Articles in Features
No TransAlaska Love for Calpernia Addams
Early morning on April 6th, 1993, when I was still a field combat medic in the Navy and living on a remote Alaskan island (yes, really!), a Chinese airliner encountered some kind of severe turbulence and had to land on the even more remote Alaskan island of Shemya. I was on duty in the emergency room that night, and volunteered to fly the quick hop over to Shemya and start processing the wounded.
We got everyone stabilized, except for one poor soul who died. Later that day, a big plane from the mainland in Alaska arrived with medical teams to medivac the wounded back to Elmendorf Air Force Base hospital. I made the long trip (7 or 8 hours?) from Shemya to Anchorage with my patients, monitoring IV bags and vitals. It was quite a day for all of us on the Adak medical team.
"Rising Star" Director Peter DuBois Honed Skills at Juneau’s Perseverance Theatre
Ben Bohen, his partner of 11 years, will keep their Brooklyn apartment as DuBois sets up another home in Boston for the Huntington job. They plan on commuting, but it won’t be as difficult as when DuBois moved to Alaska to become artistic director of Juneau’s Perseverance Theatre.“Ben finally came out to visit for the month of December,” said DuBois, “which is one of the hardest months to be there, and he said, ‘OK, I’ll make the leap.’ We lived together there for four years before I got the call from the Public.”“Even in Alaska, which is an incredibly conservative state, I actually was very consciously keeping myself out [as a gay man] because it’s a part of my identity that I’m really proud of.”
Before being recruited to the Public, DuBois was artistic director of Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska. A mid-sized regional company, Perseverance is hailed for distinctive artistic boldness, innovation, and a dedication to its community and its audience. There, DuBois directed revivals of Beckett, Shakespeare, and Chekhov, and introduced modern-day works by Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, and others.
In a bold move to the furthermost reaches of the United States, DuBois took over where Perseverance founder Molly Smith had left off. It was at Perseverance that he honed his institution-building skills, cutting debt and raising $2.5 million in capital and endowment campaigns to make Perseverance Alaska’s largest producing arts organization. He also brokered a relationship with the University of Alaska Southeast in which Perseverance would assume responsibility for all theater education activities at the college, offering minors to its students.DuBois ran Perseverance from 1998 to 2003, beginning to make a reputation for himself as an up and coming American artist and institutional leader.
“I’ve developed relationships at the Public and living in Europe and even in Alaska that are relationships that I plan to be bringing to the Huntington Theatre, and I think the programming is going to represent a really diverse range of what theater means.”
Congratulations, Peter!
First Gay Couple Married in San Luis Obispo Met in Alaska
Wedding Bells in the Juneau Empire
Crispian Smith, of Juneau, and Jeroen van Dalen, of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, were married in a ceremony attended by family and friends on March 29, 2008, in the Old Church in Amsterdam.
Mr. van Dalen is the son of Cees van Dalen, of Schiedam, the Netherlands, and Atie and Dick de Zeeuw, of Amsterdam. He received his doctorandus from the University of Maastricht and works as a content management consultant.
Mr. Smith is the son of Phil and Deborah Smith, of Juneau. A graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School, he received his bachelor’s degree from the New School for Social Research in New York City and his master’s from the University of Amsterdam. He is a case manager at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
After a brief honeymoon on the Belgian coast, the couple returned to their home in Amsterdam.
"Becoming a Man" in Anchorage
“I was born female.
I came out a lesbian.
Then I came out transgender.
Now, with legal changes and hormones, I live my life as a man.
I identify (pretty much) as a straight man.
But, mostly, people read me as a gay man.
That’s female, male, lesbian, gay, straight (but not narrow), and trans.
I live all of those facets of my identity, and make art about them.”
— From the desk of Scott Turner Schofield
Scott Turner Schofield, the first openly trans artist to be commissioned by the National Performance Network, is in Anchorage this week to perform “Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps” at Out North.
“Becoming a Man” presents true stories of Schofield’s personal transformation, including an army recruitment office where he tries to enlist and then “tells,” and a confrontation with his biological father.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Invited into the world of a childhood fort, the audience picks which of the 127 stories they want to hear. The stories focus on Schofield’s transition from female to male, exploring his origins, childhood and young adult life as a transgender person. Sometimes funny, sometimes shockingly honesty, these scenes last from 30 seconds to five minutes, featuring multi-media storytelling, aerial acrobatics and a decoder ring.
“Becoming a Man” is rated for Mature Audiences due to nudity, language and sexuality.
“There is full nudity, and it is the most un-controversial aspect of the show, though of course nobody will admit that until after they’ve seen it,” writes Schofield from his home in Atlanta, Georgia. “It’s a matter-of-fact primer on transgender surgeries done with lipstick and a trans body that is (gasp!) comfortable with itself.”
Contradictions and Comedy
Schofield has been the featured performer for events such as Unity Week, National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Rememberance, Pride and even Women’s History Month. His recently published book, Two Truths and a Lie, combines all three of his autobiographical plays.
Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls called him, “A provocative and compelling storyteller. [Schofield] helps us to look at gender in a new way, face our prejudices, and have fun while doing it.”
During a one week residency in Anchorage, Schofield will appear on radio shows, guest lecture a Women’s Studies class, and co-present theater workshops with director Steve Bailey.
The radio schedule includes Thursday 8:30 am on 90.3 KNBA with host Danny Preston, Friday 1 p.m. on 91.1 KSKA’s Stagetalk with host Mark Muro, and Friday 3 pm on 88.1 KRUA with host Caroline Willis.
Established in 1985 as Out North, VSA arts of Alaska provides a forum for underrepresented artists, especially artists with disabilities, artists of color, gay/lesbian/bi/trans artists, and social activist artists.
“Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps” plays Thursday March 27 through Saturday March 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday March 30 at 4 p.m. at Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road. Tickets are $19 online and $20 at the door. Student rush tickets are $10 at the door with student ID.
Watch the trailer and visit Underground Transit for more on Scott Turner Schofield.
