SGN December 23, 2016 - Section 2

Seattle Gay News

Issue 52, Volume 44, December 23, 2016

Arts & Entertainment

Portman’s brilliance Washington’s Fences makes Jackie a hypnotic adaptation an absolute marvel triumph

Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in Jackie – Photo courtesy of standard.co.uk

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer JACKIE Now playing There is something about director Pablo

Larraín (No) and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim’s (The Maze Runner) deeply fascinating character study Jackie that allows it to transcend melodramatic conventions and become something far more potent and enduring. The level of searing, unflinching see JACKIE page 7

Best theater of 2016

Rosemary (Sarah Rose Davis) and J. Pierrepont Finch (Eric Ankrim) in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at The 5th Avenue Theatre – Photo by Tracy Martin

by Miryam Gordon SGN A&E Writer It’s time for Crazy 2016 to be over….

That means it’s time for the annual attempt to bring to mind the best experiences of the

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in Fences – Photo courtesy of shadowandact.com

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer FENCES Now playing In 2010, Denzel Washington and Viola

see FENCES page 13

BEST OF MUSIC 2016: HOTTEST ARTISTS OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé – Photo courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment

year. As usual, there are so many aspects of good work to cover!

by Albert Rodriguez & Jessica Price SGN A&E Writers

Local Writing First up, I want to acknowledge the in-

There were artists who were hot in 2016 and some that were hotter. But these 10 were the hottest, in ranking order.

see BEST THEATER page 7

Davis headlined a Broadway revival of August Wilson’s 1985 Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play Fences. It garnered rave reviews, giant box office receipts and Tony Awards for Best Revival, Best Actor and Best Actress. Even so, the transition

1. Beyoncé Following a controversial but electrifying performance at the Super Bowl, Beyonce dropped her sixth studio album, Lemonade, universally proclaimed her best see HOTTEST ARTISTS page 3

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Pearl Jam selected for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer It’s official! Pearl Jam will be inducted into music’s most elite club, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Seattle band became eligible this year when its debut studio album Ten reached the 25-year anniversary mark since its release in 1991, though it had to complete a two-step voting process to get in. First, the group had to collect enough votes from a select committee to appear on the ballot, which included 18 other big names, such as Depeche Mode, Joan Baez, Janet Jackson and Chaka Khan. Then, an estimated 500 voters from around the world, comprised of academics, journalists, producers and others within the music industry, chose the artists from those appearing on the ballot who will eventually be inducted in April.

Pearl Jam, along with folk legend Baez, pop-rock band Journey, progressive rock act Yes, multi-instrumental outfit Electric Light Orchestra and the late rapper Tupac Shakur were picked for induction.

A statement on the group’s official Twitter and Instagram pages, shortly after the inductees announcement was made public on December 20, read “We are excited to announce Pearl Jam will be inducted into the @RockHall of Fame! #PearlJam #RockHall2017.” Soon thereafter, fans and fellow artists began posting congratulatory messages on their social media accounts, including two current championship sports

Pearl Jam – Photo courtesy of Epic Records

teams with connections to the band, MLS Cup winners Seattle Sounders and World Series titleholders the Chicago Cubs, as well as the Seattle Seahawks and funkR&B legend George Clinton.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 7, 2017 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It’s expected Pearl Jam will attend, and possibly perform on the program that will be taped and later televised on HBO; an announcement on who will formally induct the band with a speech will be made in the weeks to come.

In the years I’ve been covering music

for Seattle Gay News, which are many, Pearl Jam has always included our publication on its guest list to any of its local concerts. Earlier this year, the group canceled its appearance in Raleigh, North Carolina due to the controversial HB2 law with a powerful message written by frontman Eddie Vedder. Also in 2016, Pearl Jam donated $300,000 to the Flint, Michigan water crisis.

Pearl Jam is the fourth Seattle artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, behind Nirvana, Heart and Jimi Hendrix.

HOTTEST ARTISTS continued from cover

and boldest release yet. The Formation World Tour followed, in which Beyonce’s live performance and visuals once again revealed Queen Bey at the top of her game.

(J. Price) 2. David Bowie Blackstar was released on January 8, Bowie’s 69th birthday and as it turned out, just two days before his death. The album is a masterpiece and a moving, Bowie-esque parting gift to his fans; it also proved to be a triumphant final chapter to an extraordinary career. (J. Price) 3. Sia Sia’s Coachella performance went viral in April, hot on the heels of the single-laden This Is Acting album. The Nostalgia for the Present Tour kicked off in September, breaking the rules for arena-touring artists by delivering large-scale performance art to the masses. (J. Price) 4. Kanye West Despite his unpredictable antics, West continues to produce innovative material and distance himself from the pack as the unprecedented king of hip hop. The Life of Pablo was another great album from the superstar and though he cut his tour short due to a breakdown, it left a giant impression on those of us who got a chance to see him up close. (A. Rodriguez) 5. Adele The Adele Live 2016 Tour sold out instantly and will continue into 2017, concluding in July at Wembley Stadium in London (under the moniker Adele Live 2017, naturally). The tour supports her award-winning 25 album, yet another career high for the English star. (J. Price) 6. Rihanna 2016 got off to a shaky start for RiRi, after canceling her scheduled Grammy performance at the last minute, not to mention skipping the ceremony all together. But she rebounded just fine with one of the year’s top albums, Anti, and a pair of

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Sia – Photo courtesy of popmatters.com

enormous hit singles, “Work” and “Kiss It Better.” She also played a flawless concert at Key Arena, as part of her world tour, in April. (A. Rodriguez) 7. Cast of Hamilton Not often does a live theater cast become a national phenomenon, but the cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway production started the year on a high note by performing on the Grammy Awards telecast and accepting the award via satellite for Best Musical Show Album. A few months later, after appearing at The White House for a special presentation, the critically acclaimed production was honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and in June earned 11 trophies, including Best Musical, at the Tony Awards. And following the November elections, the Hamilton cast schooled Vice President-elect Mike Pence on a lesson about diversity, after he attended a performance of the show in New York. On and off stage, Hamilton got a whole new generation of people talking about theater. (A. Rodriguez) 8. Chance the Rapper Aside from releasing one of 2016’s best reviewed albums, The Coloring Book, the Windy City-born and bred rapper, whose father is a staff member of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, is credited for co-writing

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five tracks on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo. He appeared to a sold out crowd at WaMu Theater in October and ended the year with multiple Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. (A. Rodriguez) 9. The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, seemed to be everywhere in 2016.

From his very public relationship with supermodel Bella Hadid (the couple recently split due to career and scheduling conflicts) to his newest release Starboy, the man and his enviably cool hairstyle are here to stay.

(J. Price) 10. Radiohead It might seem as if Radiohead had a quiet year because they didn’t cause much noise. Though, in fact, the British band kept fans on the edge of their seats with anticipation over the release of its newest album, the highly praised A Moon Shaped Pool.

With headlining festival appearances and a limited number of sold out arena dates in North America, including back-to-back nights at Madison Square Garden, Thom Yorke and company actually created a lot of heavy buzz in 2016. Meanwhile, “Burn the Witch” was one of the most watched music videos on YouTube these past twelve months. (A. Rodriguez)

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BEST OF MUSIC 2016: SINGLES

by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer

Neighborhood Trilogy,” this emotional pop-EDM ballad deals with the after effects of rejection and homophobia. Its accompanying music video, while heartbreaking, is a must-see.

We listened to them over and over and over again. They were the songs that were so good, and in most cases better written, than anything else we heard in 2016. In ranking order, these are my choices for the best singles of the year.

7. “Starboy” – The Weeknd (featuring Daft Punk) I still have absolutely no idea what this song is about, but I can’t stop listening to it. The Weeknd’s newest single, from the album by the same title, features electronic wizardy from Daft Punk and an addictive, moody beat.

1. “Side to Side” – Ariana Grande (featuring Nicki Minaj) With help from dependable guest rapper Nicki Minaj, this light reggae-pop single by Ariana Grande was the perfect scorcher for a cold winter. Yes, it’s about sex (“ride dick bicycle,” um hello?), but it’s also about doing whatever the hell you wanna do and giving “zero fucks” what anyone else thinks.

8. “Better Man” – Little Big Town It should come as no surprise that this cool, mid-tempo country number about being dumped was written by the breakup queen herself, Taylor Swift. But who’s it about – Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston, or [insert name here]?

2. “Cheap Thrills” – Sia Written initially for Rihanna, the second single from Sia’s This Is Acting album features a Carribbean-tinged vibe and an ever-so-catchy chorus. A remix of the song includes added vocals by Sean Paul, but this version is fine on its own.

it’s a tribute to all the mamas out there.

3. “Woman’s World” – BJ the Chicago Kid This Grammy-nominated R&B song from the Chicago newcomer is an ode to women everywhere, but especially mothers raising baby boys into fine men. Sung gorgeously with an elegant string arrangement,

4. “Kiss It Better” – Rihanna “Work” was the biggest single from RiRi’s new album Anti, but this was a better one. The song’s tough lyrics – “Who cares when it feels like crack?/ Man, fuck your pride” – folded into a synth-heavy backdrop is a winning combination.

BJ the Chicago Kid – Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty

5. “Burn the Witch” – Radiohead One of Radiohead’s best singles was this leadoff hit from A Moon Shaped Pool that builds up to an intense, dramatic finish. The orchestral arrangement is just brilliant, as are Thom Yorke’s semi-cryptic vocals.

6. “Talk Me Down” – Troye Sivan The final chapter of Sivan’s “Blue

9. “Come Down” – Anderson .Paak Breakthrough artist Anderson .Paak turned heads, and ears, with this jumpy, funky single from his album Malibu. If this doesn’t get you dancing, check your pulse.

10. “This Girl” – Kungs vs Cookin’ on 3 Burners Originally released in 2009 by Australian trio Cookin’ on 3 Burners, this retro deep soul number with a toot-sweet horn section was given new life this year when it was remixed by French DJ Kungs.

BEST OF MUSIC 2016: ALBUMS

by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer 2016 was a banner year for outstanding albums with some standing out - way out, in fact - from the others. Listed in ranking order, these are my top ten picks for the best albums of the year.

1. Blackstar – David Bowie In any other year, Bowie’s prophetic final album would still be among the best.

Blackstar is one his finest works, a haunting and fascinating record that veers into jazz, experimental rock and sophisticated pop with poetic lyrics that just couldn’t be shaken off. It’s sad to listen to, though on the bright side he left us with this incredible gift that can be passed on to generations to come.

2. Anti – Rihanna Yes, I do think Anti is a better album than Lemonade. While she doesn’t take as many risks as Beyonce, the songs on Rihanna’s record don’t try so hard to be cutting edge and ultimately are more listenable. “Kiss It Better” and “Work” are two of the best songs to come out in 2016 all together.

Rihanna – Photo courtesy of billboard.com

3. The Life of Pablo – Kanye West You never know what West is going to do outside the recording studio, but inside he consistently churns out amazing work; case in point: The Life of Pablo.

It’s a crazy album because it’s all over the place, but songs like ‘Ultralight Beam,” “Famous,” “Fame” and “Low Lights” beg to be listened to repeatedly. He just seems to come up with really good material time and time again.

5. Coloring Book – Chance the Rapper Hip hop and Christianity are nearly oxymorons, yet Chance the Rapper somehow intertwined the two on a superb mixtape that got noticeable attention. It’s a smart, thought provoking record highlighted by the songs “Angels” (featuring Saba) and “All We Got,” a collaboration with Kanye West and the Chicago Children’s Choir.

4. 22, A Million – Bon Iver Anytime I listen to Bon Iver, it makes me want to retreat to the mountains, even though I dislike the outdoors. There’s something very organic and earthy about the band’s songs, including those on its much-anticipated new album 22, A Million, which didn’t disappoint.

6. Lemonade – Beyonce The fact Beyonce has evolved from an R&B superstar into an influential, innovative all-around artist gives her an A+ for both effort and execution. And while Lemonade isn’t the easiest of Bey albums to sit through, it’s evidence that she’s not only in formation, she’s in domination.

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7. Full Circle – Loretta Lynn If you think Loretta Lynn is ready to hang it up, think again. At 84, she’s still producing quality work, like this year’s Full Circle album featuring the leadoff single “Everything It Takes,” a duet with Elvis Costello. It’s a more rustic country record than 2004’s critically acclaimed Van Lear Rose, yet just as great overall.

8. Encore – DJ Snake He lurked in the background on two big dance singles last year, “Lean On” and “Turn Down for What,” but in 2016 DJ Snake released his debut studio effort, Encore, and it thrust him into the spotlight. Above all, the French DJ/producer makes Justin Bieber sound good, a challenging task in itself, on the track “Let

Me Love You.” 9. I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It – The 1975 Dreamy rock music that you can dance to. What’s not to love about “Somebody Else,” the whispery and electronic-laced top single from The 1975’s newest album?

It’s pure ear candy.

10. Stranger Things: Vols 1 and 2 – Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein The atmospheric, outerworldly music

by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein for the breakout Netflix series “Stranger Things” is as tantalizing as the show itself. It feels like you’re in an ’80s time capsule, and there’s nothing to complain about there.

Celebrating 41 Years!

BEST OF MUSIC 2016: LIVE PERFORMANCES

by Albert Rodriguez & Jessica Price SGN A&E Writers

very festive rendition of “Can’t Hold Us” featuring the Seattle Seahawks.

