Lawton Kicks Off Fair Wisconsin’s “Go All The Way” Election Rally
UW-Madison Event Start Of Statewide Campus Campaign
Madison - Wisconsin lieutenant governor Barbara Lawton headlined a rally for UW-students here October 15 urging attendees to vote in state and local elections and help elect candidates who support LGBT rights.
  LGBT rights advocacy group Fair Wisconsin sponsored the rally as part of its “Go All the Way on Election Day” campaign to encourage students to vote through the entire ballot, especially at the state level. The campaign is running on college campuses statewide.
  Lawton believes politicians must speak out against discrimination  and uphold equality in the state because civil rights are the basis of a democracy. “If we are going to attract and retain the best and the brightest to drive our state forward, it can’t be the best and the brightest unless you happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual (or) transsexual,” Lawton said.
  Fair Wisconsin’s “Go All The Way On Election Day” addresses the fact that the state is only three seats away from having a pro-fairness majority in both houses of the State Legislature. A high turnout, particularly among younger voters who tend to be more supportive of LGBT equality will be very important.
  “The only way to change the leadership in the state Assembly is to get rid of those unfair state Assembly members and to get students from around Wisconsin to again vote all the way down the ballot,” Fair Wisconsin director Glenn Carlson said at the rally.
  Also appearing at the rally was 8th District Madison Alder Eli Judge. Prior to his election, Judge co-founded Students for a Fair Wisconsin to build student opposition to the 2006 ballot measure that banned gay civil unions marriage as well as legal recognition for all unmarried couples regardless of sexual orientation.
  “We as students have an undeniable legacy to fight for what is right,” Judge said. “The state Legislature is the first step. It’s the spear that we need to start reversing the effects of the ban.”
  UW-Madison College Democrats Chair Claire Rydell also spoke at the rally,  expressing her concern over students who don’t consider casting their ballot to be important enough to wait in long lines at the polls. “They don’t think their vote matters, but it does,” she said.
  Fair Wisconsin hope to repeat its 2006 election success. Though losing the state referendum, the LGBT civil rights group’s campus organizing resulted in the ousting of five pro-amendment legislators.

Connecticut High Court Rules For Gay Marriage
Ruling Comes Less Than One Month Before Three States Vote On Constitutional Bans
Hartford - The Connecticut Supreme Court on October 10 gave gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, ruling that civil unions relegate them to a “separate” and “inferior status” that falls short of full equality.
  “We therefore agree with the plaintiffs that maintaining a second-class-citizen status for same-sex couples by excluding them from the institution of civil marriage” violates the state’s constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws, the state high court said.
  By a 4-3 vote, the state justices agreed with eight same-sex couples who sued after they were denied marriage licenses four years ago. Connecticut now joins California and Massachusetts in authorizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples. In all three cases, the issue was decided in a 4-3 ruling by the state high court.
  So far, no state has authorized same-sex marriage through its legislation or by a popular vote. However, on November 4, voters in Arizona, California and Florida will consider constitutional ban measures. The most high profile ballot measure is California’s Proposition 8, which seeks to overturn the state court’s ruling in May that allowed such marriages. Recent polls in the state now indicate that the recent $1.25 million campaign being run by Prop  8 supporters has turned the tide toward passage of the amendment.
  Attorneys on both sides of California’s same-sex marriage ballot initiative said that the Connecticut ruling has no legal significance for the Proposition 8 campaign because it was based on Connecticut’s state constitution, but agreed that a ruling in a third state legalizing same-sex marriage has social significance.
  “The Connecticut ruling shows “that this is really an issue for the entire nation. It really does affect the entire nation,” Andrew Pugno, a Sacramento attorney who is general counsel for the Yes on 8 campaign, told the Associated Press.
  Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, said he hoped the Connecticut ruling will help people see that the proposed ban in California is going against the evolution of opinion elsewhere in the nation. “I hope it will have the effect that people will see that this really is something that is inevitable,” he said. “Other states are also recognizing that same-sex couples have a right to marry, that treating families differently is just fundamentally unfair and harmful to those families, and harmful to our whole society.”
  After Arizona citizens defeated a marriage and civil union ban with wording similar to Wisconsin’s in 2006, gay marriage foes there are offering a simpler measure known as Proposition 102. The single sentence change in that state’s Constitution, if passed would limit marriage to “one man and one woman.” It is expected to pass on its second try. The Connecticut ruling has not brought forth a flurry of analysis for or against the Arizona measure.
  In Florida, where the gay marriage ban is known as Amendment 2, pro-amendment groups did link the Connecticut ruling to the upcoming ballot measure. Supporters issued a statement  shortly after the ruling on the website yes2marriage.org. “Literally on the basis of one judge’s decision - the difference in the Connecticut 4-3 ruling - ‘gay marriage’ is now required in that state, as it is now occurring in California and Massachusetts (both of which also changed the definition of marriage by the margin of one judge’s vote),” Florida Baptist Witness executive editor James A. Smith Sr. wrote. “We’re fooling ourselves to believe the same thing could not happen in our state at some point in the future.”

