Arts & Culture

'We Just Want to Be' @ Spark Arts

'We Just Want to Be' @ Spark Arts

  • MOVIES
  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Apr 26, 2022

On May 6 and 7 the Spark Arts gallery in the Castro will host a pop art show and a staged reading which will serve as a fundraiser for "We Just Want to Be," an upcoming feature-length documentary that will underscore the violence of conversion therapy.

Richard Labonte, former SF LGBTQ bookstore manager, dies

Richard Labonte, former SF LGBTQ bookstore manager, dies

  • BOOKS
  • by Cynthia Laird
  • Apr 25, 2022

Richard Labonte, who once managed the LGBTQ bookstore A Different Light in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, died March 20 at his home in British Columbia, Canada after a battle with stomach cancer.

'Start' laughing with writer Gary Janetti

'Start' laughing with writer Gary Janetti

  • BOOKS
  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Apr 24, 2022

Gary Janetti is a gay writer (and TV show producer) who is well aware of the benefits of laughter, as shown in his new book of essays, 'Start Without Me: (I'll Be There in a Minute).'

SF Film Festival opening night

SF Film Festival opening night

  • MOVIES
  • by photos by Steven Underhill
  • Apr 22, 2022

Film fans, film stars, directors and producers gathered for opening night of the 65th annual San Francisco international Film Festival on April 21 at the Castro Theatre for a screening of Jamie Sisley's "Stay Awake," with "This Is Us" star Chrissie Metz.

Jacob Stensberg named as next artistic director of SF Gay Men's Chorus

Jacob Stensberg named as next artistic director of SF Gay Men's Chorus

  • MUSIC
  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Apr 19, 2022

Jacob Stensberg has been hired as the new Artistic Director of San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, following an extensive nationwide search. Stensberg succeeds Dr. Timothy Seelig, who will retire at the conclusion of the chorus' 44th season in July 2022.

SF Film fest faves

SF Film fest faves

  • MOVIES
  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Apr 19, 2022

This year's 65th annual San Francisco International Film will return to theaters (Castro, Vogue, Roxie, Victoria, Pacific Film Archive) in person from April 21 to May 1, with several films and events of note to LGBTQ fans.

First ladies, freaky fellas: The Lavender Tube on presidential wives and Tucker's tired testes

First ladies, freaky fellas: The Lavender Tube on presidential wives and Tucker's tired testes

'The First Lady' features a trio of stars, Tucker Carlson's bizarrely homoerotic trailer, 'Law & Order: Organized Crime's lesbian cop played by Danielle Moné Truitt, plus more gossip and upcoming shows of note are all in this week's TV column.

'PrEP Play, or Blue Parachute' - strong medicine needs more regimen

'PrEP Play, or Blue Parachute' - strong medicine needs more regimen

  • THEATER
  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 19, 2022

The complexities of the generation gap between gay men who grew up in the AIDS epidemic and those who came-of-age with tenofovir pills are explored in 'PrEp Play, or Blue Parachute,' now in a world premiere at NCTC.

'Coming Soon' at Z Space: a rousing, arousing new musical

'Coming Soon' at Z Space: a rousing, arousing new musical

  • THEATER
  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 19, 2022

Musician-playwright Rachel Lark's stage musical, 'Coming Soon,' opens at Z Space this week, with sex on its mind, but it's more serious and less schticky than her previous tunes performed at Bawdy Storytelling.

Toni Mirosevich's 'Spell Heaven'

Toni Mirosevich's 'Spell Heaven'

  • BOOKS
  • by Miah Jeffra Milla
  • Apr 19, 2022

Toni Mirosevich's collection of linked stories, 'Spell Heaven,' tells of working-class fishing family and the author's own balance of that life and academia, a position she loves for the students and loathes for the politics.

Scaring up Stravinsky: Simon Rattle returns to the three ballets

Scaring up Stravinsky: Simon Rattle returns to the three ballets

  • MUSIC
  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Apr 19, 2022

The London Symphony Orchestra's recording of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring,' conducted by Simon Rattle, reminds us what a still-stunning piece 'Le Sacre' is. Also, gay barihunk Stephane Degout sings Ravel.

SF Playhouse's 'Water By the Spoonful'

SF Playhouse's 'Water By the Spoonful'

  • THEATER
  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 16, 2022

Stories of intergenerational family drama, post-traumatic stress and the ravages of drug addiction are complexly interwoven in playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes' 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Water By The Spoonful,' now at SF Playhouse.

Women on the Verge - 'Fefu and Her Friends' at A.C.T.'s Strand

Women on the Verge - 'Fefu and Her Friends' at A.C.T.'s Strand

  • THEATER
  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 12, 2022

Domineering den mother Fefu dispenses aphorisms like casually tossed grenades in 'Fefu and Her Friends,' Irene Maria Fornes' oblique psychosocial puzzle play, now being mounted in a luxe American Conservatory Theatre production at the Strand Theater.

'Great Freedom' - love in the face of injustice

'Great Freedom' - love in the face of injustice

  • MOVIES
  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Apr 12, 2022

At a time when Ukrainians are being killed and dying for their freedom, Austrian writer/director Sebastian Meise's exquisite film 'Great Freedom' couldn't have arrived in Bay Area theaters at a more opportune time.