An advertised ( but unreviewed ) book in the NY Times Book Review ( 11/25 ) : Lovers Legends: The Gay Greek Myths by A. Calimach. A quoted hype: "The perfect antidote to schoolyard homophobia." It'd be nice if this work makes explicit those ancient Greek texts' homosexual sections which in years past were often left out of, or untranslated, in modern editions. It'd also be interesting if it clarified the fact that ancient Greek same-sex love relationships were not very similar to modern same-sex relationships.
Tony Kushner, who dramatized AIDS and won a Pulitzer for it with Angels in America, has written a prescient dramatic monologue, Homebody/Kabul. Written before 9/11, a character in the play says that the Taliban is "... coming to New York!" The article in The NY Times ( 11/25 ) goes on to say "It's not often that a gay Jewish writer composes dialogue for Muslims in a land he's never seen." Kushner tried to travel in Afghanistan but was blocked by a Taliban official who'd gone on the Internet and read about him.
From the "Abuse-That-Dare-Not-Speak-It's-Name" department, the pope, according to the Chicago Tribune ( 11/23 ) , tucked a one-paragraph apology re sexual abuse within the church and in society as a whole into a 120-page message. The apology, while needed, was only applied to abuse of nuns and other women by priests and bishops. Not a word referring to the much complained about abuse of young men by priests and bishops.
In an article touting Vancouver's new Asian-Pacific cosmopolitan look, The NY Times ( 11/26 ) also compliments the city on its general easy-going: "Gay, straight or neither, people of all kinds seem to find the climate good and the atmosphere tolerant, residents say. Ms. Gold [ a local writer on pop culture ] tells the story of an Indian who spends part of the year on traditional fishing grounds with his tribe, and the rest of the time performing as a well-known drag queen."
Reviewing an Elton John concert in Madison Square Garden, The NY Times ( 11/30 ) said he got the balance right between somberness because of 9/11, and entertainment. He sang his tribute song to New York, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," and also "Funeral For a Friend" and other songs from his new album ( Songs From the West Coast ) including "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" about a dancer with AIDS, and "American Triangle" about Matthew Shepard.
The positive review of Chicago's Shakespeare Theater's revival of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures in The NY Times ( 11/26 ) says it is interesting in both its contemporary aptness ( one line brings gasps from the audience, "Tower tumbles, Tower rises" ) though it's 25 years old, and the layers of ambiguity given the musical by its all-male cast, especially in a seduction scene of a young girl by sailors.
National Public Radio ( 11/30 ) had an essay about the discouragement among gay volunteers who pass out anti-AIDS condoms and the like at circuit parties where they observed dancers tossing the condoms so they could use the plastic baggie they were in for drugs and change.
Both the theater critic of the Chicago Tribune ( 11/14 ) and the Chicago Reader ( 11/25 ) responded favorably to the "Laramie Project," the play which attempts to analyze the Matthew Shepard murder. The Trib's reviewer notes that however powerful the play is, the people who need to see it probably won't.