The Saloon Brings in The Big Top!

Muffins:

I cannot tell you how refreshing it was just the other night, to sit with Saloon manager, Tim Belfanz along with Designer and Producer, Mark Durkop of The Event Dynamic.  The purpose of the meeting was to flesh out the details of The Big Top!  The event is happening on Saturday November 12, 2011 at The Saloon located at 830 Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.

The Big Top

… Continue Reading

Pride Descending

Well Muffins it is here!  Pride weekend 2011 for Minnesota!

While some have opted to get as far away from the chaos that is about to descend upon our fair state – oh wait… did I say FAIR? – never mind that is another post… others are bracing themselves for self-induced sleeplessness and mayhem! … Continue Reading

What the F*K?

For those of you who have been in a zone of your own you may want to listen up.  Last night at the St. Anthony Main theater the world premiere of Genderf*kation aired.  The film is perhaps one of the most important independents of our time.  Why is this?  The topic is current, relevant and newsworthy.  More importantly it is a well produced piece directed my Minneapolis’ own Chris Durant.  … Continue Reading

Out Twin Cities Film Fest Welcomes Queer Cinephiles at Saint Anthony Main

Elite members of the film world may have been rubbing elbows at the globe’s most prominent film festival in Cannes as recently as last week, but for filmmaker Chris Durant and his team of volunteers, the only film festival that truly matters right now is being held not an ocean’s length away, but within our collective backyard.

Today, Durant and his crew open the doors of Minneapolis’ Saint Anthony Main Theater to present the Second Annual Out Twin Cities Film Fest.  The only film festival in the Twin Cities area committed overtly to offering a platform for local and international LGBTQ filmmakers, last year’s inaugural screening of the OTCFF was best characterized by its modest selection of films, screened within the intimate confines of the historic Heights Theater.  With a larger venue and a greater volume of submissions and volunteer support, however, attendees can anticipate a far more ambitious effort in this Festival’s sophomore year.

“There are four days this year whereas [last year’s Fest] only had two,” says Durant, who is serving his second year as Festival Director.  In all, this year’s Fest has scheduled ten features, over a dozen short films and four music videos to be screened throughout the four days.  Of those submissions, Durant laments that only seven titles come from Minnesota filmmakers.  “This is either because not many local queer filmmakers are aware of the festival,” Durant explains, “or not many films were made this year.” Durant elaborates that maintaining the tone and the quality of the Fest also required the preclusion of a few local submissions.

The OTCFF additionally will offer platforms for several filmmakers to speak to Festival attendees.  Slated to speak Saturday evening is adult filmmaker Buck Angel.  Director Mike Skiff is also scheduled to make an appearance; he will host a Q&A following the screening of his film Kink Crusaders.  Attendees who hold out to the Festival’s final day will be treated to a screenwriting workshop, led by Au Pair, Kansas writer/director JT O’Neal.  Au Pair, Kansas is set to close the festival following O’Neal’s workshop.

Last year, the Film Fest was notable for showcasing a great deal more than just movies, and this year should be no different.  “This year’s festival is truly about community and ‘Making It Better,’” Says Durant, referencing the theme to this year’s OTCFF, itself an obvious play on the “It gets Getter” mantra that many in the community have supportively embraced.

Indeed, if the announced lineup for this year is any indicator, OTCFF 2011 appears as resolute in its commitment to the progress made in the Twin Cities LGBTQ community outside of the cinema as it is committed to the filmmakers being showcased.  Scheduled at tonight’s opening, which is free to the public, is a screening of the Bill Brummell and Geoffrey Sharp timely film Bullied.  The film will be bookended by the announcement of the Rainbow Health Initiative Photo Contest winners and a tribute to the family of Justin Aaberg, who killed himself last fall due to homophobic bullying at school.

The Film Festival will also offer a platform to Minnesota State Rep. Steve Simon, famous most recently for his memorable quip in opposition to Minnesota’s Marriage Amendment.

