Petronius Needs A Few Good Men & Women
Its that time again. The beads have
been packed away, the cups added
to the cupboard, the drag stashed.
This year's Mardi Gras fast becomes memory; time to plan for next year. And the carnival krewes are at it already.
The Krewe of Petronius, the oldest gay Mardi Gras krewe, which skipped this year's 36th bal masque (chalk it up to a mendacious city administration which promised the auditorium but again delivered the less desireable and more expensive Theatre of the Performing Arts literally at the last minute), is now deep in preparations for the 37th whichWILL be in the auditorium, along with the returning Rex and Comus.
The krewe is rarin' to go and is looking for new members to help it mount its 37th Bal Masque next February 15, 1998. If you are interested in joining the grand dame of gay krewes, call Captain Mickey Gil, 504.525.4498. Both men and women are welcome. If you live outside the city, fear not, you can still participate as an associate.
9th Gulf Coast Womyn's Festival
The 9th Gulf Coast Womyn's
Festival will be held at Camp
Sister Spirit in Ovett, MS Mar. 27 -30.
Located in the southeast Mississippi Pine Belt, Camp Sister Spirit is a sanctuary carved out of dense woodlands and creek bottoms. Spring weather may vary, but mild temperatures and green growing all around ensures a comfortable time of year for camping.
The festival creates a community-living setting with many advantages (such as sharing the workload and varied skills) and many responsibilities (such as not insulting or degrading one another by using women-hating words).
For the four days of the festival a safe environment is created to honor, respect and celebrate every womyn's experience.
Accommodations include private hot showers and flush toilets plus two cottages (3 bunkbeds each) for womyn with disabilities and old womyn, shaded campsites for tents and self-contained RV's (water hookups available), and a screened bunkhouse for wimmin without access to camping equipment. Also, two hot meals a day will be provided featuring regional meat and vegetarian delights, ice, grilled foods and snacks for sale at Concessions and covered spaces for all concerts, workshops, dining & dancing. All facilities are wheelchair accessible, including the shower house.
In addition to the Feminist Nightstage which will feature Alix Dobkin, Sandy Rapp, Dorothy Hirsch, Mary Waitrovich, Dana Beilke, Lynn Thomas, Dr. Bon Morris, and TLC there will be a craft womyn's market, literature tables, an auction, a 1,600 title feminist library, nature hikes, bonfires/singalongs, 12 step/sober support meetings, Womyn of Color Networking Workshop, Old Womyn Space, Friday night: 50's, 60's, 70's "Come As You Were" dance and Saturday night: dress up dinner. A Mardi Gras parade will open the Nightstage.
For information please call or fax: 601.344.1411 or E-mail: sisterspir@aol.com
Benefit for NO
Women's Rugby Club
Sonia Rutstein of disappear fear
will be performing a benefit con
cert for the New Orleans Women's Rugby Club, The Half Moons.
The benefit will begin at 8 pm at Margaritaville Cafe, 1104 Decatur St., Feb. 21. The opening act will be New Orleans' own Robyn E.
The benefit concert will include a silent auction and a suggested $10. donation will be accepted at the door.
The concert will raise money for the Half Moons who represent Louisiana in rugby tournaments across the US and in international competition.
Disappear fear and their new album, "Seed in the Sahara," have received outstanding reviews and Rutstein's vocalizing is golden as she explores a variety of issues through her music, ranging from social injustice to personal relationships, as well as her own experiences being an openly gay Jewish woman. Please come help support women's athletics. It will be a great party!
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
Gears Up
For 11th Annual Celebration,
March 20-23, 1997
Moving into its second
decade, the Tennessee
Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival has a roster of events planned for its "Weekend Named Desire" that rivals last year's landmark tenth anniversary celebration. Scheduled for March 20-23, the 1 lth annual fete is luring such internationally known figures as Alec Baldwin, Dick Cavett, his wife, actress Carrie Nye, and noted author Calvin Trillin to join the dozens of other participants who will pay homage to America's most illustrious playwright, Tennessee Williams, in the city he called his "spiritual home."
