Fifth Freedom, 1982-04-01

              THE FIFTH FREEDOM A PUBLICATION FOR THE BUFFALO GAY COMMUNITY APRIL 1982 FREE "The Freedom to love whomever and however we want" Screen Sister Success Story By JOHN A. FAULRING, JR. The Allendale Theater was built in 1913. Perhaps now, more than any other time in its existance since then, it is going to be put to use the way it was first intended. In its original state the theater was just that; a theater for not only films, with live accompaniment in those days; a forum for burlesque performers of the day, it is said that even the Barrymore's played there; and a meeting place for all groups and individualsof the Allentown area. After going through changes from those original uses it has gone from that to family entertainment and even on to X-rated. Why The Change? Last Oct. 1, Michele Eodice purchased the theater as a partner of Screen Sisters, Inc. They also operate the Screen Sisters Bookstore at 100 Elmwood Aye. Michele had worked at the candy counter of the theater for two years previous. This had been preceeded by a taste of theater at Buff State and oswego as a part of her education, starting at 17. "I really never thought I would be doing this sort of thing," Michele says, "I just applied for a job there and got it. As time went on I learned everything about running the place. I went from candy counter to ticket taker, to projectionist and everything else in between." "I had my own ideas of what the theater should be used for when I took over. Since then I have been trying these ideas out, I have come up with many different ones," Eodice states. Boiler Ball Beginning The Boiler Ball held recently, to fund repairs of the theater ailing system for keeping patrons warm, was the beginning of going back to the roots of Allendale. "The Ball was a throwback to Vaudeville," she says, "We had a belly dancer, magician and other variety acts. There is really no place for this type of entertainment any more." With the success of the Ball, it is now on to other similar projects. "The next 'new' thing we will be trying will be a live play in April. It is a play call The Tooth of Crime by Sam Shepard. Studio Arena had his play Curse of the Starving Class last year," Eodice proudly states. He has also written Resurrection and Raggedy Man. "The play is about the music industry in 1990. It features Pauline and the Perils. Pauline will be featured in the play and the Perils will provide the live music for the play. All original music will be included. You could say that it is a '60's movie set in the 19905." Film Policy Improves The recent showing of Taxi Zum Klo was a first for the Theater and for Buffalo. "I had a time trying to get the film to show here. It hadn't broken in any cities the size of Buffalo. All the cities with large gay populations had seen it and that was it. I worked with the distributor and convinced them to try," she says, "Because of the success here they are trying it in cities of similar size now." "Taxi drew a largely gale male audience, whereas, La Cage Aux Folles drew from all areas of film goers. La Cage was the Oklahoma of 1980. It drew from what we call the 'MOR/ the middle of the road movie crowd." "Taxi was quite a success considering it was originally a 16mm home movie that was changed over to 35. The critical acclaim it received drew people to see it. I felt that people here deserved to see it. The gay male audience supports all the movies, so I thought they should see this one, too." Vice Squad Problems? The Vice Squad came one night, but there were no problems. "They guy came in, made himself known, watched the movie and left. That was all the contact we had with them," she says. "It has had problems in other cities, but Buffalo should be proud that it didn't happen here." Many of the films that are shown there are of the foreign language art types. "I guess they looked at this one the same way." Taxi was a breakthrough for American commercial films, just as La Cage was. They were both the predecessors of the plethora of gay oriented films coming out of the American companies now. The ice had to be broken and now the flood has begun. Community Theater Concept The next new idea for the theater is aimed at getting the community to use the theater. "I would like to see various groups in the area have special movies showings here. And I have already been approached for this purpose, "she says, "i am more than willing to meet the groups half way so we can have the theater in use moreof the time. It can be used for movies, live plays, lectures, variety shows and many other purposes. All they have to do is contact mc." Screen Sisters, Inc. Screen Sisters is the group behind the Allendale now. "It includes my own sister, Mary Lou, and various friends of mine," Michele says. "We are not a traditional business, but incorporate some collective ideas into what has to be a business in these difficult times moneywise.""We want to give people an enjoyable night' out for a reasonable cost. For about $6 you can come see the movie and go across the street and have coffee and dessert," she advises." It is even more reasonable if you come on a Sunday afternoon matinee." "The malls with their theaters and the boom in home video is hard competition for us. The number of movie theaters in the downtown area is steadily on the decrease. Peopledon'twanttodrive all the way down here, with gas costs and the safety factor." With the theater district being such an important part of Buffalo's rebirth, it should include the movie theater, too. At present there are only the