World & National News:

Survey Says: 87% of Straight Americans Want You To Come Out!
Washington, DC - According to a new national survey, nearly nine out of ten (87%) heterosexuals said that if someone were to come out to them as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, it would have a positive or no impact on how they would view gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. The survey also revealed that two out of three (67%) heterosexual adults agree that if someone they knew is gay or lesbian, they’d want that individual to be open and honest with them about it, rather than feel the need to hide who he or she really is.
  The new nationwide survey of 2,455 U.S. adults, (ages 18 and over), of whom 287 self identified as gay or lesbian was conducted online between September 15-22 by Harris Interactive, a global market research and consulting firm, in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in the LGBT market.
  A large majority of gay and lesbian adults disclosed that they are “out” and honest with others about their sexual orientation. The survey showed that four out of five (80%) gay and lesbian adults consider themselves “out” as a gay or lesbian person. In terms of their relationships, 95 percent of gay and lesbian adults consider themselves open about their sexual orientation to their close friends, compared to 79 percent of all LGBT respondents. Nearly eight out 10 (79%) gay and lesbian adults consider themselves open about their sexual orientation with their acquaintances/casual friends, compared to 61 percent of all LGBT respondents.
  When it comes to the workplace, a significant majority (67%) of gay and lesbian adults reported being open about their sexual orientation with their co-workers and colleagues, compared with 49%t of all LGBT respondents. In terms of their purchasing decisions, nearly two-thirds (64%) of gay and lesbian adults reported that when selecting a product or service, all other considerations being equal, they will select the brand that has a reputation for being more gay friendly.
  “The decision to come out is never an easy one, but the numbers today reflect a rapidly improving culture that is more accepting,” Wes Combs of Witeck-Combs Communications said. “Much of corporate America has taken a leadership role in establishing a culture of acceptance and equality. In return, many gay and lesbian Americans are rewarding them and sustaining them with their customer loyalty - a valuable relationship during these very tough economic conditions.”
  This data is especially timely, as the nation recently celebrated National Coming Out Day on October 11. Every year, LGBT Americans are encouraged to be open and honest about who they are as a way of helping to break down negative stereotypes LGBT people. “The data helps to confirm what we have known for years - a majority of our friends and coworkers want us to be honest about who we are,” Betsy Pursell of the Human Rights Campaign noted. “LGBT people fear others will reject them and I hope that this data will give comfort and strength to those who are looking to take their next step in the coming out process.”