This was a year that saw many big acts come through Seattle and though most of the shows we went to in 2016 were great, a select number of them were beyond exceptional. These are the concerts that blew us away, in ranking order.

7. Rihanna – April 24, Key Arena The pop-R&B superstar redeemed herself from a mediocre performance in 2013 at Key Arena with a spectacular concert three years later at the same venue that showcased her sultry, confident style with some unexpected playfulness and frequent interaction with the audience. She nailed a beautiful version of “Diamonds” and walked on an elevated catwalk during “Woo.”

ALBERT RODRIGUEZ’s picks: 1. Billy Joel – May 20, Safeco Field The Piano Man thrilled a sold out Safeco Field in late May with a trunk load of hits from his vast catalog. “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “New York State of Mind,” “Allentown,” “Don’t Ask Me Why,” “Sometimes a Fantasy” and “Big Shot” are some of the 26 songs Joel delighted the audience with on a beautiful spring evening. Among the top highlights were his rendition of “The River of Dreams,” which included a snippet of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” a really lively performance of “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” which got everybody on their feet, and the closing number, “Only the Good Die Young,” that capped the night on a festive note.

8. The Killers – April 6, T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, NV) Back in April, The Killers christened the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a grand opening performance that featured special appearances by Wayne Newton and Blue Man Group. It was a hometown celebration for the rock band that only sporadically plays live these days and it included fan favorites, from “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside” to “When You Were Young” and a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

9. The Pretenders – December 11, Key Arena Fans who arrived early for the Stevie Nicks show were treated to an impressive opening set by The Pretenders, who lit up Key Arena with an hour-long performance that included the band’s top hits, such as “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Middle of the Road” and “Brass in Pocket.”

2. Paul McCartney – April 17, Key Arena At 74 years old, Sir Paul is still going strong, evidenced by his bravura performance in April here in the Emerald City that included hits from his solo career and with the Beatles and his days with Wings. Krist Novoselic of Nirvana made a special appearance during the show, which featured “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Band on the Run,” “Love Me Do,” “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday.” In total, 39 songs were played on this memorable evening.

3. Sting / Peter Gabriel – July 21, Key Arena Two legends, one stage. These rock icons drove us crazy, in a good way, at Key Arena when they performed together this summer. Taking turns playing solo

Billy Joel – Photo courtesy of Live Nation

4. Kanye West – October 19, Key Arena Seattle fans were fortunate to catch West in mid-October, as less than a month afterwards he canceled the remaining dates on his “Saint Pablo Tour” due to stress and exhaustion. And it was an incredible show-

last weekend at Key Arena, and she delivered on that statement. Aside from a few usual suspects – “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Gypsy” – Nicks included songs on her set list that she hadn’t played in decades, not to mention extended versions of “Gold Dust

10. Tame Impala – September 4, Memorial Stadium (Bumbershoot) Despite having to play outdoors and in an earlier than normal time slot, Australian alternative group Tame Impala played to perfection on their Bumbershoot debut.

Listening to “Let It Happen” live was alone worth getting to Memorial Stadium early for, but luckily the band performed more good stuff in a solid 75-minute set.

Paul McCartney at the Key Arena – Photo courtesy of northwestmusicscene.com

material, songs by their respected bands (The Police and Genesis) and collaborating on several numbers, Sting and Peter Gabriel drew loud cheers all night long from a filled-to-the-brim Key Arena.

Sting’s enthusiastic rendition of “Message in a Bottle” and smooth jazz delivery of “Englishman in New York” were absolute gems, while Gabriel gave us chills by performing such classics as “Solsbury Hill” and a riveting version of “Red Rain” with Eddie Vedder.

ing by the hip hop maverick, who stood atop a suspended platform the entire time that flowed from side to side of the venue like a magic carpet, all the while performing songs like “Jesus Walks,” “Ultralight Beam,” “Famous,” “Stronger” and a terrific run-through of “Heartless.”

5. Stevie Nicks – December 11, Key Arena The rock goddess promised a different kind of show at the start of her performance

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Woman” and “Edge of Seventeen.”

JESSICA PRICE’s picks:

6. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – September 3, Memorial Stadium (Bumbershoot) It was a dream concert for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and their fans when the duo played to a hometown crowd on the middle night of Bumbershoot. Thousands of people filed into Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center to hear live versions of “Same Love,” “Thrift Shop,” “Dance Off” and a

1. Beyonce – May 18, CenturyLinkField 2. Sia – September 29, Key Arena 3. Stevie Nicks – December 11, Key Arena 4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club & Death From Above 1979 – October 20, The Showbox SoDo 5. Tegan & Sara – October 4, Moore Theatre

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WORST MUSIC OF THE YEAR cret-esque “models” wearing cheap fuzzy haloes, Corey’s Angels stood by as Feldman maniacally performed “Go 4 It!” from his new record, Angelic 2 the Core. The viral fallout was predictably rough, so much so that many almost felt sorry for the clearly misguided former child star. (J. Price)

by Albert Rodriguez & Jessica Price SGN A&E Writers We hate them. Those really dumb songs that somehow get played on the radio.

Those albums we waited patiently for, only to be disappointed at the first listen. And those artists, who rule the headlines with their drama instead of their music. Here then are our picks for the very worst of what we heard and saw, or rolled our eyes at, in 2016, in no particular order.

1. “M.I.L.F. $” – Fergie (single) `Fergie’s single “M.I.L.F. $,” and its fascinatingly terrible video may be a self-proclaimed tribute to matriarchal empowerment, but sadly reads more like a desperate attempt to stay sexy in the public eye. An epic failure from a full-grown woman that seems to have temporarily lost her mind, as well as her ability to self-edit. (J. Price)

8. Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show – Beyonce, Coldplay, Bruno Mars (performance) Beyonce pickpocketed this year’s SB Halftime Show from Coldplay, initially chosen to appear on the whole segment. But even Queen Bey couldn’t save a sloppily assembled performance that had more lows than highs. Simply put, it was super awful.

(A. Rodriguez)

Fergie in “M.I.L.F $” – Photo courtesy of youtube.com

2. The Unruly Mess I’ve Made – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (album) Seattle’s premiere hip-hop duo had lots of potential riding on their shoulders, after reaching superstardom in 2013 with their monstrous debut The Heist. But the pair’s follow-up record, released in late February, was a collection of poorly composed songs that attempted to be cool, yet ultimately sounded goofy. A mess, they sure did make.

(A. Rodriguez)

4. Joanne – Lady GaGa (album) After the moderate success of artPOP, Lady Gaga delivered her fifth album Joanne in 2016 to much anticipation of what she would do next. Unfortunately, the album skews towards soft rock and doesn’t deliver the satisfying punch that many were hoping for. Disappointing. (J. Price)

3. “No” / “Me Too” – Meghan Trainor (singles) I admit, “All About That Bass” was fun and campy. But everything else now coming from the current Best New ArtistGrammy winner sounds gimmicky, and also childish; they’re like songs catered for

5. Prince tribute, Billboard Music Awards – Madonna (performance) Though when they started their careers they may have been friends (and had reconnected in recent years), Madonna’s tribute seemed more about her than about the unexpected loss of Prince in 2016. Sadly,

a teenage girl’s sleepover. (A. Rodriguez)

her vocal range didn’t deliver on “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Purple Rain.” Many fans felt a stronger vocalist should have been given the honors. (J. Price) 6. “Team” – Iggy Azalea (single) Anyone hiring for a rap knock-off artist? This horrible track from Azalea’s upcoming album Digital Distortion is further proof that this not-so-street-tough Australian needs to give something else a try, like taking out the trash (her own to start with).

(A. Rodriguez) 7. Angelic 2 the Core – Corey Feldman (album) Accompanied by what some would call a band, and others might call Victoria Se-

9. Tour cancellation, mental breakdown, personal issues – Kanye West (career setback) Like him or not, the prolific artist has had a tough year. In October, his wife Kim Kardashian was robbed in Paris, and in November after a week of off the chain rants and hit or miss appearances, West cancelled the rest of the Saint Pablo Tour and was admitted to UCLA Medical Center for temporary psychosis. (J. Price) 10. R.I.P. David Bowie, Prince, Sharon Jones, etc. – Multiple performers (artist deaths) It can’t be said enough, 2016 was brutal to the music world. Never in a calendar year did we lose so many legendary artists, whose songs and albums, from Bowie’s Scary Monsters to The Purple One’s Sign o’ the Times, were the childhood soundtracks for millions of people around the globe.

Please go easy on us, 2017. (A. Rodriguez)

BEST OF MUSIC 2016: A final farewell to the musicians we lost this year

by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer As the year comes to a close, it will have taken some of the finest musicians with it.

Normally, two or three legendary artists leave us in the span of twelve months. But in 2016, we lost about a dozen of them.

It began, actually, on New Year’s Eve of 2015 when the “unforgettable” R&B singer Natalie Cole passed away, though the vast majority of people didn’t find out until January 1. The daughter of Nat King Cole, the respected vocalist was a multi-Grammy winner who also recorded jazz and traditional pop albums. She also appeared as a guest judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

On January 8, David Bowie fans celebrated the release of his newest album, Blackstar, which coincided with his 69th birthday. Two days later, on January 10, the elation turned to shock, then grief, when the rock icon’s followers learned of his death. Dozens of fellow artists took to social media to express their condolences and thoughts, including Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Keith Richards, Sia, Kanye West, Florence Welch, Adam Lambert, Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson, Kendrick Lamar, Billy Idol, The Weeknd, Duran Duran and Pharrell Williams, to name a few. He was unique, mysterious, outlandish, flamboyant and oddly beautiful, and for any Gay person listening to his music or watching his videos, it was the first time we’d seen somebody so different, yet so relatable.

A week later, we were stunned to learn of another rock legend’s departure, Glenn Frey. A founding member of the Eagles, and a successful solo artist, the singer-

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Prince – Photo courtesy of youtube.com

songwriter rejoined the band for some of its most recent tours, including a memorable performance at Key Arena in 2013, when they played all of their big hits, from “Hotel California” to “One of These Nights” to “Heartache Tonight”; Frey’s daughter flew into Seattle to watch that show.

In April, we experienced more shock when news broke of Prince’s untimely death. At first, it seemed unreal, because

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unlike Bowie who’d been reportedly ill in the weeks and months leading up to his passing, there wasn’t any mention of sickness or medical problems affecting The Purple One. We learned in the days ahead, however, of an opioid addiction that led to his overdose of the prescription drug fentanyl. Again, artists and fans from all corners of the globe paid their respects to Prince, who was undisputably one of the

greatest innovators in music, a brilliant songwriter, a skilled multi-instrumentalist and pure genius. From his backup group, the New Power Generation who paid tribute to him during a Minnesota Vikings game, to Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, who added a snippet of “Purple Rain” into a live version of “Comfortably Numb,” the music superstar’s loss impacted so many people.

Even if you’d never heard of Leonard Cohen before, you surely had listened to a version of “Hallelujah.” It is regarded as a musical treasure, a timeless song that has been covered by many artists, including kd lang, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley and Willie Nelson. But the best rendition is the original, performed by its master Cohen, who died in early November. Eleven days later, the music community was in mourning again, now over the passing of Grammy-nominated funk-soul performer Sharon Jones, who lost her battle to cancer after a courageous fight that found her recording a new album and going on tour one last time with her bandmates, the Dap Kings.

Other musicians lost in 2016 include René Angélil (producer and husband of Celine Dion), Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane member), Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire member), Joey Martin Feek (from country duo Joey + Rory), Keith Emerson (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Frank Sinatra Jr. (son of Frank Sinatra), Pfife Dawg (of hip hop outfit A Tribe Called Quest), Merle Haggard (country icon), Leon Russell (legendary singer-songwriter, recorded an album with Elton John) and Pete Burns (lead singer of Dead or Alive).

2017, you can’t come soon enough.

Celebrating 41 Years!

BEST THEATER continued from cover

credible amount of local writing that exploded onto our stages this year! Seriously great work from talented writers! Two favorites of 2016 were Do It For Umma by Seayoung Yim, mounted at Annex and Theatre Off Jackson; and A Hand of Talons

by Maggie Lee, mounted by Pork Filled Productions. A favorite adaptation was Laura Ferri’s A Tale for the Time Being at Book-It Repertory Theatre.

Exciting writing also included: Can’t Talk Right Now by Scotto Moore; Chorestia by Beth Raas-Bergquist; Puny Humans

by Bret Fetzer and Keiko Green; Bernie’s Apt. by Rose Cano; Terra Incognita

by Benjamin Benne; Trump the King by Nick Edwards; The Lost Girls by Courtney Meaker; From Kings to Controllers by Stacy Flood; Nick Stokes’ Duels; and Roz and Ray by Karen Hartman. Sara Porkalob created two new iterations of her solo piece about her amazing grandmother and will bring another one to Café Nordo in January (Madame Dragon’s 60th Birthday Bash).

Other best productions I loved included Sound Theatre Company’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; 9 Circles at Strawberry Theatre Workshop; The Pride at Theatre22; Sorry by Thalia’s Umbrella; Mrs. Warren’s Profession by Seattle Shakespeare Company; A Raisin in the Sun by Seattle Repertory Theatre; and Vietgone, also at Seattle Rep. Also, as mentioned, Death of a Salesman at ArtsWest.

Some “Honorable Mentions,” if you will, included solid productions of Motherfucker with the Hat by Washington En-

Two Companies’ Outstanding Work I also want to acknowledge two companies who have done some of the best work of their history in 2016: ArtsWest and Ghost Light Theatricals.

