Seattle Gay News
Issue 40, Volume 43, October 2, 2015
Arts & Entertainment SLGFF OPENING NIGHT FILM: Seattle Women’s Chorus presents
An interview with Freeheld co-star Ellen Page
Ellen Page stars as ‘Stacie Andree’ in Freeheld – Photo by Phil Caruso
by Gary M. Kramer SGN Contributing Writer Freeheld opens the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival on Thursday, October 8, 7:15 p.m. at the SIFF Egyptian Theatre; general release October 9.
The affecting drama Freeheld is based on the true story (and Oscar-winning short documentary), about Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), a dedicated detective in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, who must fight for justice when her legal domestic partner,
“Hallows in the Cathedral: Spirits Rising”
with Guest Star Rebekah Del Rio (10/23 & 24 ONLY)
Guest Star Rebeka Del Rio will be performing with Seattle Women’s Chorus Oct. 23-24 ONLY – firstenttheshow.com
SEATTLE WOMEN’S CHORUS “HALLOWS IN THE CATHEDRAL: SPIRIT RISING” ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL October 23 & 24, October 30 & 31
see ellen page page 9
Seattle Women’s Chorus returns to Saint Mark’s Cathedral this October for their annual All Hallows Eve concerts. This is Seattle Women’s Chorus’ fourth consecutive year performing inside the historic Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle’s Capitol see “spirits rising” page 6
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Pacific Northwest Ballet: “See the Music” Film Festival celebrates
20th Anniversary Oct. 8-18 by Jason Plourde Executive Director Three Dollar Bill Cinema Special to the SGN
Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody), which PNB is presenting as part of its season-opener, SEE THE MUSIC, September 25 – October 4, 2015. Photo © Angela Sterling.
by Sharon Cumberland SGN A&E Writer PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET “SEE THE MUSIC” MCCAW HALL Through October 4 Pacific Northwest Ballet’s season is off to a tremendous start with three wonder-
ful dances performed to the kind of music you want to hear, by a company that can do anything – as these very diverse ballets illustrate. Artistic Director Peter Boal and his PNB teams have created a deeply satisfying evening of broad visual, musical, and emotional range. If “See the Music” were a single work in three acts, it could not be a more complex, moving, funny, and yet harsee “see the music” page 8
It was October 1996. Movie audiences were enjoying Bette Midler in THE FIRST WIVES CLUB and Whoopi Goldberg in THE ASSOCIATE in theaters. DVD was fighting off VHS for home viewing superiority, where families were watching rentals of Tom Cruise’s first MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE or possibly Wes Anderson’s BOTTLE ROCKET. And in Seattle, at the Harvard Exit, the very first Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival was held over five days, kicking off with BEAUTIFUL THING, Hettie Macdonald’s story of young Gay love, and followed by EVERYTHING RELATIVE, described as “the Lesbian BIG CHILL.” The festival, which first launched with a sold out presentation of short films and a flyer that said “Queer as a Three Dollar Bill Cinema,” aspired to bring the worldwide boom in Queer filmmaking to Seattle’s LGBT community and help the community see itself on screen. The city was immediately supportive: In his welcome letter, festival founder Skylar Fein thanked a long list of local people and companies who made it all possible, many of whom remain allies today. Since 1996, the list of the incredible,
groundbreaking, funny, heartbreaking, and crucial works of LGBT cinema that have been screened at the festival is just too long to name, but some highlights include the sold out premiere of the Northwest-set BIG EDEN in 2000; the archival screening of Dorothy Arzner’s WORKING GIRLS in 2003; the 2002 U.S. Premiere of TIPPING THE VELVET, with Sarah Waters in attendance; and 2013’s Opening Night Gala for I AM DIVINE. And the purpose of the festival, now presented by the prolific year-round organization, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, remains the same: to showcase extraordinary and award-winning work relevant to the LGBT community, and to encourage members of this community from around the world to express their creativity and tell their stories through film and video. The 20th anniversary of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival will take place October 8-18, 2015 with a lineup as impressive as ever, including a glitzy opening night gala, starstudded centerpiece presentations, and a closing night party that’s the must-attend event of the season. The full program and ticketing options are available online at threedollarbillcinema.org. Get ready to #QueerItUp for this spectacular 20th birthday!