Volkswagen Rabbit is #1 Gay Car
Los Angeles - Want to find the perfect car to express your fabulous lifestyle? The No. one most researched car on this year’s GayWheels.com Top 10 list is Volkswagen’s Rabbit, showing that gay people who visit this site lean more towards European flair than straight-up economy. Proof in point, second on the list is another Volkswagen, but this time the even more stylish Eos hardtop convertible.
  Tied for third is a car that’s become symbolic of the gay lifestyle, Mazda’s fun-loving MX-5 Miata, and the sporty Audi A3 five-door hatchback. Mazda and VW are together again for a fourth place tie, with the Mazda3 and VW Jetta.
   The fifth most researched vehicle is Toyota’s subcompact Yaris, the least expensive vehicle on the GayWheels.com Top 10 list, while sixth place was split again between the Dodge Caliber compact five-door and sport-luxury oriented Saab 9-3.
   Volvo’s luxuriously appointed yet compact C30 places well in seventh, while the offbeat little smart fortwo appears destined for the alternative lifestyle in eighth place.
  Tied for ninth is Toyota’s Matrix five-door hatch and the über-cool Mini Cooper, while for the first time ever an exotic makes the GayWheels.com Top 10 list, Maserati’s gorgeous GranTurismo.
   The list, featuring data gathered from July 1 to September 30, allows for some interesting insights. One: gay people trend toward smaller, thriftier cars. Secondly, we’re not willing to give up perceived quality (the premium feel that VW does so well) or style despite going small. A focus on compact models could be due to urban-oriented lifestyles, or possibly because of a greater leaning towards environmental issues, but other than the Jetta, which offers a diesel variant, none of the cars featured on the Top 10 list are powered by alternative fuel or offer a hybrid drivetrain. The smart fortwo, despite being powered by gasoline, falls into the green category due to its thrifty fuel economy, of course.
  Another oddity: Other than the niche market Maserati, Audi, Saab and Volvo were the only premium brands to achieve Top 10 ranking, with luxury mainstays BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz shut out from the list entirely.

State News:

Update: City Of Oshkosh Relents, Club 1226 Gets Building Permit
Oshkosh - Construction is expected to begin shortly on the remodeling of Club 1226 following the City of Oshkosh’s decision to grant the long-delayed building permit to the gay club owners Christopher Nikolai and Allan VanderVelden. The permits were granted after the last issue of Quest, that featured a cover story on business and life partners and their 18-month struggle with the city.
  “We got the permits the day after the Quest was issued,” VanderVelden said. “We are going ahead with the work and we will remain open throughout the construction.”
  Vandervelden also noted that the Quest story appears to have boosted interest in night spot. “Several people have come in and said they didn’t even know we were here until the read about us,” he said.
  Nikolai and VanderVelden hope the community will “give into their curiosity” and come visit the bar often to see how the work progresses. “It will be business as usual,” VanderVelden said. “But there will be something all shiny and new each time they visit!”
  The Club is open Wednesday through Sunday. Both owners also continue separate full-time positions to help underwirte the club’s operating and remodeling costs.