ArtsWest, under the leadership of Mathew Wright, has increased exponentially in their innovation and execution of both musicals and classic plays. One of the best plays of 2016 was his direction of Death of a Salesman. Ghosts was also excellent, as was their top-notch musical production of Violet. They are becoming a must-see destination.

Ghost Light Theatricals has also upped their game in a big way. They mounted two of the new locally written plays (Chorestia and From Kings to Controllers) and an effective production of King Kirby. They’ve had a great year!

semble Theatre/Hansberry Project; The Realization of Emily Linder and Silent Sky at Taproot Theatre; In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings, Theater Schmeater; Annapurna, Theatre22; Brooklyn Bridge, Seattle Children’s Theatre; The Winter’s Tale, Seattle Shakespeare Company; Wedding Band, Intiman Theatre; Mechanics of Love, SiS Productions; and Dangerous Liaisons, ACT Theatre.

Best Plays: Sometimes you see a play that surpasses everything else and you know you’ve seen something to remember for years. Not every year has one of those. 2016 had The Royale, at ACT Theatre. The writing, the directing, the technical execution and the terrific acting combined for a stellar, memorable stage moment and is – hands down – the best thing I saw this year!

Best Musicals: The best musical of 2016 was 5th Avenue Theatre’s wonderful How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The cast was amazing, it was colorful and fun, and is probably my favorite effort by director Bill Berry.

Other solid efforts, besides the already mentioned Violet at ArtsWest; included Parade, Sound Theatre Company; Billy Elliot and Singin’ in the Rain, Village Theatre;

JACKIE

fresh, new and consistently surprising.

What’s interesting is just how little Larraín and Oppenheim dwell on the assassination of the 35th President. Instead, they want to look directly at Jackie, are eager to try and examine the choices she made as well as how she attempted to process her unimaginable grief while under the most intense of global microscopes. The film moves between moments, not all of them involving that horrific Friday in November of 1963 or the subsequent days afterward that culminated in the funeral precision that wound through the streets of Washington, DC. If anything, the best parts might just be the recreations of Jackie’s February 14, 1962 televised tour of the White House, the way this seemingly innocuous bit of political marketing foreshadows coming events unnervingly eerie.

I’m not sure what there is to say about Portman other than she is outstanding. This is a dazzling performance, likely my overall favorite – male or female – I’ve had the good fortune to witness in 2016. Internalized to the point of shell-shocked rigidity, bits of bitterness, anger, compassion, terror and unfiltered love sprinkle out as if fired by a machine gun. Portman shifts on a dime, and while her veneer of calm determination rare-

continued from cover insight is extraordinary, all of it anchored to a performance by star Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy that might be the best work of her entire career, and that includes her Oscar-winning turn in 2010’s Black Swan. This movie is a nonlinear marvel, the introspective rage leaving me an astonished mess of emotional chaos as I sat in a darkened multiplex happily dumbfounded by the sheer brilliance of what it was I just had the good fortune to witness.

Essentially, Jackie revolves around conversations between Jackie Kennedy and a hard-nosed reporter (Billy Crudup) she has asked to meet with her to set the record straight in regards to the aftermath of her husband John F. Kennedy’s (Caspar Phillipson) assassination. It’s a fictional film, but Oppenheim has pulled from a multitude of sources in order to give his script veracity giving the film substantial weight. Seen entirely through the grieving First Lady’s eyes, Larraín’s treatment never flinches and refuses to compromise, and as such looks at this tragic moment in U.S. history in a way that is

Murder Ballad, Sidecountry Theatre; 9 to 5, Seattle Musical Theatre; Disney’s The Little Mermaid, 5th Avenue; and The Toxic Avenger, STAGEright.

Favorite Play Performances: Out of all this theater, some moments and performers bubbled up with some amazing work in various ways. Memorable leads include Conner Neddersen’s riveting performance in 9 Circles; an amazing playing against “type” from David Pichette in Death of a Salesman; Trevor Marston’s

The Royale presented by ACT Theatre – Photo by Hayley Young Photography

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performance in The Pride; Alexandra Tavares’s turns in both Book-It’s The Brothers K (Parts 1 & 2) and Medea at Seattle Shakespeare Company; Sara Porkalob in Café Nordo’s tasty To Savor Tomorrow; Laura Kenny as Emily Linder; and Dedra Woods in Wedding Band. Other performances that deserve notice include Suzanne Bouchard in Ghosts, Alex Silva in Treasure Island, Mi Kang in A Tale for the Time Being at Book-It, and Keven Bordi as a way-fun Trump in Trump the King.

Supporting characters: Sometimes it is the smaller roles that call out and energize a play. Two of my absolute favorite non-lead players were Shermona Mitchell in Judas Iscariot and Molli Corcoran in Joyful Noise at Taproot. Other memorable favorites included Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako and De-

nise Burse in Raisin, Erwin Galan in Iscariot, Moises Castro in Motherfucker, and Doug Fahl in The Pride.

Ensembles: Sometimes everyone works so well together, and the play is so even-handed that you need to recognize all of the players on stage. The best ensembles this year were the casts of Vietgone and Sorry. Other solid ensemble work included the casts of Bernie’s Apt., King Kirby, A Tale for the Time Being, Wedding Band, and Umma. Even though there were clear leads in How to Succeed, I think the ensemble there was really top notch!

Favorite Musical Performances: I have to say Jessica Skeritt (Stokinger) had a heckuva year! She clowned her high heels off in both How to Succeed and Singin’ in the Rain and we all loved her for it!

It is hard to imagine anyone doing better in either of those roles.

Eric Ankrim knocked it out of the park in How to Succeed (along with a great ensemble that included a hysterical Adam Standley). Matthew Kacergis and Diana Huey were Disney-licious in The Little Mermaid. Brenna Wagner showed her stuff in Violet. Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako performed beautifully in My Heart is the Drum at Village, though the musical had some large holes. Similarly, Kate Morgan Chadwick sang her guts out for Bad Apples at ACT Theatre, though that show was controversial and in my opinion should not be a musical. Justin Gregory Lopez introduced himself with a bang to Seattle in Paint Your Wagon at the 5th. Don Darryl Rivera came home to reprise his role in Man of La Mancha at the 5th.

Other memorable performances included John David Scott, Mallory King and Gabriel Corey in Singin’ in the Rain, all the young Billys and Michaels and Mari Nelson in Billy Elliot, Jessi Little in Avenger, Richard Gray in Assassins (co-pro’d by ACT and the 5th), and Shaunyce Omar in Drum.

I may have left out some of your favorites and welcome your comments on mine.

I continue to love and appreciate all the talent on all the stages in our town and look forward to what 2017 will bring.

Discuss your opinions with SGNcritic@ gmail.com or go to www.facebook.com/ SeattleTheaterWriters. More articles can be found at MiryamsTheaterMusings. blogspot.com.

ly falters, the times it does are shocking in their intense vivacity. From her mannerisms, to the vocal inflections, to how she carries herself from scene to scene and moment to moment, the actress conveys herself in ways that defy belief, this examination of unparalleled grief coupled with iron-willed determination simply remarkable.

The recreation of the assassination, when it happens, is not for the faint of heart. But even more scarring are simple moments of Jackie standing in front of a mirror trying to wipe the blood off of her face or, later on, the look on her face with Lyndon B. Johnson (John Carroll Lynch) on Air Force One as he recites the Presidential Oath of Office. Little asides during the First Lady’s interview drip in venomous wit, while her observations in regards to the varying plays for power going around her in the wake of the President’s death are agonizingly clear and achingly perceptive.

There are also some stunning conversational moments between Jackie and Robert Kennedy (portrayed marvelously by Peter Sarsgaard), while the insertion and creation of the Kennedy Camelot myth by her is detailed splendidly.

Larraín continues to impress as a filmmaker, growing in leaps and bounds from

one project to the next. His utilization of composer Mica Levi’s (Under the Skin) staggering score is effectively exhilarating, her varying compositions permeating the picture to the point it is impossible to associate the images without the music.

The film is also bracingly shot by Stéphane Fontaine (Rust and Bone) and edited by Sebastián Sepúlveda (Young and Wild) with celestial expressiveness, while costume designer Madeline Fontaine’s (Yves Saint Laurent) various recreations of Jackie Kennedy’s signature looks – not to mention this era of fashion as a whole – is mind-blowing in its colorful realism.

I’m in love with this film. Even if I wanted to try, which I don’t, I have trouble believing I could ever get the ins and outs of Jackie out of my head. The way Larraín orchestrates the action, how he has pieced Oppenheim’s masterful script together, it’s all terrific, the hypnotizing effect the motion picture had on me reaching Stanley Kubrick levels of absorption at certain points. When Portman’s performance is added into the equation there’s little else to say. This is a cinematic work of art, and taking the time to see it in a theatre should be priority number one.

December 23, 2016

Seattle Gay News 7

Seattle Film Critics Society announces nominations for 2016 Seattle Film Awards Members of Seattle’s film and critical community have voted and nominations for the 2016 Seattle Film Awards, honoring the best in film for 2016, have been announced. Leading the field with 10 nominations each are Damien Chazelle’s musical romance La La Land and Barry Jenkins’ dramatic, emotional coming-ofage story Moonlight. Both films are nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Chazelle and Jenkins, respectively.

Denis Villeneuve’s thought-provoking science-fiction epic Arrival landed 9 nominations, including Best Picture, and a second consecutive Seattle Film Awards Best Director nomination, recognized in 2015 for Sicario.

Joining those films across multiple categories is Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea and Robert Eggers’ The Witch, earning 7 nominations each, including Best Picture of the Year and a nod for Eggers in Best Director.

Lonergan missed a mention in the Best Director category, as Paul Verhoeven was

Documentary Feature nomination, along with the widely praised seven-plus hour O.J.: Made In America, film festival favorite Tickled, the uncomfortable look at disgraced politician Anthony Weiner in Weiner, and Cameraperson, a compendium of the film projects of cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Cameraperson also earned a nod for Film Editing. Tower, an animated documentary recounting the 50th anniversary of a campus shooting in Texas, missed in the Documentary Feature category but scored an Animated Feature nomination, competing with Disney and Pixar favorites Finding Dory, Moana, Zootopia, and stopmotion film Kubo and the Two Strings.

Two new categories were added for voter consideration in 2016. For the inaugural Best Youth Performance, recognizing performances by actors who were 18 years of age or younger at the time filming began, The Witch sees lead actress Anya TaylorJoy and co-star Harvey Scrimshaw competing with Royalty Hightower from The Fits, Sunny Pawar in Lion, and Alex Hib-

Denis Villeneuve – Arrival BEST ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE: Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea Ryan Gosling – La La Land Logan Lerman – Indignation Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic Denzel Washington – Fences BEST ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE: Amy Adams – Arrival Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship Isabelle Huppert – Elle Natalie Portman – Jackie Emma Stone – La La Land BEST ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE: Mahershala Ali – Moonlight Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water Kyle Chandler – Manchester by the Sea John Goodman – 10 Cloverfield Lane

The Handmaiden – Park Chan-wook, director The Innocents – Anne Fontaine, director Under The Shadow – Babak Anvari, director The Wailing – Na Hong-jin, director BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: 13th – Ava DuVernay, director Cameraperson – Kirsten Johnson, director O.J.: Made In America – Ezra Edelman, director Tickled – David Farrier, Dylan Reeve, directors Weiner – Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Arrival – Bradford Young Jackie – Stéphane Fontaine La La Land – Linus Sandgren Moonlight – James Laxton The Witch – Jarin Blaschke BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Handmaiden – Cho Sang-kyung Jackie – Madeline Fontaine La La Land – Mary Zophres Love & Friendship – Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh The Witch – Linda Muir BEST FILM EDITING: Arrival – Joe Walker Cameraperson – Nels Bangerter, David Teague Hell or High Water – Jake Roberts La La Land – Tom Cross Moonlight – Nat Sanders, Joi McMillon BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Arrival – Jóhann Jóhannsson Jackie – Mica Levi La La Land – Justin Hurwitz Moonlight – Nicholas Britell Swiss Army Man – Andy Hull, Robert McDowell

Alex Hibbert (young Chiron) and Mahershala Ali (Juan) in Moonlight – Photo courtesy of vox.com

nominated for his controversial French import Elle. In addition to earning a Best Picture nomination, lead actress Isabelle Huppert earned a spot in the Best Actress race. The film also received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Rounding out the Best Picture lineup for 2016 is Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water, South Korea’s The Handmaiden, and documentary 13th, Ava DuVernay’s look at the history of African-American racism in the United States.

Manchester by the Sea placed four of its actors in the nomination pool – Casey Affleck (Lead Actor), Michelle Williams (Supporting Actress), and dual nominees Lucas Hedges and Kyle Chandler in Supporting Actor. The film also earned a nod for Best Ensemble.

Affleck competes against fellow nominees Ryan Gosling in La La Land, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, Denzel Washington in Fences, and Logan Lerman, cited for his work in Indignation.

Williams earns her nomination alongside Viola Davis in Fences and Naomie Harris in Moonlight. Two distinctive breakout performances also caught Seattle’s eye as Kate McKinnon’s comedic turn in summer blockbuster Ghostbusters joins newcomer Lily Gladstone in the quiet, contemplative Certain Women, a film which Michelle Williams also co-stars in.

Hedges and Chandler join Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Jeff Bridges in the Best Supporting Actor lineup. Rounding out the slate is John Goodman, cited for his bunker dwelling turn in science-fiction thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane.