Holding a sophomore film festival with this kind of scope and ambition is sure to cause as many obstacles as it does opportunities.  Durant concedes the journey to realizing this year’s festival has not been easy, with challenges ranging anywhere from obtaining sponsors to finding out how best to utilize the talents of a much larger body of volunteers.  But Durant remains optimistic about the quality of films he and his team have lined up for this year’s attendees.  “We have sought out a wide array of amazing films and events to make this festival provocative and diverse.”

Will the Second Annual Out Twin Cities Film Fest make good on its goal of “Making it Better” through community and through cinema?  We will have to see what this weekend has to offer.

The Out Twin Cities Film Festival will be playing at the Saint Anthony Main Theater from June 2 and June 5.  The Official Event Schedule is available here.

For more information on the Out Twin Cities Film Festival and to purchase tickets, visit the Festival’s official web site.

Weekend Preview Plus 5-20 through 5-29-11

Muffins: Although summer has not yet descended, apparently there is enough buzz about the much anticipated ascension that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to help us prepare.  In the event that you are not “chosen” to rapture on Saturday – here are my picks for the best things to do with yourself. … Continue Reading

Weekend Preview Plus 5-13 thru 5-21-2011

Muffins:

This is the time of year where everybody gets busy.  Between the graduation parties,the outdoor events and concerts, the weddings and the trips you may find it hard to take time for yourself.  Don’t fret!  You don’t need to take it ALL in (as much as you may wish to).  That’s where the Weekend Preview Plus comes in.  I am trying to help get the word out on a few select  opportunities so you do not need to be overwhelmed with the plethera of choices brought daily by Facebook and other social media sources.  If you are an organizer and you wish to have your event featured on TheColu.mn drop me a line at Style@thecolu.mn!

Here’s this weeks line up.

Featured Event!

Twin Cities Pride Art Exhibition, May 7-June 10

Twin Cities Pride and The Art Institutes International Minnesota are pleased to announce that the work of 11 local artisans will be featured in the 2011 Twin Cities Pride Art Exhibition to be held May 7-June 10 at The Art Institutes International Minnesota located at 15 S 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Hours for the gallery are 8 AM-5 PM seven days a week. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The exhibition is dedicated to supporting and showcasing the work of visual artists from across the region. Artists to be featured in the exhibition have created works in a variety of media including painting, photography, collage and illustration. Artist Kurt Hippauf, a BEST IN SHOW winner from the 2010 Twin Cities Pride Exhibition, will have additional pieces of artwork featured in the Gourmet Gallery restaurant at The Art Institutes International Minnesota located directly across from the Art Gallery. Artists featured in the 2011 Twin Cities Pride Exhibition include:

Rakhi Singh Bisen
Marc DeBauch
Amina Harper
Kurt Hippauf
Kay Hughes
Chase Lindberger
Drake McDougall
Jeffrey Morrison
George Roedler
Timothy Sylte
John Vasiliou

Friday

Red Ribbon Ride Fundraiser
9PM

MPLS Eagle
515 WASHINGTON AVE S
Minneapolis, MN

A Fundraiser for The MN RED RIBBON RIDE.
A fundraiser for two riders, Brent Fourre,, and Tom Kerby. We are both trying to raise $1500.00, So we are asking for your help. Our event is a beer bust from 9pm to 12 midnite,.. $10.00 suggested donation. the ride is a 4day event to raise awareness and support for people in MN, living wih HIV/AIDS. If you want to mak a donation, to either of us and cannot make it, www.REDRIBBONRIDE.ORG

THANK YOU!

Saturday

KICK UP YOUR HEELS!!!!! A kick off event/show!!
8PM
Annex Theatre-Nick & Eddie-Alley Entrance!!
1612 Harmon Pl 612-486-5800 Entrance Through Back ALLEY!!!!
Minneapolis, MN

The Minneapolis Burlesque & Cabaret Social Club!
invites you to
Come KICK UP YOUR HEELS!!! at this Kick-off Event!!!!