Nazi Gay Holocaust Exhibit Now Open
Madison - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum traveling exhibition “Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945” opened October 10 here at the Memorial Library on the University of Wisconsin campus..
  The exhibit and related events are free and open to the public, and  cosponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison General Library System and the George L. Mosse Fund for LGBT History at UW-Madison. is hosted by the Madison Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE) is hosting the exhibit
  The exhibit features 32 panels exploring 12 topics dealing with the chronological history of the Nazi regime and the homophobic Nazi ideology via photographs, texts and documents. “It’s a powerful exhibition that teaches us about a part of history that often is left out of history lessons,” GSAFE Executive Director Cindy Crane said.
  Crane collaborated with John Tortorice, director of the George L. Mosse Program in History at UW-Madison and Lee Konrad, director of the Memorial Library to find an appropriate place to temporarily house the traveling exhibit. “Our position as one of the premier academic research libraries in the country and our collection strengths in Western European studies made Memorial Library an attractive environment to the organizers,” Konrad noted.
  Events accompanying the exhibition, including a Panel of Scholars, a musical performance representing the gay culture in Germany before the Nazi regime, a performance by Proud Theater, a Madison-based youth theater group that focuses on LGBT issues and various films and lectures, are themed “From Hate to Hope.”
  In addition to the national exhibition, three panels will be displayed in Memorial Library featuring local content regarding the history of gay and lesbian people in Wisconsin and of the gay liberation movement in Wisconsin.
  The addition of the hopeful motif to an exhibition of such a horrifying period in history serves to highlight how far the LGBT community has come in gaining acceptance and tolerance since the Nazi persecution. “There is much more awareness now of the issues, and there is a certain, at least level, of tolerance if not acceptance,” Tortorice said. “There has been some progress and hopefully there’s more progress to come.”
  While everyone involved hopes the event will attract viewers of all sexual orientation, UW-Madison German professor Jim Steakley, who served as a consultant to the exhibition before it was first displayed in 2002, believes the exhibit and events will have the biggest impact on the LGBT community. “I do think it’s especially important for LGBT people to learn about their own history because there’s a way in which history is extremely important for creating a sense of self worth and identity and a sense of pride,”Steakley said. “Although the hate part of this exhibition is kind of scary, it’s important to know how far tolerance has gone in the 20th century.”
  The exhibit will be open through December 10 during regular library hours.

Center Advocates Seeks Phone Bank, Canvass Volunteers
Milwaukee -  With less than two weeks left until Election Day and Center Advocates is gearing up to do voter outreach for this year’s election. The LGBT advocacy group will host nightly phone banks from our campaign headquarters located at the Astor Hotel, Unit 824 during the week from 4 - 8 PM. The voter outreach began October 16 and will continue until election Day, November 4. Weekend phone banking will also run from Noon - 4 PM 
  Center Advocates will also conduct a canvass on Saturday, October 25. Starting times are 10:30 AM or 2 PM. A similar canvass will be held Sunday, October 26, starting at 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM.  Volunteers will receive a brief training before being sent out in pairs to talk with voters about what is at stake in this election.
  Register for a volunteer shift by calling Antwan Jones at 414-630-2449 or Kurt Dyer at 414-405-5878.  You may also register by email at: kurtis.dyer@gmail.com.
 
Pride Alive Sets Town Hall Meetings
Appleton, Green Bay - The northeast Wisconsin Pride Alive Committee has set two town hall meetings for community input for their 2009 festival.
 The first meeting will be held in Green bay on Monday, October 20 at 6:30 PM in the auditorium, located in the lower level of the Brown County Public Library, 515 Pine St. The second meeting will be two days later on October 22 at the Harmony Café, 124 N. Oneida St. in downtown Appleton.
  In an email to supporters earlier this week Pride Alive organizers noted “how exciting it is to look back at our accomplishments with Pride Alive 2008, and to recognize the community-building that has continued to take place ever since!  But, even more exciting than the first-ever Pride Alive is the second annual Pride Alive celebration, to take place in summer of 2009.”
  The Pride Alive Committee is seeking volunteers who are are interested in possibly taking a leadership roles in helping to plan the 2009 festival.  If individuals are unable to attend either of the town hall meetings they may contact Andrew DeBaker at 920-471-3260 or Andrea Schultz at 920-562-3830.  Contact the committee by email at: info@newpride.org.

