How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization - Cathy Crimmins [19]
American communities love to sing. There have always been church choirs, high-school choruses, a cappella groups, and barbershop quartets.
But America ain’t seen nothin’ like gay choruses!
They’ve changed attitudes toward amateur choral singing while also, on occasion, adding the humor and camp that’s mostly missing from the straight choral scene. Since 1977, when the first one, the Stonewall Chorale, appeared in New York, gay choruses of all types have sprung up in urban and suburban areas. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) claims to be the first to use “gay” in its title—it started in 1978 as some singers gathered on the steps of City Hall to sing and mourn the assassination of Harvey Milk. By 2001, the SFGMC had performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, now in its twenty-fifth season, has crossed over to the straight world by appearing on an episode of Will & Grace (costarring Matt Damon as a straight guy who wants to join so that he can get a free trip to Europe), and on an entire season of Six Feet Under. (Michael, the gay brother, auditioned and got into the chorus. He performed along with real chorus members.) They’ve toured the world, sung for former President Clinton, and performed with Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Angela Lans bury, Rita Moreno, Beatrice Arthur, and Jerry Herman. It’s a far cry from singing at the town picnic.
The gay choral movement is growing by leaps and bounds, and entertaining at more mainstream events every year with many heterosexuals in attendance. There are groups that sing only Gregorian chants, groups that sing only classical music, and many others that mix genres including rock, jazz, and even commercial jingles. I’ve never seen anything funnier than a performance by a small gay chorus, The Spruce Street Singers in Philadelphia, which sang in serious, soulful tones the “I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener” song. I would have liked to have attended the performance of Captain Smarty pants, a small offshoot of the Seattle Men’s Chorus, when it did an entire original song cycle, “Fruit of the Month Club.”
I know a bit about the urban gay singing scene, but I was surprised to find groups that were based in smaller towns and some that were aimed at a statewide audience. Of all the hundreds of performance descriptions, I most preferred the details of two concerts by the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus. They show how gay-tolerant small towns in Connecticut have become.
Queer Eye for the Magi (Christmas 2003)
Well, wouldn’t you want a makeover if you’d just spent a thousand miles on a camel? Three newly fabulous kings join our merry men, eight dancing reindeer, some decidedly unusual elves, Santa, Martha Stewart and Joan Crawford in an evening that will tickle your fancy and roast your chestnuts.
Flaming Saddles (June 2004)
Journey with our Cos Cob cowboys to the dusty trails and big skies of the Old West, where men were men and accessories were very difficult to find. Yep. Silver spurs, rawhide chaps and rhinestone tiaras—they’re all here. But along the way be prepared for a wild ride as the boys rassle with contemporary gender politics and hoedown with the Supreme Court.
I wish my high-school chorus had done theme concerts of that type, instead of making us sing old arrangements of tired old Man of La Mancha songs.
It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To . . .
Want to have a great party? Ask a gay man to plan it. Celebration is an intense part of gay life; homosexual rituals have spilled over into heterosexual communities, making the tradition of American parties and gatherings more flamboyant than in past decades. There is, of course, even a stereotype of the gay party planner who tries to educate boring straight people, as exemplified by the characters Martin Short and B. D. Wong play in the Father of the Bride movies.
But some stereotypes are true. Many gay men are tireless when it comes to new and