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Arts & Entertainment Volume 17 Issue 1
Arts & Entertainment Volume 17 Issue 2
Michael Johnston Talks to Bruce Vailanch
Arts & Entertainment Volume 17 Issue 3
Arts & Entertainment Volume 17 Issue 4
Arts & Entertainment Volume 17 Issue 5
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 5 - PRIDEFEST Dance Pavillion
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 5 - N.E.W. PRIDE ALIVE in July
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 6
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 9
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 10
Arts & Entertainment Vol. 17 Issue 11
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JAKE SHEARS WORK HARD

By Sean Johnson

To promote the new Scissor Sisters album NIGHTWORK, the band’s front man Jake Shears placed an ad, including erotic nude photos, on the male escort site, Rentboy.com. He lists his talents as “go-go dancing and stripping” and his out rate as $11.99, the price of the new album. We chatted with Shears as he prepared to embark on a 26-city world tour to promote the album.

Do you have a fascination with rentboys?
Jake Shears: Rentboys and sex workers operate outside the lines of our society. They make their living through sex and showing people a good time. We, in the band, feel we’re on the same team.

Except you’re not selling sex.
There should be no shame in using sex as self-employment. I have an incredible amount of respect for sex workers. I think it's a fully valid profession that deserves to be treated as any other.

The Nightwork album cover is a photograph of a ballet dancer’s butt by artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
Mapplethorpe was someone who relentlessly explored pushing his own limits.

According to Patti Smith’s memoir “Just Kids”, Mapplethorpe worked as a street hustler in New York City to support himself as a struggling artist. Reportedly, he loved the mystery and glamour of the hustler lifestyle.
He was a fascinating man. By all means an outsider who was turned on by very dark stuff. He was able to turn those influences into something incredibly beautiful.
 
Is it true you worked as a go-go dancer in New York City?
Go-go dancing is what got me into performing in the first place. It was a great way for me to get up in front of a bunch of people, shake it and not be shy. When I started getting bored with it, I wondered how I going to make it more interesting for me. That's when I started singing.
 
Has your go-go past helped you in your career today?
There's not a huge difference to what I did then and what I do now on stage.

How do you feel about today’s party scene?

I think it's a great time right now for dance music. There's so much good stuff coming out, and I feel like it's a great time for people to really dive in.

Invisible Light is a particular standout on the album. It’s a magic, mystical dance song with overtones of Gandalf, Lord of the Rings and Pink Floyd.

It's about tripping the light fantastic. I wanted to make a song that brought you to the edge of a void. It really takes you to Mars. It's like just staring into a storable light.

Has your singing style changed with this third album? I hear less falsetto—which you are known for—and more passionate mid-range singing.
I wanted to rely less on the falsetto, to give people an idea of what kind of range I can really do. I wanted to sound a bit sexier this time around.
 
And Ana Matronic appears more on the new album.
Ana’s on this record more than ever and has also co written more tracks than ever before.

Tell us about your new musical based on Amistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.
Everybody’s a ho in Tales! No, really. It's a very sex-positive show, and there is plenty of gay action. In a lot of ways it's a really queer musical, though I think it will accessible to just about anybody. It’s co-written with Jeff Whitty of Avenue Q fame. 
 
Do you have a final message you’d like to relay to the thousands of rentboys around the world?
Fight for your rights and never let anybody make you feel less than the truly beautiful person that you are.

Visit Jake Shear’s Rentboy profile at www.rentboy.com/Nightwork.

Thunderstorms Can’t Stop Pride Alive Event in Green Bay

Green Bay - A little thunder, lightening and rain couldn’t keep more than 3000 people away from the 3rd annual Pride Alive at Joannes Park on Saturday, July 10th. Those who braved the heat and stuck through the afternoon showers were rewarded with incredible performances by comedy duo Deven Green and Joel Bryant and Club Diva Ultra Nate. Deven and Joel had the audience rolling with laughter with their situational sketch comedy, dating game antics and crazy auctions. And for the first time ever, “America’s Best Christian” Betty Bowers took the stage before a live audience and preached to the heathens the Good Word. (Well, it was actually more than one: Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabana…) And thanks to Ms. Bowers, we all now know the true meaning of biblical marriage. Chicago- based bloggers Mark and Fausto from “Feast of Fun” came up to join their friends Deven and Joel on the stage as well. Check out show highlights at www.feastoffun.com.

The entertainment continued into the night as Ultra Nate performed some of the hottest singles from the past two decades including “Free”, “Automatic” and “If You Could Read My Mind.” After performances from the first ever Miss Pride Alive and King of Pride Alive, Ultra stormed back, mixing a blend of deep house, pop and dance music to the appreciative crowd. Speaking with Ultra Nate afterwards, she commented how great it was to see such a diverse group of people energized and dancing to some of her favorite hits.

