoustic jazz quartet to our stage! Tickets are $30 GA, $25 for OCA members at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Fine refreshments available, art gallery open. Following current Sonoma County Public Health guidelines for indoor masking. Wheelchair accessible. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. 707-874-9392.
Saturday December 17 at 7 pm. Barbara Higbie & FriendsWinter Solstice Celebration at Occidental Center for the Arts. Grammy nominated, Bammy award winning pianist, singer-songwriter and fiddler Barbara Higbie was the first woman to be signed to Windham Hill Records, known for its many platinum selling Winter Solstice albums. Barbara and friends celebrate this year’s Winter Solstice, along with the release of her new album, with a high energy mix of seasonal and original music; also featuring Jami Sieber, Vicki Randle, Michaelle Goerlitz and Dewayne Pate. Join us for this special performance of amazing Windham Hill musicians in Occidental! Tickets are $35 General, $30 for OCA Members @ www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org; or at the door. OCA is wheelchair accessible. Fine refreshments for sale, Art Gallery open during intermission. Following current public health guidelines for optional indoor masking. Become an OCA Member and get discounted admission to all events. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center staffed by volunteers.
Even if you didn’t know the full title of the bestselling memoir by entertainment journalist Michael Ausiello that this film is based on—Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies—within the opening moments you’ll find out where it’s eventually headed. We see a heathy looking, but distraught Michael (Jim Parsons) in a hospital bed lovingly facing an ailing Kit (Ben Aldridge) with Michael’s voice-over telling us, “this isn’t how our story was supposed to end”. He then takes us back through their lives together, from the moment he first caught sight of the “sweatband-wearing matinee idol” on jock night at a New York gay club he was dragged to by his colleague Nick (an appealingly effervescent Jeffery Self), through the highs and lows of their relationship, right up until this tragic point. No spoiler alert required: you’ll need to keep the Kleenex handy.
When Michael takes us back to the start, he’s working as a staff writer for TV Guide, pitching stories about Gilmore Girls to his editor who is more interested in him covering the reality show Fear Factor. Both of which are airing at the time, given that this is the early 2000s, with Felicitybeing Michael’s favourite contemporary series. His passion for and deep knowledge of television informs how he views the world and his relationship with Kit, which is nicely woven into the fabric of the film by director Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Big Sick). In a bold stylistic choice, the flashbacks to Michael’s childhood are in the form of an imagined family sitcom, The Ausiellos. Complete with canned laughter and intentionally treacly incongruous music, the sequences both playfully and poignantly take us through a youth spent watching soaps with his mom and being bullied at school for being an overweight gay kid with a dead dad, with actor Brody Caines capturing the sweetness and insecurities of the young Michael.
As our leading men have their nightclub meet-cute, Michael immediately makes a connection to a TV show—the 80s hit with a killer theme tune, Knight Rider—in which David Hasselhoff’s character, Michael, had a talking car named Kit. Meanwhile, photographer Kit who doesn’t even own a TV and has never heard of the show, kindly humours Michael that the coincidence must mean that their meeting is kismet. Kit’s rather full-on and tipsy bff Nina (a fun Nikki M. James making the most of every second she’s on screen) is on hand to inform Michael that he’s just Kit’s type: “a tall dweeb”. While Kit—”the hero” of the book’s title—is the epitome of cool in Michael’s eyes, not to mention dashingly handsome. There’s instant chemistry there and I was quickly rooting for them get together and for their relationship to work. Early on at least, there’s a similar dynamic to the central relationship in Bros, with Michael feeling a little inadequate next to the attractive and assured Kit, who has until now been happily playing the field and never committed to having a boyfriend. As Michael puts it—in TV terms of course—he’s a “network soap” entering Kit’s sophisticated world that’s more “premium cable”.
