The opening of the hit Broadway musical "Wicked" last Friday night for a sit-down Best of Broadway run at SF's Orpheum Theatre was followed by a festive cast party in the Green Room of the Veteran's Building. Someone had a sly sense of humor with the event booking, because "Wicked" tells the back-story of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West, who was persecuted throughout life because she was born green. Like the room, get it? From the venue's vaulted portico, you could see the great gilded dome of San Francisco City Hall, lit up in emerald green. Estimable star of stage and screen Carol Kane, who plays Madame Morrible in this new "Wicked," brought celebrity wattage to the party, as did, in a different way, CA Attorney General Jerry Brown. Everything truly was coming up artichokes.
Octopus' garden
Watching the Oscars show, coming up on Feb. 22, is always more fun when you've seen the nominated films, and although nothing on God's green Earth could compel us to sit through beefy Mickey Rourke grappling in "The Wrestler," Out There has seen most of the other entries in the major categories. There are jewels among the gruel, and we'll tell you our picks next week.
Meanwhile the so-called minor categories deserve their due. It's easy to catch up on the Oscar-nominated short films, both animated and live-action, because Landmark Theatres is offering them up in separate screenings. We went to see the animations last weekend, and will catch the live-action line-up after our deadline.
Shorts are so appealing. If one is not to your taste, the next one will be along before the next Muni bus. The films are presented with title cards that tell you how long they last, always good info, and sometimes the shortest are the best. "Oktapodi" from France, for example, tells the story of thwarted cephalopod love in a few hilarious episodes, and left the audience cheering at the end. We'll certainly look at our fried calamari a whole new way.
"Lavatory Lovestory," from Russia, portrays a restroom attendant's longing for love in black-and-white line drawings and a few splashes of color. "La Maison en Petits Cubes," from Japan, can be read as a parable about climate change or the stages of life. Depths of feeling and meaning are not limited to feature length.
Bachelor party
It's February, and that means it's time for the annual "Singles" issue of the Nob Hill Gazette, which is always good for a cavalcade of giggles, especially when perusing the "Dashing Dudes" list of bachelors supposedly eligible for heterosexual dating. Thing is, this list makes OT's gaydar go off like a smoke alarm at a Memphis BBQ! So many of these single men are bachelors of the "confirmed" variety. Let's see how many you can recognize solely by their initials and identifying blurbs!
W.B.: "Haberdasher extraordinaire; involved in several nonprofs, including PAWS." Where Willie drops bucks.
H.D.: "An SF institution: Mr. Nightlife; loves to dance, shop, romance & spoil." As in, spoil rotten?
J.G.: "Passion for architecture, fashion & travel; collects orchids; exec. producer of several independent movies." As in, adult movies?
S.M.: "Dermatologist to the stars; workout fanatic; great host." As in, "Can host?"
J.M.: "Artistic director, political scion, film fanatic." This one's too easy to spill.
J.T.: "Ardent Faberge collector & popular man-about-town." Known for his eggs?
If these dudes are truly "dashing," we'd wager they're not dashing after debutantes, but after every Tom, Dick and Harry in town. Especially Dick.
Peaches n' Sugar
All points bulletin: Peaches Christ says she's looking for people to murder. All About Evil, the feature film debut of writer/director Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches), will be shooting this spring, and the production is looking for volunteer background extras to participate in the last two weeks of March. Filming will take place at the Bridge Theatre in SF. "Come be a part of the underground world of SF cult movie fanatics," says a spokes-peach, "and help make this horror movie!" For info, go to www.peacheschrist.com.
Our last item is an assortment of small plates. The third annual "Tapas: Eight New Short Plays," opening Feb. 20 at Pegasus Theater in Monte Rio, is a collection of 10- to 15-minute new works by playwrights from Monte Rio, SF, Mill Valley, Guerneville, Berkeley and Santa Rosa. The comedies and dramas include "The Life and Times of Young Jon Sugar," written by SF gay activist/performance artist Jon Sugar. Directed by Lois Pearlman, it's an autobiographical farce tracing Sugar's bizarre Miami childhood.
Pegasus is located at 20347 Highway 116 in Monte Rio, a straight shot down River Road from the freeway. Tickets: (707) 522-9043 or www.pegasustheater.com.
Finally, Strange de Jim heard David Letterman say it on late-night TV: "Iceland has a new lesbian Prime Minister. Probably makes her the only foreign leader who likes Bush."
And RIP chanteuse Blossom Dearie. She was 82 years young.