“Connie And Carla” Visit Chippewa Valley LGBT Center
Eau Claire - A showing of the 2004 drag-in-disguise comedy “Connie And Carla” was featured at the Chippewa Valley LGBT Center’s monthly “Saturday Night at the Movies” here October 18. “Connie And Carla” was “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” star Nia Vardalos’ follow-up effort and has a plot line that mixes a touch of “Some Like It Hot,” with “To Wong Foo” and an added dollop of “Victor/Victoria.”
  In addition to Saturday Night at the Movies, the Community Center offers several programs during any of its regular hours. Every Friday from 7 - 10 PM. is the center’s Drop-In Night of unstructured fun.  The Center has board games, current magazine subscriptions, the several thousand books in the John A. Klinger Memorial Lending Library for LGBT people and their allies who stop by. Every Sunday is the Sunday Study Night, from 6 - 9:00 PM. for.  The Center has free Wi-Fi service and brews up complimentary coffee for students of all ages
  The Center will also mark November’s Transgender Awareness Month with the monthly Discussion Forum taking a look at Transgender Issues on Thursday, November 13 at 7 PM.  November’s “Saturday Night at the Movies” will be November 15 featuring the movie, “Normal.” The doors at the center, 510 S. Farwell St. will open at 7:45 PM and “Normal” will begin at 8.  As always, admission is free and so is the warm popcorn!

Transgender Pre-Halloween Howl Set For October 24
Madison -  The Madison Area Transgender Association will hold a Pre-Halloween Bash from7PM to Midnight at OutReach-600 Williamson St. on Friday, October 24. The costume party will offer beverages and a potluck meal. attendees are asked to but not required to bring a dish to pass. There is a $6 suggested donation requested.
For more information, contact Michelle (of MATA) at: 608-255-8582 or visit online at: www.myspace.com/lexiravyn and look for information about the party in the blog section.

OutReach To Offer Halloween Party
Madison - On Thursday, October 30 from 5 - 7 PM OutReach will sponsor a Halloween party at the Cardinal Bar on East Wilson St. here. The event celebrates several recent accomplishments: Development Director Nikki Baumblatt’s successful double organ transplant surgery in August; her reception of the first annual Linda Sundberg Civil Rights Defender Award from Community Shares of Wisconsin this month; and OutReach volunteer Paul Garza’s  reception of the Backyard Hero Award from Community Shares of Wisconsin.
  OutReach also will celebrate its kick off its participation in the statewide rm2breathe tobacco cessation program at the party. OutReach and the LGBT Centers of Wisconsin Network are partners in a three year grant. Funding for this project will be provided by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health from the Wisconsin Partnership Program in collaboration with Diverse and Resilient, Inc.
 Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes. The party will have plenty of decorations, food and drinks. For more information about the event, contact Cris at OutReach at: 608-255-8582.

Positive Voice Haunts All Hallows With Halloween Bash
Kimberly - Positive Voice will celebrate All Hallows’ Eve with a “fierce Halloween Par-tay Bash” on Saturday, October 31, from 7 PM until Midnight at the Liberty Hall Banquet and Convention Center, 800 Eisenhower Drive.
 Costumes are recommended but not required for entrance. Activities will include tarot card readings, costume
contests, and hauntingly hot dance tunes served up by a local DJ. Refreshments will also be available on the premises, including unlimited soft drinks and a cash bar. The party is open to persons 21 and over.
  Cost for the event is $5 for Positive Voice members and $7 for non-members. Also, a donation of a non-perishable item is also encouraged. For more information, contact organizers by email at: info@pvinc.org or by phone at: 920-435-4404.