DuVernay’s 13th also earned a Best

bert from Moonlight.

In the Best Villain category, Goodman appears for a second time, alongside menacing goat Black Phillip from The Witch, Ben Mendelsohn’s Imperial henchman Orson Krennic from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and two harrowing horror movie performances from Stephen Lang (Don’t Breathe) and Patrick Stewart in Green Room.

With nominations in place, voting for the winners will take place beginning December 21, 2016. Voting for this year’s recipients concludes January 4, 2017, with the winners announced on January 5, 2017.

8 Seattle Gay News

December 23, 2016

The complete list of nominations for the 2016 Seattle Film Awards are listed below: THE 2016 SEATTLE FILM AWARD NOMINEES: BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR: 13th (Netflix) Arrival (Paramount) Elle (Sony Pictures Classics) The Handmaiden (Amazon Studios/ Magnolia Pictures) Hell or High Water (CBS Films) Jackie (Fox Searchlight) La La Land (Lionsgate) Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions) Moonlight (A24) The Witch (A24) BEST DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle – La La Land Robert Eggers – The Witch Barry Jenkins – Moonlight Paul Verhoeven – Elle

Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea BEST ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE: Viola Davis – Fences Lily Gladstone – Certain Women Naomie Harris – Moonlight Kate McKinnon – Ghostbusters Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Captain Fantastic Hell or High Water Fences Manchester by the Sea Moonlight

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Arrival – Patrice Vermette (production designer); Paul Hotte (key decorator) The Handmaiden – Ryu Seong-hee Jackie – Jean Rabasse (production designer); Véronique Melery (set decorator) La La Land – David Wasco (production designer); Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (set decorator) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont (production designers); Lee Sandales (set decorator) BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Arrival – Louis Morin Captain America: Civil War – Dan DeLeeuw, Dan Sudick, Russell Earl, Greg Steele Doctor Strange – Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Richard Bluff, Vince Cerelli The Jungle Book – Robert Legato, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez, Dan Lemmon Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, Neil Corbould

BEST SCREENPLAY: Arrival – Eric Heisserer Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan La La Land – Damien Chazelle Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan Moonlight – Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (18 years of age or younger upon start of filming): Alex Hibbert – Moonlight Royalty Hightower – The Fits Sunny Pawar – Lion Harvey Scrimshaw – The Witch Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Finding Dory – Andrew Stanton, director; Angus MacLane, co-director Kubo and the Two Strings – Travis Knight, director Moana – Ron Clements and John Musker, directors Tower – Keith Maitland, director Zootopia – Byron Howard and Rich Moore, directors; Jared Bush, co-director.

BEST VILLAIN: Darcy Banker – Green Room – portrayed by Patrick Stewart Black Phillip – The Witch – portrayed

by Charlie and voiced by Wahab Chaudary Orson Krennic – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn Norman Nordstrom (a/k/a ‘The Blind Man’) – Don’t Breathe – portrayed by Stephen Lang Howard Stambler – 10 Cloverfield Lane – portrayed by John Goodman

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Elle – Paul Verhoeven, director

Courtesy of the Seattle Film Critics Society

Celebrating 41 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

December 23, 2016

Seattle Gay News 9

Rod Mar Photography

PEOPLE IN GLASSHOUSES SHOULD THROW PARTIES Ring in 2017 under Seattle’s most iconic fireworks display as Chihuly Garden and Glass transforms into the ultimate New Year’s Eve celebration.

DECEMBER 31, 2016 | 8 PM – 1 AM Party includes: • Dancing to the Craig Lawrence Band.

• A delicious array of bites and desserts.

• Party favors and a complimentary sparkling wine toast at midnight.

• DJ and photo booth in Collections Café.

• Entrance to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibition (between 8 PM and 10 PM).

$

225

inclusive of tax and gratuity

NEWYEARSATCHIHULY.COM Call 206.905.2148 for more information.

No host bar – Limited seating. Please remember the party is 21+, there is no entry without ID and all guests should arrive by 10pm.

10 Seattle Gay News

December 23, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

December 23, 2016

Seattle Gay News 11

12 Seattle Gay News

December 23, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

Gracefully unnerving Eyes an abhorrent wonder

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer THE EYES OF MY MOTHER Now playing In an isolated farmhouse in the middle of the countryside, Francisca (Olivia Bond) is being instructed in the ways of life and death by her Mother (Diana Agostini), a former Portuguese surgeon who left that life behind to marry the young girl’s father (Paul Nazak). After a horrifying home invasion tragedy destroys all they hold dear, father and daughter move on with their lives as best they can, continuing to go through their various daily rituals all the while harboring an unimaginable secret deep within the underbelly of their barn.

Years later, an adult Francisca (Kika Magalhaes) continues as she always has, but when her father passes and her barn is suddenly empty, a hole opens in the young woman’s life unlike any she’s ever known before. Soon she is looking for something to fill that space. Francisca wants something, someone, to care for and to nurture, a person she can take under her wing much like her mother did for her, showing them the ways of the world though eyes that are as indescribably unique as they are eerily terrifying.

It’s safe to say there is little else out there like The Eyes of My Mother. As instantly mesmerizing a debut as any I’ve had the good fortune to come across this year, writer/director Nicolas Pesce bursts onto the scene with idiosyncratic relish and ferociously uncompromising tenacity. As if channeling the ghosts of Tod Browning and Mario Bava and combining them with the assaultive brio of Dario Argento, Takashi Shimizu and George A. Romero in their respective primes, he’s made a haunting sojourn into the heart of darkness that’s absolutely petrifying. This is an esoteric, brutally obdurate marvel, one filled with as many delights as it is with horrors, everything building to a climax of absurdly

FENCES

continued from cover from making the leap from stage to screen was not instantaneous, and even with Washington’s box office clout as no Wilson play had ever been adapted for the cinema garnering Hollywood studio interest was not an overnight affair.

It was worth the wait. Washington, reteaming once again with Davis, choosing to direct the project himself, making it his third outing behind the camera and first since 2007’s The Great Debaters, working from a script fashioned by Wilson himself before his death in 2005, Fences is, in a word, triumphant. While not entirely able to escape its roots in the theatre, while feeling like a filmed version of the play on more than one occasion, nonetheless this is still a striking motion picture, one filled with life, drama and devastating emotion. As for Washington, he has done his best work as a director while also turning in one of the finest performance of his two-time Academy Award-winning career, delivering a feature certain to be talked about, discussed and cherished for many years to come.

Set in a small mid-1950s Pittsburgh neighborhood, the story revolves around sanitation worker Troy Maxson (Washington), a hard-working everyman who hasn’t quite been able to get over the fact that by the time Major League Baseball integrated he was then sadly too old to play. Even so, he comes home every night to his wife Rose (Davis), sharing a bottle of gin each and every Friday evening with his best friend and coworker Jim Bono (Stephen McKinley Henderson). His eldest son (from another

Scene from Eyes of My Mother – Photo courtesy of youtube.com

disquieting abhorrence that had me shuddering long after the screen faded to black.

Making sense of it all is an admitted chore. Pesce is esoteric to a fault, keeping things so nondescript and ephemeral that finding the point of all this casually gorgeous violence is decidedly difficult. There is no character building per se, just the vaguest ideas about who Francisca is and how the traumas from her past, the crazed influence of her father and the extreme isolation of the farmhouse have all conspired to make her what she now is. She’s an idea more than she is anything else, cinematographer Zach Kuperstein’s steely black and white cinematography signifying more about who and what this woman is, as well as who she is likely to become, than does just about anything else in the motion picture.

Yet this is a movie more about how it

makes the viewer feel than it is about almost anything else, and on that level Pesce succeeds like gangbusters. Following Francisca around is observational perversity, her categorically undying need to make a personal connection with whomever she can whenever she can creating an aura of ubiquitous anxiety that seeps under the skin with the subtle grace of a mosquito sucking blood in the middle of the night.

Seeing her troll area bars searching for someone, not exactly knowing who that will be or why she needs to, only to be beyond aghast when they’re scared to death when they realize what’s happening inside the walls of the barn adjacent to her home, it’s profoundly disturbing, and that’s only the beginning of the psychological devastation that will unfurl until the film’s final act.

I can’t talk about that last third for rea-

sons that will become apparent to anyone watching the movie. Safe to say, it’s glorious, but it’s also disgusting. What Francisca does, how she decides to fill that hole in her life, it’s unquestionably unpardonable, making her a demonic creature who hides behind a wholesomely timid smile of friendship. Yet she is a demon who has no idea just how terrible she is, believing in her heart of hearts she’s doing good even if the truth is anything but. It’s a slow, delicate walk straight into the heart of darkness; the mirror image staring back so chilling it stops the blood cold. The Eyes of My Mother is a riveting, repugnant work of repellent art, Pesce crafting a gracefully unnerving calling card sure to be debated and discussed for some time to come.

mother), musician Lyons (Russell Hornsby), always seems to mosey around the house around that time as well, knowing it’s his father’s payday so he sneakily shows his smiling face hoping to get a five or ten dollar loan to help get through the week.

Troy is compelled to ride his youngest son Cory (Jovan Adepo), the boy he had while married to Rose, as hard as he can.

The teenager is on the verge of graduating high school and is a promising football player, colleges eager to meet with his parents to discuss having him play for their respective teams. But Troy doesn’t believe Cory will be given a fair shake, doesn’t think he’ll get a decent opportunity to showcase his skills, and as such he’s insistent his son keep his job at the A&P and learn a good trade that will pay the bills as he gets older and school is behind him.

Wilson’s play has a lot on its mind, traveling through years in the blink of an eye, as it examines these characters in intimately exacting detail, their life and times feeling as real and potent now as they ever did when the play first debuted back in 1985. Troy isn’t a good man, but he’s also not a bad one. He’s a human being, prone to monstrous acts, but who is also just as apt to show a form of tenderness that’s as immense as it is selfless. This is a man who sees a world colored by the racism and hate he’s been forced to deal with since the second he was forced out of his own home as a youngster, wanting to see at least one of his children succeed where he believes he has failed.

As stated, Washington is extraordinary, his uncompromisingly freewheeling ferocity as Troy up there with the actor’s best work showcased in films as diverse

as Glory, Malcolm X, He Got Game and Courage Under Fire. He revels in Wilson’s language, relishing every syllable as he barks it out, the actor standing tall no matter how weak and abhorrent some of the decisions his character makes sometimes prove to be. Washington does not compromise, one second winning hearts, while in the next pulling them from someone’s beating chest in order to devour their flesh with carnivorous relish as the person looks on in abstract horror. He’s amazing, and if the actor ends up winning a third Oscar for his accomplishments it wouldn’t surprise me one little bit.

Even so, Washington is nothing compared to his co-star. Davis, bidding her time, slyly underplaying her scenes early on in order to really dig in and turn up the heat as the plot twists, secrets come into the light and shocking human indiscretions are forced into the open, is incredible. She hypnotically captured my attention whether she was quietly knitting a sweater or spewing venom into the face of the man she’s sharing the screen with. This is such an exceptional character, the veteran actress playing up her varying nuances with stunning ease.

Davis blew my mind, and as strong as she was in The Help and in Doubt I was still unprepared for her unparalleled brilliance as Rose.

The whole cast is beyond reproach.

The ensemble Washington has assembled, which also includes Mykelti Williamson as Troy’s brain-damaged brother, Gabriel, work together like clockwork, each actor clicking so perfectly with the other members it’s almost as if they’re out there living this life and not acting it out up on a movie screen. For my money, Henderson is the

chief standout, the familiar character actor getting an opportunity to shine like he never has before.

I cannot say Washington opens things up as much as he potentially could have, and as in the play he keeps things pretty much centralized on Troy and Rose’s backyard, with only occasional forays into the couple’s living room and kitchen. Still, he allows cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s (Far from the Madding Crowd) camera freedom to move, allowing for a sense of motion and movement that otherwise would not exist. The film is also exhilaratingly edited by Hughes Winborne (Crash), the Oscar-winner piecing things together as if to make me feel like I was a voyeur peering at the Maxsons from the other side of the alley, eavesdropping on personal conversations I maybe wasn’t supposed to overhear.

It all comes back to Wilson’s play, however, and Washington lets the author’s words do all the heavy lifting. The majesty of Fences has always been its courageous honesty, and like Harold Pinter or Tennessee Williams at their best, the playwright’s willingness to look his characters’ demons right in the eye and not turn away is not something to scoff at or belittle. Fences runs on that energy, bobbing and weaving as it rolls through the years in order to deliver universal truths that shout volumes no matter one’s race, background or age.

Washington has done Wilson proud, the veteran actor swatting this one right out of the ballpark, knocking the cover off of the ball in the process.

December 23, 2016

Seattle Gay News 13

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Meetings Events Activities

TO GET A CALENDAR LISTING: To have your meeting or event considered for the Community Calendar, please mail, fax, or drop off details to: SGN, Attn: Community Calendar, 1707 23rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98122. SGN phone: 324-4297. E-mail: sgn2@sgn.org. INCLUDE: Date, time, location, contact phone # for publication (if possible), brief description of event & sponsoring organization. DEADLINE: Tuesday 5pm.

ACCESSIBILITY: Is your event accessible to LGBTQ people with visible or hidden disabilities? See Jean’s List webpage www.scn.org/activism/calendar/disabilities. html for Marla Nonken’s disabilities accommodations lists.

