Let me be honest. I “read” OUT Magazine for the pictures. And the March issue is particularly sexy with more photos (in ads and editorial) of shirtless young men than usual. This month’s cover boy is a gritty Ewan McGregor.
But the issue actually has something worth spending a bit of time and thought on – a 22-page spread called “80 American Classics” celebrating “the spectrum of queer talent who taught us who we are.
Along with Tennessee Williams, Robert Maplethorpe, and Andy Warhol among others, there’s a revealing look into the early love affair between Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.
And there are actually a few classical music items. Well, make that two.
Number 12 is a 100-word blurb on Aaron Copland by Nico Muhly (who is on the verge of getting more than a little over exposed).
And Number 65 is “The Diaries of Ned Rorem,” written by, of all people, John Waters. Actually “written by” is probably too strong a description. After Waters’ name it says “As told to Out,” which suggests that he spent about 5 minutes rambling on the phone. Whatever. I love what he’s got to say, and here’s a bit of it:
“(Rorem’s) music is beautiful, but it’s his Paris and New York diaries that changed how I thought gay people were supposed to act. He was elitist, but incredibly smart and hilariously snobby… I always say old chickens make good soup, but with him I’d say old smart chickens make even better soup.” Who knew Ned Rorem inspired John Waters?!
I don’t want to fault OUT for being OUT, but in the Rorem/Waters spirit of being fussy, smart and snobby, I’m going to critique the “American Classics” feature a bit and then offer to fill out it with some more high-brow types.
What’s annoying is the randomness of it. The jumping around between artistic fields is fine, as is the variety of lengths of copy for the different items. But some “classics” are just artists, listed by name, while others are works of art. Examples:
No. 14. “Sweeney Todd.”
No. 15. Philip Johnson’s Glass House.
No. 17. Merce Cuningham.
No. 19 Paul Lyne. (But not Paul Lyne’s Center Square”)
No. 24. “West Side Story.” (And not Leonard Bernstein in his own right??!!)
No. 46. Elizabeth Bishop.
No. 48. “Pink Narcissus” (James Bidgood).
No. 58. “The Radiant Baby” (Keith Haring).
No. 61. Alvin Ailey.
And on so. Strange editing.
No surprise that there are some inclusions from the world of popular culture, including No. 25. “Strange Fruit,” No. 52. “Harold and Maude,” and No. 75. Divine. But some things are just not old enough to be classics, like No. 63. “Sex and the City,” No. 64. “Voguing” and No. 67. “Love Shack.”
And just plain weird are the following:
No. 28. Rolling Stone Magazine (Maybe Out’s parent company Here Publishing is just kissing up and hoping for a buyout savior in the form of Jann Wenner)
No. 29. The Jeapardy! Theme Song (so what if Merve Griffin made a zillion off of it)
No. 53. The Career of Tom Cruise (though it’s always nice to see him dancing in his underwear from “Risky Business”)
And then there’s the long article within an article that’s No. 59 Tom Brown (the designer who made Pee Wee Herman suits chic, briefly), which seems like a feature they had hanging around and decided to throw in. Likewise, the long hymn of praise to No. 69 Rostam Batmanglij, the 20-something gay member of a band called Vampire Weekend.
Still, it’s fun to pour over it and pick it apart and nice to know there are some folks at OUT who know something culture.
Now a few additions:
TED SHAWN
Who led the way for all male dancers to frolick.
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI.
He may have become an angry old queen, but he wrote American opera like nobody else.
JOHN CORIGLIANO’S SYMPHONY NO. 1 “OF RAGE & REMEMBRANCE”
The highest summit of musical works about AIDS, it’s manic, in your face and when stuffed shirts and closet cases face it in concert they have to sit through it.
DAVID DEL TREDICI’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND CYCLE
Just like his inspiration Lewis Carroll, DDT disguises a world of sexual longing and erotic explosions beneath a harmless children’s fantasy.
“THE MOTHER OF US ALL”
Building on their avant garde background, Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson showed that an expatriate butch lesbian poet and corn-fed mid-Western sissy were the perfect pair to depict the American struggle for rights and deliver it with color, flair and humor.
LOU HARRISON
Because he turned to the east for musical inspiration but listened to his heart for beauty.
GORE VIDAL
With “The City and the Pillar” he created the gay American novel and later went on to become our nation’s queer conscious.