Sprinkled with the kind of quirky details that tend to only come from a story based on real life, Spoiler Alert captures all the excitement and uncertainty of getting to know someone and falling in love; the significance attached to creating some closet space for their things, who says I love you first, and the anxiety over whether our secret obsessions once revealed might be a deal-breaker. David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage’s well-crafted screenplay requires a skillful blend of comic timing and emotional depth from its leads, and crucially Parsons and Aldridge both deliver excellent performances that are precise yet feel effortless and natural and invite us in. Parsons brings a sharp wit combined with an adorable vulnerability to the tightly-wound Michael, who has some self-esteem issues as a self-described “FFK” (former fat kid) and doesn’t quite realize he’s a catch too. Aldridge (who appeared in the first season of Fleabag and stars as Thomas Wayne in Pennyworth) might be a dreamboat with a smile that has Julia Roberts levels of disarming charm but, like his character, he never rests on his looks, grounding Kit in a sense that he hasn’t quite got life figured out yet despite his alluring confidence and charisma. Although this story is told from Michael’s perspective looking back on his lost love, he doesn’t canonize Kit, or ignore the issues in the relationship.
While Michael and his mother simultaneously realized that he was gay as a pre-teen watching Days of Our Lives together, Kit’s queer awakening and self-acceptance came more recently, and when we first meet him he hasn’t yet come out to his parents, Marilyn (Sally Field) and Bob (Bill Irwin). Cue a deliciously awkward sequence when they unexpectedly come to stay at Kit’s apartment. Although Michael has throughly “de-gayed” Kit’s room by the time they arrive—with the help of Kit’s “monosyllabic” queer roommate Kirby (a hilariously deadpan Sadie Scott)—removing any telltale clothes, books, DVDs, and photographs, the one thing that remains is the rainbow flag of giveaways, Michael himself. Field and Irwin make for an endearing double act, with the rhythms of people who’ve spent a lifetime in each other’s company, bringing levity and an affecting warmth to this loving couple who quickly embrace Michael as part of the family.
When it comes to Kit’s inevitable illness, the scenes of medial appointments, treatment, and agonizing pain are just raw enough to make things feel authentic, without becoming too distressing for the audience. It’s easy enough to imagine what we don’t see or hear, like the effective scene of Kit telling his parents about his diagnosis, which we observe out of earshot through a closed window from outside the house.
With the help of Peter Teschner’s tight editing, Showalter keeps things pacey and continually engaging. Knowing how it’s all going to end, particularly given that this is based on a real relationship, gives even the most buoyant and romantic scenes an edge and encourages us to pay close attention, conscious that all of their time together is precious. The desire to capture a fleeting moment is represented in the photographs that the men take of each other, including their annual self-timed portrait next to their Christmas tree. Along with soap operas, one of Michael’s lifelong obsessions is the festive season and as he reflects back on his life with Kit he measures their years together in Christmas trees. It’s an element that makes this romantic gay weepie a welcome addition to the growing number of LGBTQ+ Christmas movies. Well, if Gremlins and Die Hard count as Christmas flicks, this one definitely does.
Along with Kylie, Robyn, and Drag Race, there’s added queer culture in the form of Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski as Kit’s coworker Sebastian, who Michael jealously refers to as Tom Daley’s doppelgänger. In a nice visual flourish at one point, we see a ripped Porowski through Michael’s eyes in a Speedo ready to take a dive at the Olympics. Although Michael has his suspicions that something is going on between the men, he stews in his concerns rather than directly addressing it with Kit, villainizing him in the TV show playing out in his head. As the years go by, the film tracks the decline in open communication between the two, leading to a simple but powerfully moving scene as the end draws near with them discussing what lies ahead for both of them.
When we hear, or even speak the words “till death do us part” as a promise to another human, their overfamiliarity can rob them of some their meaning. Happily ever after only happens in fairy tales. In real life, if a relationship goes the distance, then sooner or later its eventual conclusion is inevitable. For obvious reasons, most of us don’t spend too much time dwelling on death, but when we’re forced to face it in our lives with the loss of a loved one, or vicariously through movies or television, it tends to remind us to appreciate and cherish those who we care about most. Spoiler Alert is heartbreaking but beautifully life-affirming, and made me hold me husband’s hand that bit tighter, and hug him that bit closer.
It’s time to kick-off the holiday season, and what better way than with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Annual Holiday Spectacular! Join the celebration Saturday, December 17th at the Green Music Center, Rohnert Park. A spectacular setting to ring in the season and to support the work of Face to Face. Enjoy holiday favorites, classic choral works, unexpected originals, and a holiday-themed Cher medley…yes, that Cher! Tickets are going fast so buy yours soon. We’ll see you there!