The day kicked off much earlier with several dozen dedicated souls hitting the streets in the 2nd annual Pride Alive Five 5k run/walk. During the opening ceremony, Andrea Schultz, NEWPride co-chair, welcomed everyone to the event and talked about the history and continuation of NEWPride as well as its parent organization, Rainbow Over Wisconsin. Bill McConkey, the UW-Oshkosh professor who brought a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 2006 Wisconsin anti-marriage amendment, continued with a rousing speech. He explained his struggle and encouraged everyone in the LGBT community to keep fighting for basic civil rights and to never allow the bigoted, closed-minded voices within our state to stop the push for equality.

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Overall, Pride Alive was a smashing success, even despite the rain. Chicago-based Flameshark and hometown cabaret group Glamarama kept the crowd entertained throughout the day. Although washed out by rain this year, look for Milwaukee-based group The Charles Walker Band to take the stage at next year’s Pride Alive. A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who gave of their time and talents this year, as well as our corporate and individual sponsors. Pride Alive truly is a community endeavor, completely funded by sponsorships, donations and day-of sales, and fully staffed by a core group of dedicated volunteers. As Andrew DeBaker, NEWPride co-chair exclaimed, “Let today recharge our batteries, rekindle the fire inside to keep fighting for our rights. Let today be a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go.”

For a gallery of all the Quest photos taken for N.E.W. Pride's Pride Alive 2010 click here!

The Very Best in Books For the Beach! 
 
For the Girls:
1. “Tropical Storm,” Melissa Good
From bestselling author Melissa Good comes this classic tale of heartache, longing, family strife, lust for love, and redemption. “Tropical Storm” took the lesbian reading world by storm when it was released, the first in bestselling “Kerry & Dar” series.
 
2. “Sea Legs,” K.G. MacGregor
The Emerald Duchess sets sail for the Caribbean; her passengers headed for the chaos of romance. Kelly Ridenour couldn’t be happier leaving the bitter Rochester winter behind. Natalie Chatham has the opportunity to try to win her ex Didi back. Seasick and sunburned, Didi watches Kendell woo Natalie and wonders if she’s finally missed the boat. Not even the captain knows where this ship is going to land!
 
3. “Returning Tides,” Radclyffe
In the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster, Reese Conlon and Tory King must face the challenges of a community in turmoil while insurance investigator Ashley Walker faces more than a dangerous opponent when she returns both to the town and the woman, she left behind. “Returning Tides” is the sixth and latest in the Lambda Award winning Provincetown Tales.
 
4. “In Deep Waters: Cruising the Seas,”
Kallmaker and Radclyffe
Book passage on a deliciously sensual Mediterranean cruise with tour guides Radclyffe and Karin Kallmaker. Then grab a deck chair and feel the temperature climb. It’s like no vacation you’ve ever experienced before when these two adventurous authors lure you into the deep waters where everyone gets wet.
 
5.  “Whitewater Rendezvous,” Kim Baldwin
A wilderness kayak adventure brings together two very different women and as they battle the forces of nature, they discover that true love may be nothing at all like they imagined.
 
For the Boys:
1.  “Summer Cruising,“ Dave Benbow
The hunky passengers of the RMS Princess Diana, a rollicking all-gay cruise enjoy steamy sex and shipboard romance. Their idyllic holiday ends as a psychopath sets in motion a dastardly plan to send the luxurious liner to the bottom of the sea.
 
2.  “Last Summer,” Michael Thomas Ford
  In Provincetown, that summertime gay Mecca, thirtysomething Josh, shocked by news of his longtime partner’s infidelity, is taking refuge just as blond, blue-eyed Toby has come seeking a new life. Also, Hollywood hunk Ty’s secret summer love nest is verging on explosive publicity. These stories make a perfect made-for-the-beach page-turner.
 
3. “Call Me By Your Name,“ Andre Aciman    
In this erotically charged coming-of-age story, Elio finds himself attracted to his father’s latest visiting resident scholar: Oliver, who is 24, fun, sexy and handsome. A summertime trip to Rome, sanctioned by Elio’s prescient father, will usher Elio fully into first love’s joy and pain.
 
4. “The Spell,” Alan Hollinghurst         
Here are the interlocking affairs of four men over the course of one summer: Robin Woodfield, is an architect trying to build an idyllic life in Dorset with his young lover, Justin, a would-be actor disenchanted with

the countryside; Robin’s volatile twenty-two-year-old son Danny; and Justin’s former boyfriend Alex, whose life is transformed by house music and a tab of ecstasy. As each falls under the spell of romance or drugs, they experience the fear of commitment, the need for permanence and the continual disruptions of sex.
 
5.  “Beach Reading,” Mark Abramson
Gay tourists are arriving in San Francisco by the planeload for the party of the decade at the Moscone Center. On the same night, a infamous evangelist plans to bring his nationwide crusade against gay rights to the Civic Auditorium. For Tim, the fun and the intrigue are about to begin.

All of the above books and many more are available at Outwords Books, Gifts & Coffee located at 2710 N. Murray Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53211 (414) 963-9089 www.outwordsbooks.com