Allendale and one other small complex to attend. Allendale Books For the movie fun that likes to take some of the magic off the screen and take it home they also operate Screen Sisters Books. There you will find a selection of posters, movie stills, (even ones from "Making Love" and "Taxi,") The aural Column Allen Restaurant Satisifes The Gourmet Ear BY JOE SCHUDER II He leaned back from his dinner, trying to focus his concentration on Judy Garland pictures and old music, in an attempt to avoid looking into his partner's eyes. Doing that would remind him of the feel of their skin-on-skin rubbing together and resting last night. But it would also remind him that another night in his arms was too painfully far away to think about. The Glenn Miller Band began to play "In The M00d..." Some issues back I began an ongoing series of articles exploring and explaining the sound systems we are treated to (or in some cases must endure) when we are out for an evening of fun and frolic. Then too, as many months ago, the Fifth Freedom staff visited the Allen Restaurant at 16 Allen Street in Buffalo with an eye and palate towards a review of its very fine food. This month I would like to bring these topics together and discuss the unique aural experience that awaits us there. COCKTAILS FOR TWO That half of the restaurant's partnership which takes principal responsibility for the music we hear is Joe who, if he could play and be paid for it, would be a producer of entertainment tapes and films. At the restaurant's old location acorss and up the street, music was played on a record player - one side at a time - with an emphasis on Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand and big band music. Now that the location is at 16 Allen Street, they use a much better and more versatile method of program presntation: tape cassettes. The fortyfive minutes per side provided by the TDK SA C9O tapes is just right for a complete program. It also allows Dan, Joe and staff freedom from constantly tending the sound system so that they may tend instead to their customers' gustatory desires. When I asked Joe how he arrived at his decision to use the type of music heard, he told mc he had always liked old music, but became a real fan when, during his coming out process, he heard Tommy Dorsey's "Boogie Woogie" on the jukebox at Dominique's. The first tapes were produced from Dan and Joe's personal record collection. Now other sources include recordings borrowed from friends, family and the Public Library. Joe is constantly on the prowl for old vocal anthologies and original Broadway and Hollywood recordings. In the early days at 16 Allen Street, they owned only one tapedeck which Joe took home every time he produced a new tape, leaving Dan the temporary task of reverting back to disc sides. Now that there is a tapedeck at home as well as at the restaurant, less time is spent juggling, and more time doing production. Joe believes different types of music within the old music genre work best at differing times of the day. There are now some twenty cassettes and more contemporary material from the 19505, 1960's and 1970's is played at lunchtime. The tapes that contain program material predominantly from the 1930's through the early 1060's are played during dinner. Tapped programs are preferred over broadcast music because of their specialized natur even though a music license is necessary "to play them. THE APPETIZER Tapes are produced on Dan and Joe's home system which consists of a Marantz 6100 two speed turntable feeding a Marantz model 2230 stereo receiver. The recorder is a Technics model M-7, and Dolby-B noise reduction is used. Joe does the actual production. Although he prefers to produce while Dan is not around, both partners pass judgement on the final product. "His opinion turns out to be more and more correct after the tape has been played a few times," states Joe. Personal taste prevails and Joe recrods what they both like, shying away from full disc sides and intermixing for example, new Bette Middler with old Ethel Waters, Kate Smith and then back to newer Pointer Sisters. The effect is eclectic and sometimes pleasantly surprising. When a tape is finalized, it goes through a test listening period to check for musical "Tightness" by being played on their car tape player as they run around town, doing the countless errands necessary to keep the restaurant going. A good many of the Judy Garland selections came from friends. Joe is particularly proud of the way he interwove selections from Liza Minelli and Judy Garland albums into a recording of Minelli's performance at the London Palladium. And if you wonder just what show a selection is from, or "Who just sang that song?" a complete catalogue of each program provides the answer. In fact, some regular patrons have produced a tape and reserve playback of a protion of it when they call to reserve a table. A three year old Samsung model ST 3295 plays Dolbyized tapes via its internal tuner/amplifier section. Bookshelf size speakers, each containing an eightinch woofer and a three-inch tweeter are wall-mounted just above standing ear level in the main dining room. The B-speaker output of the St 3295 feeds similar speakers in the front dining room. The playback system at the Allen Restaurant is no statement of the art to be sure. But its sound, while not attentive to the frequency extremes, is well balanced overall, and quite clear. You can understand each lyric of a vocal selection, and distinguish between strings and saxophones on instrumentals. Continued on page 5 Continued on page 4.