HGO Presents Frederica von Stade Silver Rose

Last week, I was fortunate enough to see Houston Grand Opera’s final performance of Dead Man Walking. The opera, which debuted in 2000, is based on the book by Nobel Laureate Sister Helen Prejean and tells the story of a nun who develops a pen-pal relationship with a man on death row. It begins with Joseph de Rocher’s killing of two teenagers and ends with his admission of guilt in the final scenes.

Frederica von Stade, the mezzo-soprano who sang the role of Mrs. De Rocher, the murderer’s mother, for whom the role was written, originated it for the world-premiere San Francisco production. The role also became von Stade’s final operatic performance when she performed it in Houston on Sunday, February 6.

In recognition of her stellar career and long association with the company, HGO named her an Honorary Board Member and created the The Silver Rose Award. After the performance, “Flicka,” as she is know to her fans, graciously accepted the award and joked she wished she had worn another dress!

Check out my full post on Art Attack.

True LGBT Stories – I’m From Houston, TX.

This week, im from driftwood, a site that focuses on the lives of every day gays features Houston Mayor, Annise Parker. Mayor Parker beautifully describes her experiences as a young lesbian and struggling to go on dates. In her trademark honest delivery Parker tells us about being fifteen, falling in love and finding “ways to sneak around and see each other”. They even had an old-school-style long-distance relationship while in college. You know, the kind that cost a fortune before cellphones.

Anyways, Ms. Parker says she would never want to be fifteen again! It was miserably, too many evenings spent “sitting in the dark, staring up at her window – hours and hours at a time..” We agree with her, no, thanks, to all that longing!

Unfortunately, even today, many gays still have to go on double dates to spend time with each other.