NOTE: Phone numbers accompanying listings are within area code (206) & locations of meetings/ events are in Seattle unless otherwise noted.

community calendar

Strength Over Speed. 2-3:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. FREE drop-in support group (not a 12 step) for Gay & Bi men who desire recovery from meth. For information visit www.strengthoverspeed.org. SASG 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Crystal Meth Anonymous. 6:30pm. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 1729 Harvard Ave. Also meets Thurs @ 6:30pm, Sat @ 10:30am, Sun @ 6:30pm. More info: crystalmeth.org.

Freely Speaking Toastmasters. 7pm. Seattle Unity Church, 200 8th Ave N. Every Monday (except holidays & the last Mondays in August & December). Seattle’s only LGBT speaking club. www.FreelySpeaking.or Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Connolly Athletic Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday listing.)

PFLAG/South King County Monthly Meeting. 7pm.

Unitarian Universalist Church, 25701 14th Pl S, Kent.

Meets 4th Monday each month. Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays is a national support organization for parents, spouses & families of GLBT persons, as well as those sexual minorities. PFLAG/Puget Sound: 325-7724.

Trans Youth Group. 7-8:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Monday. A chance for youth to talk with others about their experiences & concerns related to identifying as Transgender. www.lamberthouse.org Lambert House Art Night. 7:30-9:30pm. 1818 15th Ave. Every Monday. Bring your ideas & let’s have some fun.

322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org Unity Gay Men’s AA Group in Tacoma. 7:30pm. New Heart MCC, 759 S 45th St. Tacoma. Every Monday.

(253) 474-8897.

Washington Gender Alliance Support Group Meeting in Shoreline. 7:30pm. Center for Human Services, 17018 15th Ave NE, Shoreline. Meets every Monday. For information email info@washingtongender alliance.com Queers, Crackpots & Fallen Women AA. 8-9pm.

SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Monday. Open women only AA group. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org.

SATURDAY - December 24

Seattle Frontrunners Fun Run. 9am. Greenlake (outside Evans Pool). Every Saturday. GLBT running & walking club sponsors weekly runs, monthly potlucks, track & field activity, annual Run With Pride. 448-8518. www.seattlefrontrunners.org.

Yoga With Andrew Conner. 9:30-11am. Amor Spiritual Center, 2528 Beacon Ave, Suite B. Meets every Saturday. A love offering is suggested but no one will be turned away.

Crystal Meth Anonymous. 10:30am. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 1729 Harvard Ave. Also meets Mon @ 6:30pm, Thurs @ 6:30pm, Sun @ 6:30pm. More info: crystalmeth.org.

Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 6pm-12 midnight. Call for location & details. Every Saturday. (253) 671-2838. www.oasisyouth center.org.

(Also meets Thursdays & Fridays 4-10pm.)

Rainbow Duplicate Bridge. 6pm. Bus-accessible Central Area location. Every Saturday. Games also on Tuesdays & Thursdays. $4 fee includes coffee & snacks.

For more information visit www.rainbowbridgeclub.org or email rainbowbridgeclub@gmail.com

TUESDAY - December 27

SUNDAY - December 25

Merry Christmas!

(Because of the Christmas holiday some regularly scheduled events may be cancelled or rescheduled.

Check with the sponsors of your event to confirm date, time & place.)

For information on GLBT-friendly religious/spiritual organizations in the Greater Seattle area, call or email Rick at the SGN office: 206-324-4297; sgn2@ sgn.org.

Center for Spiritual Living. Services 8:25, 9:45, 11:30am. 5801 Sand Point Way NE. Blessings & we hope to see you soon! Info 527-8801 ext 203, www. cslseattle.org Ravenna United Methodist Church. 5751 33rd Ave NE. 8:30am “Seattle’s most dangerous Sunday school;” 9:45am worship. A reconciling congregation, fully inclusive and affirming of LGBTQ persons. 525-7988.

Seattle Unity Church. 9am & 11am-Sunday Services.

200 8th Ave N. “Come join our Gay & Lesbian-friendly, spiritual family at Seattle Unity Church. Our mission is to bring love, miracles & spiritual awakening into everyday life!” 622-8475; www.seattleunity.org.

Seattle Soto Zen. 9:15am-Zazen Instruction, 9:30amZazen. 101 Nickerson St, Lower Level. Follow the traditional forms of the Soto school of Zen in a spirit of warmth & inclusion. Anyone interested in meditation, whether new or experienced in Zen practice or other traditions, is welcome. 323-1659, www.seattlesotozen.org Gay Men’s Bowling in Lynnwood. 9:30am. Brunswick Majestics Lane, Lynnwood. 9:30am Every Sunday.

Spectators welcome. Join us for lunch afterwards!

Sponsored by the Snohomish County Gay Men’s Task Force. For info email John at johndmarsh@mac.com; www.gaysnohomish.org Tacoma First United Methodist Church. 9:30amWorship, 11am-Adult Education. 423 Martin Luther King Way, Tacoma. This reconciling congregation welcomes with warm hands, warm hearts & open minds GLBT persons seeking a spiritual home. (253) 627-0129, www. fumctacoma.org Central Lutheran Church. 10am-Worship. 1710 11th Ave (just north of E Pine St). An open & affirming church, which in Lutheran churches is called “Reconciled in Christ.” “We seek to share God’s love with all people regardless of race, age, gender or sexual orientation.”

All are welcome. 322-7500.

East Shore Unitarian Church. 10am-Sunday Service.

12700 SE 32nd St, Bellevue. An open & affirming congregation. (425) 747-3780.

Gethsemane Lutheran Church. 10am-Worship. 911 Stewart St. A downtown faith community centered in justice. An open & affirming congregation. 682-3620.

Unity Church of Kent. 10am. 218 State Ave S, Kent.

A welcoming congregation open to people of all races, religions, creeds & lifestyles. Join us any Sunday for an inspirational message, joyful fellowship & a fresh spiritual outlook. 253-854-9747.

University Congregational United Church of Christ.

All ages education 9am, Worship 10am. 4515 16th Ave NE. UCUCC is an open & affirming congregation. 5242322; www.universityucc.org.

14 Seattle Gay News

December 24 thru January 1

Wallingford United Methodist Church. 10am-Worship.

2115 N 42nd St. A progressive congregation. In 1984 Wallingford UMC became the 9th reconciling Methodist church in the U.S. 547-6945 (office); 285-5077 (George).

All Pilgrims Christian Church. 10:30am-Worship.

500 Broadway E. Come as you are. All are welcome.

A congregation of the Disciples of Christ & the United Church of Christ. 322-0487, www.allpilgrims.org Living Water Fellowship. 10:30am-Worship. 7204 NE 175th St, Kenmore. All GLBT welcome. Pastor Susan George. 963-0807. www.livingwaterwa. com Seattle Sunday Bowling. 10:30am. West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW (at SW Oregon St). Open bowl every Sunday for the GLBT community & friends. You don’t have to worry about how you bowl! $6.50 + $3 shoe rental. (425) 785-4729.

Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

10:30am. 7141 California Ave SW. 935-0418, office@ wsuu.org, www.wsuu.org Emerald City Metropolitan Community Church Seattle. 11am-Worship. Chapel at University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St. MCC is a progressive Christ-centered faith community committed to providing a nurturing environment for individual & community growth thru Jesus Christ while celebrating unity in diversity. MCC is Seattle’s oldest Gay-friendly church. 325-2421, www.mccseattle.org.

Meditation for GBT Men. 11am-1pm. Cal Anderson House, 400 Broadway. Suitable for beginning & experienced meditators. Sponsored by Dharma Buddies.

Contact Forrest Rode, 920-6117, Mike Chin (509) 990-0007, or Doug Allison, doug.l.allison@gmail.com. www.dharmabuddies.org. (Women may wish to contact our sister meditation group at www.LotusSisters.org.)

St Paul’s United Church of Christ. 11am-Worship.

6512 12th Ave NW. An “open & affirming” congregation.

“We celebrate our diversity in religious background, sexual orientation, race, age & abilities.” 783-6733; www. stpauluccseattle.com.

Holy Covenant International Christian Community Church. 12pm. 4525 19th Ave NE. Outreach to the LGBT community. holycovenantccc@gmail.com Just for Today. 12-1:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Sunday. Drop-in 12-step (Narcotics Anonymous) group open to anyone in recovery. 3222437; www.sasgcc.org Paths to Recovery Al-Anon Family Group. 12-1:30pm.

Seattle University Student Center, 901 12th Ave, Room 122. Every Sunday. LGBTQ supported. The Al-Anon

December 23, 2016

Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives & friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength & hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness & that changed attitudes can aid recovery. Greater Seattle AIS 24-hour number 625-0000; www.seattle-al-anon.org Rain City Soccer Club - Ripple Effect. Sunday afternoon. Location varies. Ripple Effect soccer team plays an almost weekly recreational scrimmage game for LGBTQ players in Seattle. Perfect for individuals looking for more relaxed play, who are just getting back into soccer, just learning the game and/or want to supplement their competitive play with a recreational team. To sign up visit www.raincitysoccer.org Orca Swim Team Workout. Sun: Afternoon; Mon/Weds/ Fri: Evenings. Seattle University, Connolly Athletic Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. Every Sun, Mon, Wed & Fri. Pre-registration required. Orca Swim Team workouts are for both competitive & recreational swimmers. www. orcaswimteam.org Shame to Grace Sunday SAA. 6-7:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Sunday. SAA is a fellowship of men & women who share their experience, strength & hope with each other so they may overcome their sexual addiction & help others recover from sexual addiction or dependency. Seattle SAA helpline 237-8828, SAA International Service Organization 1-800-477-8191.

SASG 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Crystal Meth Anonymous. 6:30pm. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 1729 Harvard Ave. Also meets Mon @ 6:30pm, Thurs @ 6:30pm, Sat @ 10:30am. More info: crystalmeth.org.

Pride League Bowling. 6:30pm. West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW. Every Sunday (except during the summer). Regular league bowling. Jeff, 932-3731.

Integrity/Puget Sound. 7pm-Worship & Fellowship. St. Mark’s Cathedral, Thomson Chapel, 1245 10th Ave E. Integrity is an international ministry of Gay & Lesbian Episcopalians, their friends & families, dedicated to education, support & service within the Church & the GLBT community. (425) 226-2746.

Noche Latina - Latino Night. 10pm. Neighbours, 1509 Broadway. Every Sunday.

MONDAY - December 26

Boxing Day SOBER - On Meds. 1-2pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Monday. 12-step group open to anyone in recovery & living on a medicine regimen. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org

Lesbian & Gay Child Care Task Force Monthly Meeting. 12 noon-2pm. Call for location. Meets 4th Tuesday each month. The Task Force, in conjunction with Child Care Resources of King County, offers referrals to GLBT-welcoming child care centers & provides training, support & curriculum materials to child care providers. (To access this, call 329-1011 & ask for the “Gay-welcoming” child care programs in your zip code area.) The task force meets monthly to assess their progress in achieving their goals.

Amor Open Meditation. 5-6pm. Amor Spiritual Center, 2528 Beacon Ave, Suite B. Meets every Tuesday.

LGBTQ Questioning & Allied Youth Drop-in Group in Renton. 6-8pm. Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS), 1025 S 3rd St, Renton. Meets every Tuesday. Confidential. Snacks provided. Bring friends or come alone - anyone 12-18 is welcome. Questions? Call Sarah Hardin, 425-271-5600 ext 155, or email sarahh@rays.org Strength Over Speed. 6-7:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. FREE drop-in support group (not a 12 step) for Gay & Bi men who desire recovery from meth. For information visit www.strengthoverspeed.org. SASG 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Diverse Harmony. 6:30-9pm. Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave. Every Tuesday. Diverse Harmony is the nation’s first Gay/Straight Alliance Youth Chorus. Youths ages 13-22 are welcome regardless of sexual orientation. www.diverseharmony.org LGBTQ MS Connection/National MS Society. 6:308pm. Swedish Conference Center, Cherry Hill Campus, James Tower, 550 17th Avenue, Room E, 1st Floor.

Meets the 2nd & 4th Tuesday each month. MS Connection is a support group with the goal of providing a safe environment for the LGBT community to express their experiences and the impact of MS on their lives and the lives of their loved ones, as well as provide support for one another. Contact Shelly at 206-250-5002 or LGBTMSConnection@gmail.com.

“Light the Night: An LGBTQ Hanukkah.” 6:308:30pm. Gay City Calamus Auditorium, 517 E Pike St. Join Kolenu, Seattle’s Jewish LGBTQ group, for our 8th annual Hanukkah celebration. Enjoy tasty latkes, colorful dreidels, music & a beautiful candlelighting symbolizing both the miracle of Hanukkah & our affirmation that great leadership & community action will prevail against oppression. FREE & open to the community. Allies, friends & family welcome! This event is made possible through the support of JConnect Seattle, Hillel at the University of Washington, and Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

Queer Young Females Group - For Female-Identified Youth, Ages 22 & Under. 6:30-7:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Tuesday. Topics range from family issues to school happenings to like/lust/love relationships. All Queer females welcome. Come discuss how smart. strong Queer women live their lives. 322-2515, www. lamberthouse.org Tuesday Night Sex Addicts Anonymous (GLBTQI).

7-8:30pm. All Pilgrims Christian Church, 500 Broadway E (enter at 509 10th Ave E; buzz in, Dickson room). Every Tuesday. SAA is a fellowship of men & women whose primary purpose is to stop addictive sexual behavior & help others recover from sexual addiction. Seattle SAA helpline 237-8828. SAA International Service Organization 1-800-477-8191.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Over 40’s Group - For Lesbian Women 40 & Older.