Monkey Love Songs At MGAC
Milwaukee - The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center is proud to present two distinctive performers in a unique presentation. Both are guys with guitars, singing original tunes from their own perspective. Monkey Love Songs will be presented at the MCAC, 703 S. 2nd Street, on Saturday, November 22 at 8 PM.
  This event is named after the endearing story-songs from Ryan Mintz’s 2007 release, “Monkeys & Ice Cream,” which features the unforgettable love ballad, “Let Me Be Your Monkey.” Joining Mintz is Keith Hampton, whose 2006 CD, “Chance & Change,” includes a selection of wedding songs, reflections on relationships, memories of childhood, and tales of hope through adversity.
  The common thread between these two musical voices is a keen skill for combing melody with poetry, inviting the audience to experience the emotions embedded in thoughtful storytelling through song.
  Two guys, two microphones, & two guitars.
  Heartfelt genuine quirky. That’s what people say about Mintz’s music. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a penchant for honesty, this newcomer to the singer/songwriter scene is poised to touch listeners across the country with his refreshing brand of folk pop. With a unique voice that many liken to Cat Stevens, Ryan brings a gentle vulnerability to his raw lyrics. Aching heart one minute, and wry smile the next, Ryan has the unique ability to make audiences laugh and cry sometimes within the same song.
  After honing his craft for seven years, Ryan put his most memorable material together for his debut record, “Monkeys & Ice Cream.” Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Erik Eldnius, the songs tackle themes as varied as gay relationships, life as a nomad, addiction, and one cute little stuffed monkey. Ryans writing is mainly influenced by the potent female singer/songwriters of the 90s: Alanis Morissette, Indigo Girls, Aimee Mann, Lisa Loeb, Jewel, and Chantal Kreviazuk. Sometimes cozy and sometimes daring, infused through the album is a positive sense of hope.
  “For me, music is emotion,” Ryan said. If I can help someone feel something, then I’ve done my job.
  Keith Hampton is a Wisconsin native who launched his performing career as a regular on New Englands historic folk music scene. His latest CD, Chance & Change, is a beautifully balanced group of uniquely shaped songs about the mystery of things made more beautiful because theyre simply observed and allowed to be.
  Influences of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Bruce Springsteen can be found in Keiths acoustic guitar style, which combines percussive finger picking and rhythmic strumming patterns.
  Admission for the event will be $10 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased online at: www.braverecords.com.

