L.A. Scene is a monthly column that chronicles lesbian nightlife and events of interest in Los Angeles. Sarah Witness, an East Coast transplant and obvious femme, has been navigating the snark infested waters of Hollywood since 2001. Although she's an NYU trained actress, she prefers sipping vodka and making idle chit-chat at really gay nightclubs.
GLAAD Hancock Park Top Chef Invasion
Every year GLAAD holds a fundraiser at a private residence in the tony L.A. neighborhood Hancock Park. This year's event was at the home of Dean Hansell and officially hosted by Lisa Vanderpump (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills). Everyone was in particularly cheery spirits because that Sunday marked the first day of enforced marriage equality in New York. Lisa gave a lovely speech, which included the statement, "Tolerance. I hate that word. How about acceptance?" The crowd went wild.
A number of great restaurants had set up cooking stations across the yard, and guests were invited to pig-out, to the degree that any gay Angelenos actually do such a thing in public. Susan Feniger had a particularly popular cooking station set up with ceviche from The Border Grill. Rokk Vodka was a sponsor as well. Fabulous.
There was, of course, a silent auction where you could bid on everything from Vegas vacations to gay plates.
Top Chef Masters contestants Antonia Lofaso and Fabio Viviani had a cook-off, which was judged by Jamie Lauren, Susan Feniger, and Shonda Rhimes. We didn't get to judge the challenge, but we got to eat it.
Antonia won and was rewarded with a giant whisk. Fabio got a tiny consolation whisk. Other celebrity guests included Jessica Collins and Dustin Lance Black, who seems to be this year's Wilson Cruz, in terms of his omnipresence.
Best of all, there was SWAG! The gift bags contained Starbucks coffee and a book entitled Steven Petrow's Complete Gay and Lesbian Manners: The Definitive Guide to LGBT Life. Did you know that when you are hosting a sexual encounter you should "Take the time beforehand to tidy up, put new sheets on the bed, hang clean towels in the bathroom, and if necessary, hide any photos or mementos of anyone else you're currently seeing?" Is this catering to gay men or to The Real L Word's Whitney? The lesbian version might read, "Take the time to lint roll the cats, buy lots of beer, and try not to cry."
Dysnomia
Hey, you know what usually sucks? Theatre in Los Angeles. The only thing worse is gay theatre in Los Angeles. So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to see a lesbian play in Hollywood. To my sheer delight, said play didn't suck even a little bit.
The central character in Dysnomia is Mary, a wife and mother on the brink of turning 40. Her husband is hapless, but a good guy, but his hairy hands have begun to bug her. She never liked them, come to think of it. Or this life. Is this all there is? Is it boredom? A mid-life crisis? Apathy? Her daily wardrobe of one-inch heel cowboy boots paired with trousers should have been a clue, but she just can't find the word until … Her best friend's stepdaughter Sam arrives for Thanksgiving, on break from, where else, Smith College. Sam is a lesbian and likely because she is 22 and goes to school in a hotbed of sapphic intensity, she's quite unperturbed by her own sexuality. She describes her own coming out experience and voila, Mary has a word for what she's been feeling. Gay!
How exciting to be able to define what's been driving you insane. Then you can actually deal with it. Guess who isn't so psyched about all of this? Correct! The husband and kids freak out and move out. The rest of the play follows the family, friends, and Mary, as they all try to come to terms with this revelation.
So frequently, characters who come out later in life are portrayed as closeted or repressed. Dysnomia finally addresses the more common phenomenon of people who are either fluid and their sexuality has evolved, or they just plain didn't know because it never came up.
Mary is played with beautiful integrity by Heidi Sulzman. Sam is played by the playwright/The Four-Faced Liarscreenwriter Marja-Lewis Ryan, who gives an extremely skilled and natural performance. She looks about 12-years-old, so I don't know how any of this is possible, but that is what I'm told.
Dysnomia has been extended through September 10. It is playing at the Lounge Theater and you can visit www.plays411.com/dysnomia or call 323-965-9996 for tickets.