7-8:30pm. University Congregational Church, 4515 16th Ave NE, Pilgrim Room. Every Tuesday. Open group for Lesbian women, 40 & older, in every stage of coming out or being out. Lots of social activities in addition to Tuesday meetings. 545-3521.

Rainbow Duplicate Bridge. 7pm. Bus-accessible Central Area location. Every Tuesday. (See Saturday listing at 6pm.)

Different Drummers. 7:15-8:30pm. Every Tuesday.

Hand drumming classes for Gay men. It’s easy, it’s fun & anyone can do it! Learn traditional African & AfroCaribbean rhythms & basic hand drumming techniques.

Experience connection, community & spirituality. Drums are provided. For info & location call Dennis at 363-4500 or www.outdrum.com What About Me? 7:30-9pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Tuesday. Drop-in social, support & discussion group for Gay & Bi men of all ages. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Here & Now Gay & Lesbian AA Meeting in Tacoma.

7:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N “K” St, Tacoma.

Every Tuesday.

Spiritual Empowerment. 7:30-9pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. A group for all LGBT & friends of any spiritual belief to explore how spiritual practice can enrich their life. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Washington Gender Alliance Open Support Meeting in Bellingham. 7:30-9pm. St James Presbyterian Church, 910 14th St., Bellingham. Every Tuesday. (360) 445-2411; www.washingtongenderalliance.com. (See Wednesday listing at 7:30pm for details.)

Seattle Otters Water Polo Team. 8-9:30pm. Medgar Evers Pool, 500 23rd Ave E (at E Cherry St). Every Tuesday & Thursday. GLBT & GLBT-friendly co-ed water polo team is open to all who want to play. Beginners & experienced players welcome. Check our website for up to the minute details, or call the Otter Hotline 414-8797. www.otterpolo.com.

Seattle Poetry Slam. Doors 8pm, Show 8:30pm. Rebar, 1114 Howell St. Every Tuesday. A spoken word poetry event that features a weekly open mic, feature poet, and slam (poetry competition). Come out and express yourself. LGBTQ- & QTPOC-friendly; all genders welcome. $5. 21+. seattlepoetryslam.org

community calendar

SATURDAY - December 31

(See previous Saturday for ongoing activities.)

WEDNESDAY - December 28

LGBTQ Support Group in Renton. 10am-12noon.

Renton Senior Activity Center, 211 Burnett Ave N. Meets the last Wednesday of every month. This newly-formed group will address issues while providing support & information that may be ubnique to the LGBTQ community.

Topics of discussion may be legal issues, housing, medical ‑needs, bereavement, acceptance ‑& othe topics of your choice. 425-430-6633, rentonwa.gov Mature Friends Morning Exercise/Health & Fitness Get-Together. 10am. Ballard Odd Fellows Hall Bldg, 1706 NW Market St. Every Wednesday. An hour of health-related activities, followed by a walk around Greenlake & lunch at a local restaurant. MF is a social group for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www. maturefriends.org True Colors: Connecting LGBTQ Teens in Shoreline.

4-5pm. Every Wednesday. Discussing your important issues, building a supportive community. For information, location & to REGISTER call Lindsay Bagley 362-7282 x 8018 or email lbagley@chs-nw.org GLOBE (GLBTQ Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered): A Support Group & HIV/STD Prevention for Youth (14-20) in Everett. 6-8pm. CCA Building, 3331 Broadway - Bottom Floor, Everett. Every Wednesday.

Sponsored by PFLAG Everett chapter. David/Brenda, (425) 263-2908. globeleaders@hotmail.com Q Patrol Organizing Meeting. 6pm. Douglass-Truth Library, 2300 E Yesler Way. The meeting will focus on forming policies for the Q Patrol Cop Watch program & assigning people specific roles.

The Rowing Team Peer Recovery Group. 6-7:30pm.

All Pilgrims Church, 500 Broadway E. Meets every Wednesday. This peer recovery group provides a safe & supportive faith community to share your recovery journey with, God answers our prayers & sends us a boat.

Sometimes rowing furiously for yourself & sometimes for others. All are welcome.

Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club. 6-7:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Wednesday. Discuss the best LGBT novels with other book-lovers in a safe, comfortable conversation. Come once or come every week. Check our website for this month’s book. http:// faculty.washington.edu/swittet/SGLBookClub/ SASG 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Lotus Sisters Meditation & Dharma Discussion North. 6:15-8pm. Ravenna Bryant neighborhood. Meets every Wednesday. Call 525-7295 for location. www.

LotusSisters.org.

Center for Spiritual Living. 6:30pm-Meditation, 7pmService. 5801 Sand Point Way NE. Blessings & we hope to see you soon! Info 527-8801 ext 203, www. cslseattle.org Seattle Frontrunners Fun Run. 6:30pm. Volunteer Park (in front of Black Sun across for museum). Every Wednesday. (See Saturday at 9am.)

Hermanos Trans Latino & Foreign-Born Support Group. 7pm. Entre Hermanos, 1105 23rd Ave. Bilingual (Spanish/English) Transsexual support group meets 2nd & 4th Wednesday each month to provide information, counseling, healthcare, sisterhood & social activities for Latino & foreign-born people in their transition. For more information contact Abby 322-7700, www.entre hermanos.org Ingersoll All-Trans Drop-In Support Group. 7-9pm.

Seattle Counseling Services, 1216 Pine St, Suite 300.

All Transgender, Gender Variant, Gender Queer, Gender

SLAA Road to Recovery. 12noon-1:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Meets every Friday. Ongoing 12 step group for sex & love addicts. www.sasgcc.org Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 4-10pm. Call for location & details. Every Friday.

(253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter.org (Also Thursdays 4-10pm & Saturdays 6pm-12 midnight.)

Strength Over Speed. 6-7:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. FREE drop-in support group (not a 12-step) for Gay & Bi men who desire recovery from meth. www.strengthoverspeed.org. SASG 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Mature Friends Monthly Potluck. 6:30pm-appetizers & socializing; 7:30pm-dinner. Ballard Odd Fellows Hall Bldg, 1706 NW Market St. Meets last Friday most months. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www.maturefriends.org Lambert House Queer Movie Night. 7-9:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Friday. Lambert House is a nationally-recognized activities & resource center for GLBT & questioning youth, ages 14-22. 322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org Rain Country Dance Night. 7-11pm, lessons at 7:15pm.

The Cuff, 1533 13th Ave. An evening of country-western dancing for the LGBTQ community. FREE. www.raincountrydance.org.

Destiny Gay AA Group in Tacoma. 7:30pm. New Heart MCC, 759 S 45th St, Tacoma. Every Friday.

(253) 474-8897.

Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Connolly Athletic Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday listing.)

LGBT Friday Night Al-Anon Family Group. 7:45pm.

Seattle Counseling Service, Rainbow Room, 1216 Pine St at Melrose Ave. Every Friday. The Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives & friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength & hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness & that changed attitudes can aid recovery. Greater Seattle AIS 24-hour number 625-0000; www.seattle-al-anon.org

SUNDAY - January 1

Happy New Year!

(See previous Sunday for ongoing activities. Because of the New Year holiday, some regularly scheduled events may be cancelled or rescheduled. Check with the sponsors of your event to confirm date, time & place.)

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Questioning, allies, family & friends are welcome. This is a drop in group to get & give support, social interaction & information for the whole Gender community. No fee, donations welcome. www.ingersoll center.org Mature Friends Weekly Bridge Group. 7:30pm. Call for location. Every Wednesday. All levels welcome. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www.maturefriends.org Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Connolly Athletic Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday listing.)

Washington Gender Alliance Open Support Meeting in Everett. 7:30-9pm. Everett United Church of Christ, 2624 Rockefeller Ave, Everett. Every Wednesday.

Trained peer facilitators lead a structured support meeting helping people deal with issues of gender identity & expression. All adults are welcomed, including those who are questioning, allies, or identify as FTM, MTF, Transgender, Queer, or Intersex, among others. (360) 445-2411; www.washingtongenderalliance.com.

THURSDAY - December 29

Alcoholics Anonymous “Safe & Sober Group.”

12noon-1pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Open meeting of AA. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org.

BABES Women’s Support Group/Lunch Meeting.

12 noon-2pm. Call for location. Every Thursday. The BABES Network is a peer led agency; a sisterhood of women facing HIV together. 720-5566 or 888-292-1912; www.babesnetwork.org.

Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 4-10pm. Call for location & details. Every Thursday. (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter.org (Also Fridays 4-10pm & Saturdays 6pm-12 midnight.)

Everett-Snohomish County Friendship Dinner for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS. 6pm. Grace UMC (formerly Firs United Methodist). Meets last Thursday most months. FREE. Everyone welcome. Sponsored by the Evergreen AIDS Foundation & SNOCO Gay Men’s Task Force. For information call (425) 252-7751.

Shifting Gears. 6-7:30pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Thursday. Drop-in support group (non 12-step) for anyone of any orientation or gender who desires recovery from drugs or alcohol. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org B-GLAD (Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans & Questioning Adolescent Drop-In Group). 6:30-8pm. Call for location. Every Thursday. Sponsored by Youth Eastside Services, which offers many programs for GLBT youth.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

(425) 747-4937.

Crystal Meth Anonymous. 6:30pm. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 1729 Harvard Ave. Also meets Mon @ 6:30pm, Sat @ 10:30am, Sun @ 6:30pm. More info: crystalmeth.org.

Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation - Contemplative Service. 6:30pm. 7141 California Ave SW. 935-0418, office@wsuu.org, www.wsuu.org Boys’ Group - For Male-Identified Youth, Ages 1422. 7-8:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Thursday. Youth take the opportunity to talk about issues that relate to their everyday lives, with the facilitation of a male volunteer. 322-2515 ext 16. www.lamberthouse.org Rainbow Duplicate Bridge. 7pm. Bus-accessible Central Area location. Every Thursday. (See Saturday listing at 6pm.)

Buddhism & Recovery. 7:30-9pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Thursday. A meditation/recovery group. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Gay Fathers Association of Seattle. 7:30-9pm. Group Health, 201 16th Ave E, Central Bldg, Lower Atrium.

Every Thursday. Support meetings for Gay fathers & Gay men who are currently or previously married. Safe, anonymous, non-judgmental environment of caring fathers & friends. You are not alone. For information, community events & “questioning” visit www.gfas.org or our message board at http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/ gayfathersseattle Gay Male Sexuality & Relationships. 7:30-9pm.

SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Every Thursday. A discussion group that is strictly focused on sexual topics and relationship issues related to being a Gay male.

322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Amor Chorale Rehearsal. 8-9pm. Amor Spiritual Center, 2528 Beacon Ave, Suite B. Meets every Thursday.

Calling all sopranos, altos, tenors & basses. The Amor Spiritual Center currently has openings for singers in its Chorale group.

Seattle Otters Water Polo Team. 8-9:30pm. Medgar Evers Pool, 500 23rd Ave E (at E Cherry St). Every Tuesday & Thursday. (See Tuesday listing at 8pm.)

FRIDAY - December 30

AA Ageless in Recovery. 12noon-1pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Meets every Friday. A drop in AA group for older & wiser people 55+. www.sasgcc.org Re-Parenting Ourselves. 12noon-1pm. SASG, 115 15th Ave E, Suite 201. Meets every Friday. A peer support group for adult children of any addiction. www. sasgcc.org

December 23, 2016

Allyship - an organization of LGBTQ individuals fighting for economic and social justice. www.LGBTQ Allyship. org, allyship@yahoo.com, 279-8169.

American Veterans for Equal Rights - www.aver.us Another Gay Social Club! - www.meetup.com/AnotherGay-Social-Club/ Bellingham/Whatcom County - www.theslowlane. com/guide.html BiNet Seattle is a mixed gender, social group for Bisexuals, their partners & other Bi-friendly folks - www. binetseattle.org.

Bremerton/Kitsap County - www.outwestsound.org Capitol Hill Alano Club - www.chacseattle.org Central Washington University GALA Hotline: (509) 963-1994.

DIFFA/Northwest (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). 763-8885; www.diffanorthwest.org DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: Crisis Clinic, 461-3222 (24 hour line); King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) - 24-hour crisis line for information, support, & medical & legal assistance: 1-888-99-VOICE; Northwest Network - support & advocacy for Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian & Gay Survivors of Abuse & Dating Violence, 568-7777 (voice), 517-9670 (tty), www.nwnetwork.org; Pierce County Domestic Violence Helpline: Teresa, (253) 798-4166; Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities - offers on-going support groups for men: 323-1768; Seattle Police Dept Domestic Violence Unit, 684-0330; State Wide Domestic Violence Hot Line, 1-800-562-6025.

In an emergency call 911. Report domestic violence and sexual assault.

Equal Rights Washington - 324-2570; www.equal rightswashington.org Everett/Snohomish Cty - www.gaysnohomish.org Freely Speaking Toastmasters - www.freely speaking.org Gay City promotes wellness in LGBTQ communities by providing health services, connecting people to resources, fostering arts, and building community. Gay City Health Project’s Wellness Center provides anonymous & confidential HIV/STD testing. 517 E Pike St. More info or to schedule an appointment, 860-6969. www.gaycity.org Gay & Lesbian National Hotline (GLNH): 1-888-THEGLNH (1-888-843-4564). Non-profit, peer-counseling, information & local resources telephone hotline for GLBT people across the country.