Ear Candy:
Noah’s Wedding Score,  Bimbo Pop & Morel’s Paperboy
Reviewed by Mike Fitzpatrick
Several tasty new CDs have arrived just in time for Halloween hopping and holiday shopping. One of them offers enough depth to last in memory long into 2009.
Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (LOGO/Silver Label/Tommy Boy)
LOGO’s multi-season soap sensation “Noah’s Arc” has - like it’s big cable series sister “Sex & The City” -  begat a 2008 big screen finalé that joins together the long-suffering African-American title character with once-closeted ebony cutie that caught his eye in episode one. Every good dramedy deserves a soundtrack, and “Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom’s” is as good, and perhaps a tad better, as others in this year’s movie collection crop.
  “Noah’s” flashy hook-laden hit song honors go to a new remix of this summer”s #1 club and pop chart smash “We Break The Dawn” by Michelle Wiliams. Since this is a gay male love story, additional toe tappers are de riguer: Solange’s “Sandcastle Disco,” Bob Sinclair’s “World Hold On” and Sy Smith’s exceptionally bitchy “Spies” fit the dance bill.
  “Noah’s” romantic ditty quotient is more than filled with numbers like Matt Alber’s overwrought violin and piano driven “End Of The World,” Nikki Jane’s bouncy “I Love U,” and Tje Austin’s seemingly improv guitar and vocal solo “Today, Tomorrow.” Two of the tunes in this category stand out however: veteran folk-pop star Phoebe Snow’s deeply-affecting “Come Clean” and Patrik-Ian’s “Home To Me,” which has been the series’ de facto love theme.
  Considering “Noah’s Arc” is a series about the lives and loves of black characters, its was somewhat of a surprise to find only two tracks - Roy’s Young’s bluesy “Don’t Call It Love” and Pam Jones Wages’ hip-hop “Eat Sushi” - reflecting the African American culture. Then again “Noah’s” story line about West Hollywood based screen writers, business entrepreneurs and college profs always nodded more toward the “Cosby Show’s” Huxtables than the ghetto.
  In all, “Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom” is a pleasant soundtrack package that series fans especially will want to pick up to complete their series media collections.
Harlem 1 Stop - Bimbo Jones (Silver Label/Tommy Boy)
After remixing more than thirty dance versions of #1 chart hits for a stable of pop stars - most recently Pink’s “U + Ur Hand” and “So What” as well as Jesse McCartney’s “Leavin’” and Britney Spear’s “Piece Of Me” - producers Lee Dagger and Marc JB have joined with British vocalist Katherine Ellis (best known as lead singer of the Freemasons) to create the dance pop group Bimbo Jones. The trio scored some success with the album’s title tune last June, then topped the Billboard Dance Club Airplay Chart with lead off track “And I Try” this October. “And I Try” is one of those irresistible bits of pop bubble gum that sticks in the brain not unlike the real world counterpart that clings to your Reeboks.
  Whether or not club music fans will splurge for the full disc rather than just download the hits typically depends on the number of potential hit tracks on the CD. “Harlem 1 Stop” has several strong candidates: “Don’t Want Me No More,” “Freeze” and “Make You Mine.” Drag queens looking for quasi-blue lip synch material will want to pick this up for the sure fire crowd pleasers “Sucka!” and “Fug-U.” The remaining four dance tracks are okay but not particularly memorable.
  However, the CD’s sole down-tempo number is a shock to the emotional system. “Tell Me My Name” is a story about the after effects of a one-night stand, when sobriety and daylight crystallize the reality of casual sex: it’s all about body parts, not the people they belong to. “You don’t remember my name but you remembered I came.” Ouch! This song alone makes Bimbo Jones’ “Harlem 1 Stop” worth the price of the admission.
The Death Of the Paperboy - Morel (Outsider Music)
If you heard Cyndi Lauper’s comeback smash hit “Same Old Fucking Story” this past summer you are already familiar with 46 year-old singer/songwriter, remixer and DJ Richard Morel. He wrote and produced it, and in the process melded Lauper’s new wave roots with contemporary dance pop.
  Morel has always bridged musical genres. His remixes of hits by the Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order along with those by Mariah Carey and Tina Turner have topped the dance charts. His collaboration with fellow D. C. deejay and former Hüsker Dü front man Bob Mould have resulted in the popular BlowOff dance parties that eclectically mix industrial, new wave, power pop and electronica for dance floor consumption and have produced a critically acclaimed CD of the same name.
  Like his two previous offerings under the group name Morel (2002’s “Queen Of The Highway” and 2004’s “Lucky Strike”), “The Death Of The Paperboy” is filled with melancholy and introspection as Morel muses about the rites of passage from frivolous youth to adulthood. Unlike those earlier releases, “Paperboy” comes with two discs: one that features eleven original songs, and a second called “Disc-0” that features non-stop dance remixes of seven of the first disc’s tunes plus a remake of David Bowie’s 1974 chestnut “Sweet Thing.”
  Both discs really deliver. Interestingly, Morel’s whiskey baritone vocals appear to go up an octave occasionally on the dance disc. Morel at times also replaces both lyrics and delivery styles. For example, “My Side” on disc one is a heartbreaking, down-tempo musing about the singer’s inner conflicts as he longs (and lusts) for someone he likely will never get to know. It’s the classic “5” who wants to know and love a “10.” However, the dance disc version’s spoken word vocals impose a club scene world weariness and facade to the lyrics. In the dance version’s read,  the “5” still wants to know the “10” but he also realizes its not going to happen and that self-realization gives him a sense of superiority, not inferiority. Remarkable.
  If you like the Pet Shop Boys or 80’s New Romantic bands Orchestral Maneouvers In The Dark, New Order, and especially its predecessor group Joy Division, you will surely like Morel’s “The Death Of A Paperboy.” Long after the mirror ball ceases to turn, you’ll be listening to this set again and again. Highly Recommended.

