citizen because I am gay, I miss being
sure that everyone around me knows that
tOO.

So Deja Vu, and the group of people that
made it what it was, are gone. Are there
other places in the Queen City's
"straight" world where GLB people can
feel comfortable being themselves
without fear of reprisals? Of course
Pauline‘s on Shelbume Rd., formerly
Deja Vu's sister restaurant, is still owned
by Robert Fuller and is a lovely place
with wonderful food. But what about
downtown Burlington? A friend tells me
there are some out lesbians working at
The Daily Planet and a same—sex couple
can feel comfortable holding hands there.
And Alfredo's Restaurant has just become
a business member of Vermont Gay
Social Alternatives, so that certainly
seems welcoming. Any of us can hold
hands over dinner anywhere, but we
cannot always be sure that if another
patron has a problem with our affections,
the complainer will be encouraged to
leave.

Perhaps what we all need to do is see

what happens when we push the envelope '

a bit by displaying our affections
publicly. (While, at the same time, being
careful not to get ourselves killed.) The
average non—gay person is much more
used to seeing GLB people enjoying each
other’s company than they were just a
few years ago. Quentin Crisp once said
that true equality only comes when
people are completely bored by your
issues. When straight couples look right
past GLB couples holding hands in
restaurants, not even noticing them, then
we will all experience that certain sense
of Deja Vu. V

Theater Company

Continued from page 1

“Vermont CARES is happy to be a
beneficiary,” said director of
administration Sylvia Racca. “It’s
certainly something that we couldn’t
have done ourselves,” she said. “It
highlighted the seriousness of the ADS
issue, but in a way that entertained...and
it added both levity and a tear to the
issue.”

“This show may have been impossible to
put on had it not been a benefit for
Vermont CARES,” Pratt stated. “BCPI
was concerned that the subject matter
could have been considered relevant only
to a small segment of the Burlington
community and would have therefore
played to limited audiences; but because
the whole community was outraged by
the arson and felt a need to help this local
organization, we were able to present
this powerful show,” he continued. When
asked who comprised the majority of the
audience, however, Pratt admitted that
the gay community was definitely the
predominant presence as “the audience
laughed uproariously at jokes and lines
that only gays would understand.”
Vermont CARES was also instrumental
in helping to bring Jeffrey to the stage.
“They were able to secure a sizable grant
from Broadway CARES that enabled us
(BCPI) to bring this powerful show to
Vermont,” said Pratt.

Surprisingly, although the play is about a
gay man who swears off sex because of
his fear of AIDS and then meets Mr.
Right, the cast was not comprised of only
gay men. “We had a great cast that was
quite open—minded,” said Pratt. “There
was no reluctance or hesitation on any
cast members’ part to carry out their

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BY APPOINTMENT

CAROL L. THAYER, M.D.
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R. D. 2, BOX 1160
FAIRFAX, VERMONT 05454

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November 1994

scenes, whether it was a gay kissing scene
or a bedroom scene.” The show was a
success and members of the cast worked
well together because the play was “not
only about AIDS,” said director Michael
Jordan Evans. An underlying universal
theme pervades the entire show,
“essentially, the whole play is saying,
‘Go for it’,” he said.

Jeffrey “use(s) humor to teach a valuable
and useful lesson,” Pratt continued.
“Humor is a much more powerful
teaching tool than preachiness. The
messages of the play were presented in a
subtle manner, but subconsciously they
hit home in some fashion and hopefully
everyone left the show having learned
something. So many people with
HIV/AIDS have expressed‘ how
empowered they felt after seeing the
show.”

As a gay man playing the lead role, Craig
Cabot said the play has special
significance for him. “I’ve been to more
funerals than my grandmother,” said
Cabot. “It feels too soon for that to be
happening yet.” However, Evans pointed
out that the play is about a man choosing
to live despite the constant presence of
death. “That’s what Vermont CARES is
all about—-that until you die, you live.”

Vermont CARES continues to provide
services to those suffering from
HIV/AIDS thanks in part to the financial
success of Jeffrey. Big City Players, Inc.,

will continue to raise funds for
AIDS-related causes through the
production of other staged works

including March of the Falsettos or
Falsettoland in the near future.

Some infomzation courtesy of The
Burlington Free Press. V

Discover

 

......~....~m O

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