GLSEN/WA - Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network - 330-2099; www.glsenwa.org Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) - 3639188; www.thegsba.org HIV/AIDS Program, Seattle/King County Dept of Public Health, provides confidential/anonymous information about & testing for HIV/AIDS. 205-7837. For a comprehensive list of HIV/AIDS service organizations see the GSBA Guide or visit www.thegsba.org or call Lifelong AIDS Alliance, 328-8979.

Seattle Gay News 15

Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle & the Olympic & Rainier Empire - www.facebook.com/ISCSORE; www. imperialcourtofseattle.com Lambert House - 322-2515; www.lamberthouse.org LGBT Library - 517 E Pike St. Open Mon-Fri 2-8pm; Sat 2-5pm. A wide range of fiction and non-fiction for the LGBT community and allies can be borrowed free of charge.

LGBT MS Connection - 250-5002; LGBTMS Connection@gmail.com. Support group for LGBT persons with MS and their partners and their caregivers. Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance - 328-8979, www.lifelongaids alliance.org MEN: Gay City: 860-6969, www.gaycity.org; Knights of Mantra: 329-0886, www.jetchapterkofm.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.mature friends.org; Northwest Bears: www.nwbears.com; The Olympians: www.TheOlympians.net; POZSeattle: www.pozseattle.org; Q-Squared: www.qsquared.org; Rain City Jacks: www.raincityjacks.org; Seattle Gay Couples: www. seattlegaycouples.org; Seattle Men in Leather: www.seattlemeninleather. org; Seattle Prime Timers: Gay & Bi men 40 & over, www.seattle primetimers.org. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

MUSIC: Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony.org; Rainbow City Band: 1-866-841-9139 ext 2126; rainbowcityband@onebox.com; www.rainbowcity band.com; Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus: 388-1408, 323-0750. www.flyinghouse. org.

Northwest Lesbian & Gay History Museum Project - gayhistnw@aol.com Northwest Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf - www. nwrad.org Olympia/Thurston County: www.RainbowCenterOly. org Out & Equal Workplace Advocates/Seattle Regional Affiliate supports the work of LGBT employees and the growing number of ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) making a difference within local companies, including Alaska Airlines, Amazon.com, Amgen, AT&T, Bank of America, Deloitte, Macy’s, Microsoft, Russell Investments, Safeco Insurance, Starbucks Coffee, Xerox. www.outandequal.org/affiliates/seattle PARENTHOOD: Families Like Ours provides a gateway for LGBT families interested in adoption & provides a network of safe placement agencies, training, support & resources: 441-7602, www.familieslikeours. org; Family Works offers support, information & activities for LGBT families: 694-6727, www.familyworksseattle. org; Gay Fathers’ Association of Seattle offers support groups & social activities: www.gfas. org; Proud & Loud Families - Northwest, www.meetup.com/proudand-loud-families-northwest, plfnorthwest@aol.com; Queer Parent Networking Dinners: 568-7777, info@ nwnetwork.org; Rainbow Families of Puget Sound: www.rainbowfamiliesps.org PFLAG is the national organization for parents, families, allies, and LGBTQ people united for equality with chapters in Seattle, Bellevue/Eastside, the Puget Sound region and across Washington state. PFLAG Seattle: 206-325-7724, info@pflagseattle.org, and www.pflag seattle.org; PFLAG Bellevue/Eastside: 425-4836642, info@bellevue-pflag.org, http://community.pflag. org/PFLAGBellevue; PFLAG Pacific Northwest: www.pnwpflag.org; PFLAG Washington state: www. pflagwsc.org.

PEOPLE OF COLOR: AARTH (African American Reach & Teach Health Ministry), 850-2070, www. aarth.org; Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Network Program at API Chaya, 467-9976; Center for MultiCultural Health, 461-6910, www.multi-culturalhealth.org; Entre Hermanos, GLBT Latinos/as, 322-7700, www. entrehermanos.org; Ile LaiLai, 781-3565, iya@ilelailai. org; Men of All Colors & Cultures Together (MACCT), 923-8313, macctseattle@yahoo. com, www.macctsea.org; Nubian Pride Productions, nubianpride@ gmail.com; People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN) offers rapid HIV testing, M-F, 10am-5pm, 322-7061, www.pocaan.org and on Facebook; Seattle Two Spirit, SeattleTwoSpirit@ hotmail.com; Sistah 2 Sistah, LBT women of African descent, 322-7061, 2558951; Sistah Sinema, www.sistahsinema.com, info@ sistahsinema.com; Trikone-Northwest, GLBT South Asians, (425) 985-4376, www.trikonenw.org; Two-Spirit Honor Project, 1-866-685-0164; U.T.O.P.I.A. Seattle.

Pride Foundation - 323-3318; www.pridefoundation. org Project NEON is a program of Seattle Counseling Service providing FREE information & services to Gay & Bi men to reduce health risks associated with methamphetamine use. 323-1768. www.crystalneon.org Public Health-Seattle & King County Online Comprehensive Health Information for Sexual Minorities: www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/personal/ glbt.aspx Q Law: The GLBT Bar Association of WA - 682-6711; www.q-law.org; Q Law GLBT Legal Clinic - 235-7235.

Resource & Referral Line can connect you to LGBTfriendly resources throughout Puget Sound and beyond.

Call 323-LGBT Mon-Fri 2-8pm; Sat 2-5pm. At other times leave voice mail and your call will be returned. Or visit www.gaycity.org to view list of resources online or through Facebook.

Safe Schools Coalition - www.safeschoolscoalition. org; 451-SAFE (451-7233).

SEAMEC interviews, researches & rates candidates for public office on issues of concern to the LGBT community. 905-9941, www.seamec.org Seattle Area Support Groups & Community Center (SASG) is a non-profit organization that builds community and cultivates powerful, healthy lives by providing emotional support and personal development services

16 Seattle Gay News

community calendar

to those affected by HIV/AIDS, the Queer communities, and those who love them. Our work is done in a spirit of safety, trust, inclusiveness, and celebration of individual differences. 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities - 684-4503.

Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities is a community mental health service for GLBT persons & their families providing comprehensive mental health services on a sliding scale. 323-1768.

Seattle Out & Proud - 206-322-9561; www.seattle pride.org Seattle Police Department Sexual Minorities Community Advisory Council: kim.bogucki@seattle.gov Seattle PrideFest - www.seattlepridefest.org Seattle Treatment Education Project (STEP) E-zine is an electronic resource distributed to people affected

by HIV/AIDS, case managers, front line workers & other health professionals. Now a part of Lifelong AIDS Alliance, 328-8979, www.thebody.com/step/steppage.html Servicemembers Legal Defense Network - (202) 328-3244; www.sldn.org Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Abbey of St. Joan - 860-3666; www.theabbey.org Snohomish Health District HIV/AIDS Program provides free confidential/anonymous HIV counseling & testing 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, until 7pm Tuesdays.

(425) 339-5298.

Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) - www.facebook. com/socialoutreachseattle South Sound Q Calendar - LGBTQ events in Tacoma, Olympia & Sound Puget Sound area; www.South SoundQCal.com Spokane/Inland Northwest - www.outspokane.com; www.stonewallnews.net SPORTS & RECREATION: Bent Car Guys: www. bentcarguys.org; Border Riders Motorcycle Club: www.borderriders.com; Bottom Dwellers Scuba Club: www.bottomdwellers.org; Capitol Hill Cyclers: join their Facebook group or email capitolhillcycling@ groups.facebook.com or jordan.l.simonson@gmail.com; Cascade Flyers: www.cascadeflyers.org; Different Spokes Bicycling Club: www.differentspokes.org; Emerald City Mudhen Rugby: www.mudhenrugby. com; Emerald City Softball Association: www.emerald citysoftball.org, www.eteamz.com/womensecsa; Ethyl Forever Car Club: ethylforever@hotmail.com; Festival of the Babes: www.festivalofthebabes.com; Olympic Yacht Club: www.oycnw.org; OutVentures: outdoor education & recreation activities, www.outventures.org;

December 23, 2016

Pacific Northwest Gay Rodeo Association: www.pacificnwgra.org; Puddletown Squares: www.puddletownsquares.org; Rain City Soccer: www.raincitysoccer.org; Rain Country Dance Association: a country-western dance organization catering to the LGBTQ community but open to all, www.raincountrydance.org; Sea Dawgs: LGBT ice hockey - SkateSeaDawgs@gmail.com and on Facebook; Seattle Frontrunners: www.seattlefront runners.org; Seattle Gay Basketball Association: www. seattlegaybasketballassociation.com; Seattle Orca Swim Team: www.orcaswimteam.org; Seattle Otters Water Polo: www.otterpolo.com; Seattle Quake Rugby: www.quakerugby.com; Seattle Tennis Alliance: www. seattletennisalliance.org; Seattle Unified Bowling Association (SUBA): magee98106@aol.com, www. teamseattle.org/bowling.htm, www.theprideleague. com, Century 21 League; Seattle Volleyball Club: www.seattlevolleyballclub.com; Ski Buddies: www. skibuddies. org; Team Seattle Gay Sports Network is an umbrella organization for a wide range of local GLBT sports activities, 367-4064, www.teamseattle.org (see website for comprehensive list of sports clubs); Triangle Recreation Camp at Bender Creek: recreational camping for GLBT folks. Must be 21; ID required. trc@camptrc.org, www. camptrc.org, 1122 E Pike St #1069, Seattle 98122-3934.

Strength Over Speed - www.strengthoverspeed.org Tacoma/Pierce County - Rainbow Center, 2215 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, a resource center for the LGBTIQA community of Pierce County, (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org TRANSGENDER: Emerald City Social Club: (425) 827-9494; Gender Alliance of the South Sound: www.

SouthSoundGender.com; Gender Diversity: www. genderdiversity.org; Gender Justice League: www. genderjusticeleague.org; Gender Odyssey: www.genderodyssey.com; Hermanos Trans Latino & ForeignBorn Support Group: 322-7700; Ingersoll Gender Center: 329-6651, www.ingersollcenter.org; The New BoyZ Club: www.olympiaftmgroup.webs.com; Olympia Trans Discussion Group: www.facebook.com/pages/ Olympia-Trans-Discussion-Group/262449878114; Washington Gender Alliance: (360) 445-2411, www. washington genderalliance.com WOMEN: Aging Lesbians in South Seattle (ALISS): Fai, 722-0729, alissquestions@gmail.com; BABES: support groups for HIV+ women. 720-5566, 1-888-2921912; Festival of the Babes: www.festivalofthebabes. com; Lesbians Over 40: 722-0729; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.maturefriends.org; Older Lesbians Organizing for Change/WA State Chapter: gloria@oloc.org, mary@oloc.org, www.oloc.

org; Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives: www. pnwlesbianarchives.org; RainshadowWomen: RainshadowWomen@aol.com; Seattle Girls of Leather: www.sgol.org; Tacoma Lesbian Concern (TLC): www. tacomalesbianconcern.org; Women of West Seattle (WOWS): a fun, member-driven social group for Lesbians, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/womenofwestseattle; YWCA Women’s Health Outreach: providing low or no-cost mammograms for income eligible 40+ LBTQ individuals. Follow us at http://lbtqhealth-ywca.blogspot. com, twitter.com/ingridWHO or email lbthealth@ywcaworks.org, 461-4493. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

Yakima: First Fridays - (509) 576-0276. www.gayakima.com/1stfridays.html YOUTH: B-GLAD (Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans & Questioning Adolescent Drop-In Group): Youth Eastside Services offers many programs for GLBT youth, including B-GLAD, (425) 747-4937; Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; GLSEN/Washington State (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) & Washington State GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) Network: GLSEN works to create safe schools for LGBT students. WA GSA Network supports youth-led GSA’s to fight harassment & homophobia in Washington state schools. 330-2099; www.glsenwa. org; www.wagsa. org. GLOBE (GLBTQ Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered): a support group & HIV/STD prevention program for GLBTQ youth, 14-20, in Everett, (425) 263-2908, www.globeyouth.org; It Gets Better Project: www.itgetsbetter.org; Lambert House: an activities & resource center for LGBT youth, 14-22, in Seattle, 3222515, www.lamberthouse.org; Lifelong HEYO (Health Education Youth Outreach): for LGBTQ youth, ages 16-24: 957-1665; www.llaa.org/HEYO; www.Matthews Place.com; The Mockingbird Society: 323-KIDS (5437), www.mockingbirdsociety.org; Oasis Youth Center: for GLBTQ youth, ages 14-25, in Tacoma, (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcen ter.org; Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)/Puget Sound: 325-7724, www.seattle-pflag.org; Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS): 7268500; www.psks.org; Pizza Klatch: weekly lunchtime support groups for LGBTQ youth in Thurston County, www.pizzaklatch.org; Prism: for LGBTQ youth, 14-21, in Puyallup - Cherise.Alexander@ multicare.org; www. facebook.com/PuyallupPrism; Proud Out Wonderful (POW!): for LGBTQ youth, 13-21, in South King County, 206-326-9112, www.facebook.com/proudoutwonderful; Q Youth Resources: in Kitsap County - 360-698-3335; www.kchaf.org; Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS): LGBTQ, questioning and allied youth drop-in group, ages 12-18 - Sarah Hardin, 425-271-5600, ext 155; sarahh@rays.org; Safe Schools Coalition: www. safeschoolscoalition.org; 451-SAFE (451-7233) (nonemergency), 1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) (crisis line); Seattle Young People’s Project (Queer Youth Resource Board): 860-9606, www.sypp.org; Street Youth Ministries (SYM): 524-7301 ext 111; www.streetyouthministries.org; Teen Link: 461-4922, 1-888-431-TEEN; The Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor; www.thetrevorproject.org; True Colors - Connecting LGBTQ Teens: in Shoreline, 362-7282 x 8018, lbagley@chs-nw.org; Vista Youth Center: for LGBTQ, questioning and allied youth, ages 14-21, in Kennewick, 509-396-5198, www.vistayouthcenter.org; YouthCare/ Isis Program (Transitional Living Home for LGBTQ Young Adults, 18-22): 522-8412; YouthCare/Orion Center: 622-5555; Youth in Focus: 723-1479; www. youthinfocus.org; Youth Suicide Prevention Program (OUTLoud-GLBTQ): 297-5922, ext 116, 1-800-273TALK, www.yspp.org

Celebrating 41 Years!