Festival board president Peggy Scott Laborde and Patricia Brady, vice president for programming, in conjunction with the rest of the Festival board of directors, have planned a four-day slate of activities which includes over two dozen literary panel discussions, 10 theatrical events, seven Master Classes, a jazz/poetry "happening," film screenings, and the second annual Tennessee Williams Scholars' Conference. Other special Festival highlights are the ever-popular literary walking tours, a book fair, and the Festival finale - the Stell-off - a Stella and Stanley shouting contest, with prizes awarded to the best interpretation of the combative mates from the Tennessee Williams classic, A Streetcar Named Desire.
Most of the events will take place at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, 616 St. Peter St., which will serve as Festival headquarters. Other neighboring French Quarter venues, including the Cabildo, the Historic New Orleans Collection, Maxwell's Toulouse Cabaret, O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Pub, and the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, will also house events.
In the myriad panel discussions, Williams cronies reminisce about working with the noted playwright; historian John Magill comments on the literary and artistic milieu of the French Quarter in the 1930s; authors discuss the role literary journals have played in launching many writers' careers; the literary portrayal of race is pondered; writers speak on crafting a short story; others discuss the role of essays in contemporary writing; publishing professionals talk about the process of getting a book into print; and Dakin Williams recites his brother Tennessee's poetry.
Ten theatrical productions coordinated by Festival board member Elizabeth Barron include Three Mortal Ladies Possessed, a new theatrical production of stories by Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Eudora Welty; two Williams one-acts, The Two Character Play and The Purification; Mr. Williams and Miss Wood, a one-act about the relationship between the playwright and his agent Audrey Wood; Scenes from Tennessee with excerpts from The Glass Menagerie, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Night of the Iguana; Submerged, a play about six men trapped in a submarine, written by another famous New Orleanian, Clay Shaw; improvisation theater from Festival favorites, The Free Associates; presentations of the One-Act Play Competition winners; and more.
Master Classes will be conducted by noted author- Susan Wittig Albert, Gloria Wade-Gayles, Kaye Gibbons, Calvin Trillin, Leon Forrest, editor Wendy Wolf of Viking Penguin, and literary agent Jonathan Dolger.
Special events planned are "An Evening with Alec Baldwin" - an informal interview with the acclaimed stage and screen star conducted by local film critic Rick Barton; a reading by Baldwin of selected works by Tennessee Williams; "Remembering Tennessee," a conversation with raconteurs and Williams friends and colleagues Dick Cavett and Donald Windham, concluding with a performance by actress Carrie Nye of a scene from one of Williams' plays; and Storyville: The Naked Dance, the premiere screening of the PBS documentary about America's only legalized Red Light District, which flourished in New Orleans at the turn of the century.
A Literary Panel Pass at $35 admits one to all discussions over the weekend; a one-day pass for $15 is also available. High school and college students and teachers are eligible to receive a discounted weekend pass at $25. The fee for a 90-minute Master Classes is $25. Tickets to theatre events range in price from $10 - $15. "An Evening with Alec Baldwin" is $20.
For information about tickets and help with travel plans, including special package rates, call DMI Travel at 504.524.1172 or 800.326.0511. For schedule information, call 504.581.1144, or visit our web site http://www.gnofn.org/-twfest.
Major funding for the Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival is provided by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding is provided by a grant from the Louisiana State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts and by an Arts Council of New Orleans Community Arts Grant. Major corporate and foundation sponsors include Entergy Corporation, Shell Oil Company Foundation, Zemurray Foundation, The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation; and the First National Bank of Commerce. Program support is also provided by Southeastern Louisiana University, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University, and the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Program.
"An Evening with Alec Baldwin" is sponsored by Arthur 0. Davis.