Off The Wall Stages The Vortex In November
Milwaukee - Off The Wall Theatre will present a rare production of Noel Coward’s “the Vortex” at their tiny theatre on Wells Street in November.
  In 1924, playwrights and novelists like Noel Coward and E. M. Forster had to disguise homosexual themes by cloaking them in metaphor and innuendo. This fact makes Coward’s first huge success, “The Vortex,” all the more amazing. In it’s own time the play was so controversial that Coward had trouble getting it staged, and it was called vulgar trash by many a critic.
  Noel Coward, the master of sparkling, brittle but often shallow social comedy, writing a trashy vulgar play? “The Vortex” raised the veil on masked innuendo and dealt quite openly with topics such as, older women with young male lovers, rampant drug use in the ‘20’s, and homosexuality. The first two acts of this now classic play, display all the wit and charm of Coward’s later award winning comedies, but the third act takes a most unusual dramatic twist. The play today would best be described as a melodrama, but it truly defies any category.
  Florence Lancaster, a famously self-indulgent older married woman has taken a very young lover. Her friends put up with her latest attempt at “staying young” and her husband remains sadder but wiser by ignoring it. Her beloved son, Nicky returns from Paris with a fiancee, which rather shocks Florence, as she refuses to see her son as grown up,and anyway, everyone more or less suspects Nicky is gay. Everyone except Nicky himself, who  has taken to drugs in his attempts to ignore the truth about himself. Mother and son clash in one of the stage’s most famous or infamous third acts ever written. Throw into this mix an ageless Coward-type homosexual who flings sarcastic remarks about with alarming accuracy, an over the top Opera diva, a manipulative young fiancee, a dim-witted boyfriend, and one sane, sound understanding friend, and you have a magnificent evening of theatre.
  Dale Gutzman will both direct and play Pauncfort Quentin, a quintessential Coward character.  The multi-talented Marilyn White will play Florence Lancaster, with Jeremy Welter playing Nicky her son. Welter last season played Hamlet at Off The Wall to White’s Gertrude.
  Carole Herbstreit-Kalinyen will play the loyal, down-to-earth friend, Helen Saville and Liz Mistele will play Bunty Mainwaring, Nicky’s fiancee. Alex Hall as Tom Veryan, Florence’s boy-toy; Donna Lobacz as the eccentric opera singer Clara Hibbert, Lawrence Lukasavage as the long suffering husband, David are major roles in th production. Also in the cast are Sandy Lewis and Kurtis Witzelsteiner, The set is designed and constructed by David Roper.
  “The Vortex” was revived last season in London’s West End, and remains an important piece of theatrical history, as well as a lively and vital entertainment.
  “The Vortex” will begin its run at Off The Wall, 127 E. Wells St here on November 13 and run through November 23. Tickets range from $20 to $25 and may be reserved by calling the box office at 414-327-3552. For additional information about Off The Wall and its upcoming productions visit the theatre’s website at: www.offthewalltheatre.com.

Wisconsin Cream City Chorus Announces December Concert
Brookfield - December. No other month evokes more thoughts of unity and peace in the world’s religions.  That’s the message of the Wisconsin Cream City Chorus’ December 13 concert, “One World: Dare to Dream.”
True to the WCCC’s message of celebrating diversity through song, the concert “is designed to celebrate the hope that we can truly become One World,” according to Artistic Director Kristen L. Weber.  “The music examines our desire and need for unity throughout the world,” she said.
  Two religious traditions are represented at this year’s concert: Christian and Jewish, Weber noted.  “The traditional Christmas theme of bells is featured in the first act, and the Hanukkah theme of light is central to the second,” she said. “Both have been important images in the quest for peace and world unity.”
  “One World: Dare to Dream” will be held at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church West, 13001 W. North Avenue in Brookfield. Tickets for the concert are $15 for adult, available through chorus members and the chorus office.  Child and group rates are also available.  Season subscriptions are also currently on sale for the three-concert season: $30 through December 1, then $40 through the date of the first concert.
  For more information about the Wisconsin Cream City Chorus, the concert, the 2008-2009 concert season and ticket availability, visit creamcitychorus.org. WCCC can also be contacted at -414-276-8787 or by mail or in person at it’s offices: 315 W. Court Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212.