This is an event to kick off:
…-Our new performance space!!
-Golden GRRRLS! A Drag history celebration and fundraiser for
The Aliveness Project!!
-AND New AFTER-BAR DRAG BREAKFAST!!!

Hosted by Polly and the Hot Buttered Crackers!!!

Sunday

Brother Circle of Minneapolis – AIDS Walk Cookout
Sunday, May 15 · 11:00am – 2:00pm
Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis, MN (4801 Minnehaha Ave – Smpls )
This year, we are going to take the BCM party to the walk. Join us for food, fellowship and feedback this coming Sunday morning/afternoon The New Brother Circle of Minneapolis (BCM612) V.2.0 –Shouts to everyone that turned out for the last BCM on Easter Sunday. We had a great turnout and hope we can get a bigger one this Sunday. As discussed at our last BCM612 meeting, we are now once a month, breaking out into the community to share space with other agencies and programs in which GLBT men of all races are comfortable and congregate. What better place to do this than the AIDS Walk!

Monday

Punk Rock Bowling
9:30
Memory Lanes & Flashback Cafe
2520 26th Ave South
Hey fellas and ladies Looking for something to do on a Monday night? Want to hangout with some cool guys, throw some balls and listen to some good music, while bathing in the ambient glow of black lights and disco balls?

Then join PrideAlive on Monday night May 16th 2011 at Memory Lanes for Punk Rock Bowling!(it’s only $5!!!) And we will see who bowls a “Gentleman’s 40″

Thursday

Uptown: the Musical

Intermedia Arts, Uptown Minneapolis
2822 Lyndale Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN

Vegans and hipsters and baristas…oh my!

Box Wine Theatre presents “Uptown: the Musical” by Adam Sharp and Bethany Simmons with music by John McConville.

Join us for a musical journey through Uptown as the locals fight to save that thing that makes them “Uptowners!”

Cast:
Kyler Chase, Andi Cheney, Sarah Frazier, Oliver Sharp, Cody Stewart, Jon Michael Stiff, and Milo Weil.

Live Band:
Anthony Bloch, John McConville, Jason Mclean, and Chad Sclavi.

PERFORMANCE @7:00 // THU 5/19
PERFORMANCE @7:00 // FRI 5/20
PERFORMANCE @7:00 // SAT 5/21
PERFORMANCE @3:30 // SUN 5/22 (pay what you can)
PERFORMANCE @7:00 // THU 5/26
PERFORMANCE @7:00 // FRI 5/27
PERFORMANCE @7:00 // SAT 5/28
PERFORMANCE @3:30 // SUN 5/29 (pay what you can)

Tickets: $10-$15 sliding scale
**Discount with Fringe button, student ID, or if you bike or take public transportation to the performance.**

Friday

Drag for Fun: A Fundraiser for Greg Glass
Friday, May 20 at 10:00pm -  May 21 at 1:00am
The Bolt Underground
515 Washington Ave
As many of you know, Greg, one of Minneapolis’s best bartenders, has recently undergone heart surgery.

To show him support and love, a few wonderful friends and drag performers will be gathering for a fundraiser for him to help offset some of the medical expenses he’s incurred.

It looks to be a fun night of impromptu fun and song with all donations and tips raised going to Greg.

And you won’t believe it! Special Guest Emcee: Tinea!

If you’re a performer, and would like to do a number, please let me know.

Also, there will be an auction of one of Greg’s most prized possessions, considered by many to be an institution of The Eagle since he started working there in 1998: Greg’s Overalls!

Come and join in the fun in the Underground!

Saturday

TGIFrybread* Presents: Minwaajimo (She/he is Telling a Good Story)

5PM
The Loft
1011 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Please join the TGIFrybread Native Writers’ Group for Minwaajimo, its first public reading, on Saturday, May 21, from 5 to 8 p.m.

