SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES
12 August 2002
That's not a clever title I just dreamed up; it's the title of the show we went to see tonight. I'll get to that in a minute. I'm in LA now, using Michael's computer. The keyboard is a bit sticky, so this may be slow going.
First, let me talk about how really dumb I am.
I didn't quite get it all finished last night; I indulged myself in an extra hour of sleep (bringing the grand total to 3) instead of typing Dr. G's tape. I remembered that I'll be going directly from the airport to the office on Tuesday and even if I had it all finished, I wouldn't have it with me, so why worry about it when I could sleep another hour?
This morning I finished packing (how much do you have to pack for a weekend?) and Walt was ready to drive me to the airport. He asked me if I had Michael's phone number in case he needed to get hold of me. I told him I didn't know it off the top of my head, but that I had my cell phone with me and he could reach me there.
And I flew to LA.
It was lovely to see Michael again (as well as Maggie, who is a TLS person from Philadelphia, who is also here for the new show Monday night) and to get the tour of his new townhouse. When we walked in the door, I could hear my phone beeping. Not ringing, like someone was calling, but beeping. I didn't remember that it beeped when the battery was low and my first thought was "oh shit--I forgot to charge the batteries."
I pulled the phone out of my purse and.........IT WAS THE CORDLESS PHONE FROM THE HOUSE!!!!!
Yes, I had stuck the house phone in my purse, thinking it was the cell phone. I had to call Walt to let him know--and then pictured him running around the house trying to find a phone to answer! It turns out that not only do I have the cordless phone, but also my cell phone as well.
Anyway, with that bit taken care of, Maggie decided to go take a nap. Michael and I sat here chatting for a long while, complimenting each other on how slim we both have become since we last saw each other.
Then it was time to go to the show. Michael had arranged for us to see his latest favorite show, something called "Southern Baptist Sissies." I really didn't know what to expect from this show and Michael had only told me very little bits about it, but raved about it, so I said that sure, I'd like to see it.
It's a very powerful piece, and in a lot of ways reminiscent of The Last Session. It's about four boys in a Southern Baptist church trying to come to terms with their homosexuality, each in his own way. It's funny, poignant, sad, and funny again.
The thing that was the saddest of all is, again, the realization of how much pain and suffering has been caused by dictatorial religions, and people who try to conform to standards that were never designed for everyone, but how good people, trying to do the right thing--and discover for themselves what the right thing is can be so powerfully affected.
The cast was just wonderful--and I've left my program dowstairs or I'd comment more about that, but I'm on vacation; I can just enjoy the production without having to review it!
Oh yeah--and, this being Hollywood, seated in the small (maybe 50 seats?) theatre were Gerald McRaimey and his wife Delta Burke.
So I'm going to sleep now. I just realized that I'm very tired and am probably making no sense here at all. Tomorrow is the big day--we're going to the Judy Garland exhibit at the Hollywood museum.
Oh. Yeah. And I guess we'll go see Steve's new show too.
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