Volunteer Park

• BACON MANSION

E. PROSPECT ST. • SHAFER MANSION E. ALOHA ST.

12TH AVE. E.

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16TH AVE. E.

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Seattle Central Community College • NEIGHBOURS

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NEW YORK EXCHANGE • STUDIO 229 • PANACHE • LAUGHING BUDDHA TATTOO •

BELLEVUE AVE.

• SEATTLE COUNSELING SERVICE FOR SEXUAL MINORITIES MELROSE AVE.

• JULIAʼS

DENNY WAY

BATHS

CLUB Z - (men) 1117 Pike near Boren - 622-9958 HOT HOUSE SPA & SAUNA - (women) SW corner of Pike & 11th (stairs behind Wildrose) - 568-3240 STEAM WORKS - (men) 1520 Summit - 388-4818

RESTAURANTS & BARS

88 KEYS - 315 2nd Ave. S. - 839-1300 BALTIC ROOM - 1207 Pine St. - 625-4444 THE BOTTLENECK LOUNGE 2328 E. Madison St. - 323-1098 C.C. ATTLE’S BAR & GRILLE 1701 E. Olive Way - 726-0565

THE CANTERBURY - 534 15th Ave. E. - 322-3130 CHANGES IN WALLINGFORD 2103 N. 45th - 545-8363 THE CRESCENT - 1413 E. Olive Way - 720-8188 THE CUFF COMPLEX 1533 13th Ave. - 323-1525 DIESEL BAR - 1413 14th Ave. - 322-1080 GLO’S - 1621 E. Olive Way - 324-2577 GNOCCHI BAR - 1542 12th Ave - 328-4285 HOT MAMA’S PIZZA - 700 E. Pine St. - 322-6444 JAZZ ALLEY - 2033 6th Ave. E. - 441-9729 JULIA’S - 300 Broadway Ave. E. - 860-1818 KREMWERK - 1809 Minor Ave. #10 - 682-2935 MAE’S CAFE 6412 Phinney Ave. N. - 782-1222 MADISON PUB - 1315 E. Madison - 325-6537 NEIGHBOURS - 1509 Broadway - 324-5358 OUT WEST - 5401California Ave. SW THE PINE BOX - 1600 Melrose Ave - 588-0375 POCO WINE ROOM 1408 E. Pine St. - 322-9463

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ON

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PONY - 1221 E. Madison St. - 324-2854 PURR - 1518 11th Ave. - 325-3112 R PLACE - 619 E. Pine - 322-8828 RE-BAR - 1114 Howell at Boren - 233-9873 SEATTLE EAGLE - 314 E. Pike - 621-7591 SHORTY’S 2222 2nd Ave - 441-5449 SPINNAKER BAY BREWING 5718 Rainier Ave S - 725-BEER(2337) STOUT -1530 11th Ave - 397-3825 TOULOUSE PETIT 601 Queen Anne Ave N - 432-9069 UNICORN - 1118 E Pike - 325-6492 WILDROSE - 1021 E. Pike - 324-9210 ZIPPY’S GIANT BURGERS 5633 Airport Way S - 466-5954 9614 14th Ave SW - 763-1347

RETAIL SHOPS

CASTLE SUPERSTORE #17 1017 E. Pike St - 204-0126 DOGHOUSE LEATHERS 1312 E. Pike St. - 257-0231 EMERSON SALON - 909 E. Pike St. - 323-7437 NEW YORK EXCHANGE 231 Broadway Ave E - 726-7978 ONYX LEATHER - 1605 12th Ave. #8 - 328-1965 PANACHE - 225 Broadway E. - 726-3300 RUCKUS 1465 E Republican St. - 257-4805 STAN’S ADULT SUPERSTORE 9630 16th Ave. SW - 762-3299 TOYS IN BABELAND - 707 E. Pike St. - 328-2914 UNDER U 4 MEN 709 Broadway Ave. E. - 324-6446 WILD AT HEART 1111 NW Leary Way - 782-5538 YOUR CHOICE VIDEO 9811 16TH AVE SW - 768-0711

LOVER’S 193 Telegraph Road - (360) 752-1862 RUMORS CABARET 1119 Railroad - (306) 671-1849

EVERETT

BAR MYX - 1212 California St. - 425-610-4071 LOVER’S - 112 SE Everett - (425) 353-3607 LOVER’S - 3402 Broadway - (425) 252-8754

KENT

LOVER’S 25801 104th Ave. S.E. - (253) 852-1720 THE FANTASY SHOP 604 Central Ave. S. - (253) 850-8428 NASHVILLE’S SPORTS BAR (Drag Shows) 114 - Railroad Ave. N. - (253) 852 - 0909

December 23, 2016

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• DOGHOUSE LEATHERS

E. PIKE ST. • CHOP SUEY • MADISON PUB • DIESEL BAR • PONY

BELLINGHAM

Visit us online www.sgn.org

• THE GASLIGHT INN

E. OLIVE ST.

E. UNION ST.

SEATTLE

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E. UNION ST.

LA CONNER

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OLYMPIA

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SPOKANE

ANDY’S 1401 W. 1st Ave. - (509) 747 - 0304 IRV’S (Drag Shows) 415 W. Sprague Ave. - (509) 624 - 4450 NYNE BAR AND BISTRO 232 W. Sprague Ave. - (509) 474 -1621 SPOTLIGHT LOUNGE 321 W. Sprague Ave. - (509) 624 - 0722

TACOMA

CASTLE SUPERSTORE 6015 Tacoma Mall Blvd. - (253) 471-0391 CLUB SILVERSTONE 739½ St. Helens Ave. - (253) 404-0273 THE FANTASY SHOP 2301 6th Ave. - (253) 272-6640 LOVER’S 7002 Tacoma Mall Blvd., #F - (253) 475-2271 THE MIX - 635 St. Helens Ave. - (253) 383-4327 RAINBOW CENTER 2215 Pacific Ave. - (253) 383-2318 SHAKABRAH JAVA CAFE 2618 6th Ave. - (253) 572-2787 TANDEM FOR GEAR, CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES 3019 6th Ave, Ste. B - (253) 301-3026

TUKWILA

LOVER’S 530 Southcenter Blvd. - (206) 248-5085

WENATCHEE

THE CELLAR CAFE 240 N. Mission St. - (509) 662-1722

Seattle Gay News 17

22 FOR SALE 10 HOUSEMATES 11 FOR RENT 12 HOUSING WANTED 13 HOUSING FOR SALE

14 HELP WANTED

36 ESCORTS

20 HEALTH & WELL-BEING

37 BODYWORK

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Therapeutic massage. 29 years experience. Relaxation, major/minor injuries, chronic muscle pain. Small Queen Anne home office/studio. Massage table or massage chair. Convenient parking. (I’m a Gay-friendly straight male graphic artist, web author.) First session 50% off = $45/1.5 hours (travel extra). By appointment only. References available. Chris Pringer, Reiki Master, 206-286-0899. If you get a voice message mentioning “extension #,” please hang up and call back again.

Brochure, testimonials, etc. via chalicebridge.com/ BMI-Brochure.html. 44/21

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HIV OUTREACH SPECIALIST

The Seattle HIV Vaccine Trials Unit is seeking someone to join our community outreach team to recruit participants for our HIV prevention research. Most of the recruitment will occur in local venues that may include street locations, community events, community-based organizations, bars, dance clubs, and sex clubs. The position is able to accommodate a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends on an “as needed basis.”

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38 MEN

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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– FREE & ANONYMOUS HIV & STD COUNSELING/TESTING Walk-In or by Appt GAY CITY HEALTH PROJECT 517 E. Pike St. MON-FRI: 3pm-8pm SAT: 12:30pm-5pm More Info & to Schedule Appt 206-860-6969 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Flashy Assassin’s Creed another video game adaptation gone wrong

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer ASSASSIN’S CREED Now playing Instead of being executed by Texas for murdering a pimp, Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender) has been secretly whisked away by the powerful Abstergo Industries to take part in their secret DNA experiments run by brilliant scientist Dr. Sofia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard). Under the direction of her father (Jeremy Irons), the company’s founder, she is going to place the convicted criminal in her machine known as The Animus. Once attached, she will then attempt to connect him with his blood ancestors, hopefully 15th century Spaniard Aguilar de Nerha, the last man known to have been in contact with a biblical artifact known as the Apple of Eden.

Turns out, Aguilar was a trusted member of a fearsome order known as The Assassins, their goal to keep the Apple and its secrets safe from the Knights of Templar. For centuries, they’ve wanted this artifact, its powers fabled to have the capacity to erase free will thus bending all of humanity to the Templar’s thinking. They believe that by zapping this gift from God away from the people of the Earth they will in turn be saving it, eradicating violence forever, but at a cost those in the ranks of The Assassins believe is far too gigantic to be comfortably paid.

18 Seattle Gay News

Based on the popular video game series of the same name, there’s certainly no shortage of talent both behind and in front of the camera as far as the epic, centuriesspanning adventure Assassin’s Creed is concerned. Reuniting the core creative team behind last year’s Shakespeare stunner Macbeth (stars Fassbender and Cotillard, director Justin Kurzel, co-screenwriter Michael Lesslie, composer Jed Kurzel and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw), it isn’t like there isn’t a lot to be impressed about here. But, much like close-but-no-cigar video game adaptations that have come before it like Duncan Jones’ Warcraft and Mike Newell’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, this one can’t help but come up a little bit short, failing to deliver an entertaining and involving narrative that warrants even a single solitary ounce of all this fuss.

The problem is that none of this, not an ounce of it, makes any logical or practical sense. Having never played the games, I cannot claim how faithful Lesslie, Adam Cooper (Exodus: Gods and Kings) and Bill Collage’s (Allegiant) script is to the source material. Be that as it may, this is convoluted even for a video game adaptation, the narrative traipsing back and forth through history with bewildering abandon with no concern whether the pieces are fitting together comfortably. But it’s the present day stuff going on inside the Abstergo Industries corporate headquarters that’s most idiotic. What’s the point of keeping

December 23, 2016

around blood descendants of all these assassins once they’ve served their usefulness? How does Sofia not see how her invention is being perverted? And, speaking of The Animus, what exactly does it do to those put inside of it? Do they suddenly get super powers, knowing all the skills of their ancestors? Is it like the Matrix and much like Neo once you jack-in are you suddenly gifted the power of kung fu?

These are only a handful of the questions that the filmmakers don’t bother to even try and answer, but they are arguably the most important ones. The sheer volume of silly lunacies transpiring over the course of the two or so hours the film runs are incalculable, trying to keep track of them all as pointless an exercise as any that can be imagined. Even for a video game movie, this thing is dumb. But, more than that, it doesn’t have the good sense to revel in that stupidity, everything treated with a somber seriousness more suitable to Kurzel, Fassbender and Cotillard’s last joint project but feels utterly alien and not at all appropriate here.

Thing is, Kurzel and his crackerjack production team are far too talented for any of this to fall completely flat. Not only is Jed Kurzel’s score magnificent, so is Arkapaw’s dynamic cinematography and Christopher Tellefsen’s (Moneyball) lyrical editing. Additionally, the action sequences, at least the ones unaided by noticeably obnoxious CG-generated enhancements, most notably the ones taking place during the

Spanish Inquisition, are extraordinary, the fluidity of the images made more magnetic thanks to the aggressiveness of the violence. There’s a stunning escape and chase sequence through a 15th century city that’s an adrenaline-filled triumph, while a third act battle between the Assassins and the Templar-controlled security guards inside The Animus chamber is frankly incredible.

Maybe video game movies will never work. Maybe they’re so beholden to their source material they can’t make the necessary changes required in order to work as a piece of narrative cinema. Seriously, what is there to say when the best of the genre is still the first Resident Evil movie released way back in 2002 that has since spawned five sequels of varying quality ranging from passably okay to astonishingly terrible?

Kurzel and company try their hardest to change things, and at times they do come amazingly close to pulling it off. But overall Assassin’s Creed is just too laughably nonsensical to be the one to do it. As cool as it all looks every now and then, and as glorious as the action can be, the characters are lifeless and the story is a chaotic nightmare, nothing holding together in ways that could add up to something substantive. This is nothing more than another video game adaptation that fails to rise to the challenge of being reborn for the cinema, and as such is a forgettable also-ran with precious little of merit allowing it to stand out from any of its equally unremarkable brethren.

Celebrating 41 Years!

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December 23, 2016

Seattle Gay News 19

20 Seattle Gay News

December 23, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!