The evening’s program includes:
• 15 talented writers reading from their stories, poems, and other writings
• An intermission with food and beverages provided
…• A Q&A session: an opportunity to learn more about the readers and their
writings

This event is free and open to the public and will take place at the Loft in the Target Performance Hall located on the second floor of
Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue
South in Minneapolis.

For more information please contact Ardie Medina at amedina@loft.org or 612-215-2582.

*TGIFrybread is a Loft-sponsored Open Writing Group. For information on other Loft-sponsored writing groups and other Loft events, please visit the Loft’s website at www.loft.org.

Weekend Preview Plus 5/6 Special Edition

Muffins, I do apologize for having dropped the ball for the past several weeks.  Between illness and injury I have had a bit of a rough go of it.  I am back on the treadmill with you and bringing you my best picks of upcoming events.  I am grateful that the weather does seem to finally be improving somewhat so get out and enjoy! … Continue Reading

Weekend Preview Plus 4-1 through 4-10-11

Muffins: I am happy to report that spring has sprung (finally!)  I was walking into my office yesterday and saw two robins.  What a welcome sight.  That combined with the rain, green grass and buds bursting everywhere tells me that we are about to have a reprieve from this arduous winter!  Along with the arrival of Spring comes a host of events to attend.  And then we are headlong into another glorious Minnesota summer.  Just last night I had a little birdie tell me that early summer will bring an event like no other this city has seen!  Just you wait for the details to emerge about a night of one hundred drag divas gracing a single stage! … Continue Reading

From the Archives: The 70′s Drag Queens of Hennepin Avenue

A pioneer ancestor of Minnesotan centers for young people—continued by St. Paul’s Club Vogue (1991-1992) and, years later, by District 202—the Club was a pivotal space in the history of Minnesota’s queer youth. The “theatre lounge” was a nonalcoholic social venue for gender nonconforming teenagers and young adults that occupied the second floor of an opulent—if small—2 -story building next to the Orpheum Theater on Hennepin Avenue. Once a headquarters of local circus managers and carnival hosts, [i] the space opened on Halloween in 1970 as “the ‘new’ after hours coffee house for gay people” that marked a southward shift in queer nightlife away from the Mississippi River and towards Loring Park. [ii] … Continue Reading

Ethel Merman For Equality

In 2011, if someone told you old Ethel Merman songs could have a part in positive social change, would you believe them?

After a fashion, that’s what Al Justiniano, artistic director of St Paul’s Teatro del Pueblo will be trying to do with Teatro’s annual Political Theater Festival, running this weekend and next. Alongside “Aliens, Immigrants, and Other Evildoers,” the festival will feature “¡Gaytino!,” a one-man show written and performed by Los Angeles-based actor and director Daniel Guererro, about growing up as a gay, Latino, baby boomer. Teatro is using a $7,000 grant from the PFund Foundation to produce the show.

But it’s exactly Guererro’s age and somewhat dated cultural references that Justiniano says will help spark a discussion of homophobia within the Twin Cities’ Latino community.

“[Guererro’s] generation is one of the very toughest in our community when it comes to homophobia,” Justiniano told TheColu.mn. Like most young people across the nation, Justiniano says he thinks young Latnios are more likely to be accepting, as they are growing up surrounded by many more positive portrayals of LGBT people than their parents.

“His father [Eduardo “Lalo” Guererro] was one of the most famous Mexican-American singers of his generation. I think he can touch boomers like that,” Justiniano said. “We’re trying to educated subtly, without lecturing.”

Justiniano says Guererro’s performance will be followed by structured discussion, where the actor himself will take part. To make sure the show won’t be preaching to an audience of LGBT-rights supporters, Justiniano says Teatro will be working through community organizations and using other approaches to make sure a wide swath of the community comes to the festival. He was inspired to put the show on, he says, by former gay, lesbian, and bisexual coworkers from Latin America who had to hide that part of their identity when going home to conservative parents and older family members.

“It breaks my heart,” he said.

Gaytino runs February 24th through 27th at St Paul’s Gremlin Theater.