Out There :: Look Back in Gayness

LGBTQ Pride Month goes by in a big pink blur, and Out There never has enough time to catch you up with our multifarious activities. So this week, we offer a few brief reprises.

First, some well-earned kudos to dancer Jose Gutierrez (of Madonna's timeless "Vogue" video) for flying out from NYC to perform at the 10th-year anniversary of impresario Mark Rhoades' Pride Kick-off Party at the Bentley Reserve, sponsored by PG&E. Rhoades commented, "Jose's career spans so many significant moments in pop culture and dance history, and it was an honor to see him bring some of that history to San Francisco. I hope he'll come back soon!" With his wings on!

Then, the Frameline 41 Closing Night Film, Frameline Award presentation & wrap party brought LGBTQ Pride week to a dramatic close. Director Vincent Gagliostro's first feature "After Louie" was given its West Coast Premiere at the Castro Theatre. Sam (Alan Cumming) is a survivor from the early days of the AIDS cataclysm, and he hasn't got over his guilt and grief, decades later. A chance meeting with young knockout Braeden (Zachary Booth) shakes things up. It's a rare film that deals with HIV/AIDS, survivor guilt, and that subtle but certain generation gap between gay men who lived through the worst years of the plague and the young gay men who have no direct experience with it.

"After Louie" star Cumming was deservedly honored with the 2017 Frameline Award, presented by SF filmie Marc Huestis before the screening. Cumming was gracious and charming in his acceptance remarks. Unfortunately, during the post-film Q&A, an individual from the audience took the stage and proceeded to make the whole occasion about himself. Afterwards, Frameline 41 celebrated another great year of films with a festive Closing Night Party held at Oasis nightclub. OT enjoyed making the scene on the club's roof deck with celebrated friends and others.

After San Francisco Opera's June 27 performance of "Rigoletto," General Director Matthew Shilvock presented Head of Wardrobe Geoffry M. Craig with the Opera Medal, the highest honor awarded by SFO, in appreciation of his 36 years with the company. The brief ceremony garnered heartfelt ovations. Craig made a point of sharing the honor with his colleagues in the Theatrical Wardrobe Union. Yay for organized labor!

Following San Francisco Symphony's stunning June 28 performance of Berlioz's "Romeo et Juliette," a reception in the luxurious Wattis Room celebrated 15 years of SFS Media, the orchestra's own record label, which captured the concert live for future release, probably within the year. We're big fans of SFS Media, which has preserved some of the SFS' most consequential performances for posterity.

The Berlioz, with full orchestra, the men and women of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and guest soloists, all led by music director Michael Tilson Thomas, was an impressive spectacle, one that the SFS hasn't attempted since 2003. Audience favorites mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, tenor Nicholas Phan, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni all turned in their solos with confidence and artistry, and the blend of vocal and instrumental melody was always in balance. A rare opportunity to hear one of the landmarks of 19th-century French art-music was not wasted on these thirsty ears. In this and all preceding events, Out There was privileged to be in the room where it all went down.

Odd Bird

Landmark Theatres & Strand Releasing will present the exclusive Bay Area engagement of "The Ornithologist," opening Fri., July 7, at Landmark's Opera Plaza Cinema in SF, and Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley. Let's go to the release.

"Fernando (Paul Hamy), a handsome solitary ornithologist looking for endangered black storks along a remote river in northern Portugal, is swept away by the rapids. He is rescued by two Chinese pilgrim girls on their way to Santiago de Compostela, but they prove too possessive, so he must escape from them, venturing deeper into the wilderness. His journey turns into a Homeric spiritual quest, taking him on a path that comes to resemble the adventures of St. Anthony, driven to extreme, transformative actions. On his strange odyssey, Fernando encounters demonic animistic folk marauding at night, bare-breasted equestrian Amazons speaking Latin, and a handsome deaf-mute shepherd named Jesus. In the end Fernando becomes a different man: inspired, multifaceted, and finally enlightened. A mind-blowing, mysterious, mesmerizing and surreal film, filled with beautiful visions, transgressive eroticism and unexpected humor. Directed and co-written by Jo�o Pedro Rodrigues ('O Fantasma,' 'Two Drifters'). (Partially subtitled)." Save us a seat!