An Unsatisfactory Situation: Brokeback Mountain the Opera

In March, 2006 I became a member of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum, a fan site dedicated to serious discussion of the film and short story "Brokeback Mountain"

Over the years I've made many new friends there, and not just online. We've had many events and gatherings where members would travel from all over the world to meet in person.


We had so many eloquent and moving personal stories told on the forum that we decided to turn them into a book, "Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film." which has also been turned into a staged reading by Gregory Hinton, and performed all over the country in the past few years as part of his "Out West" series, and a ballet produced by Man Dance Company of San Francisco. We are not obsessed, we are passionate.

When it was announced in September, 2007 that Brokeback Mountain was to be turned into an opera I was very excited. Four years later I heard that a date and location had finally been set: January, 2014 in Madrid. We've been making plans to be there for almost 3 years.

The big day finally arrived last Saturday and left me with mixed feelings.

My mother taught me not to speak ill of the dead, so I have very little to say about the lifeless score.

In the weeks leading up to the opera the composer, Charles Wuorinen and librettist Annie Proulx tried very hard to make it clear that this was not a musical recreation of the film. That was to be expected and something I think most of us looked forward to. We wanted to see something new and different.  What I didn't expect was that they would disparage the film in an attempt to make the opera seem better than the film. Annie Proulx said the film "Was what it was", a far cry from her earlier praise of the Oscar winning screenplay by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry.

The creators of the film, especially Diana Ossana, poured a lot of energy and passion into getting the film made. Their efforts paid off in the cultural phenomenon that made the opera possible. So it was upsetting to hear the creators of the opera dismiss the film as lacking. At least the performers in the opera showed that they were passionate about telling the story.

The opera was also marketed as being less sentimental than the film. I didn't see that in Madrid.

Daniel Okulitch did a superb job portraying Ennis Del Mar, and Tom Randle was equally as impressive as Jack Twist. The Ennis and Jack in the opera are far from less sentimental. Their relationship comes across as more romantic than what was shown in either the film or short story.

When the film was in release I remember a lot of people, especially gay men, bemoaning the fact that Jack and Ennis seemed unaware of the advances in gay rights and new found public acceptance in the 70s and 80s. Well, that has been remedied in the opera during the scene where Ennis talks about being killed if they're in the wrong place, wrong time. Jack tells Ennis that "It's different now", "Things have changed", even though things hadn't really changed much in Wyoming or most of America outside of the big cities back then. I lost a few friends to gay bashings in the 70s and 80s in Central Michigan and even in the big cities of New York and Los Angeles. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wuorinen's score supposedly has more depth than what is apparent when listening. One note represents Jack, another Ennis, and yet another for the Mountain. These notes aren't apparent unless you read the composer's notes. That shouldn't be necessary in any live performance. Opera is still a show. So SHOW ME, don't tell me.

I liked the Edward Hopper inspired sets, but they seemed out of place and time for Wyoming in the 60s.

The costumes were very good, especially in the beginning when Jack and Ennis go up to Brokeback for the first time. These were clearly inspired by the work of the late Marit Allen who designed the wardrobe for the film.

The performers all did a great job. What was lacking in the score was made up for by the emotions of the singers.

Daniel Okulitch and Tom Randle were perfect choices. They can both act as well as sing, and they received a few well deserved Bravos at the curtain call.

We met Daniel after the performance, and he was very gracious. He also came over to our group at a restaurant afterwards to thank us and to let us know that he was relieved to have passed the test of the true Brokeback fans. He passed with flying colors.

Annie Proulx did a good job with the libretto, but it would really work better as a non-musical stage play after a little reworking by someone with more experience writing a script.

I am not sorry I went to Madrid at all. It was an impressive show but less than what I was hoping for.

The saddest part of the opera comes at the end. Not the scene where Ennis is holding the shirts, but after the last note when the audience broke into painfully polite applause.

It is what it is.

THE ULTIMATE BROKEBACK FORUM

THE ULTIMATE BROKEBACK FORUM is the largest discussion site on the web devoted to the historic film, Brokeback Mountain. It has drawn over 6,000 registered users, and 2,000,000 posts since its inception on Christmas Eve 2005. Originally devoted exclusively to Brokeback, the Forum now features separate areas for Brokeback Mountain topics, Arts & Entertainment (Film, Books, TV & Music in general), Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender Issues, Life & Leisure, and many other topics.

http://www.davecullen.com/forum/

Chicago premiere of “Beyond Brokeback” Nov. 13

Chicago premiere of Beyond Brokeback at Auditorium Theatre celebrates role of LGBT community in attaining equality for all

Contributions made by the LGBT community in attaining the American dream of inclusiveness and equality for all will be celebrated Nov. 13 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (50 E. Congress Parkway) with a screening of the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain and the Chicago premiere of Beyond Brokeback.

Joining the Chicago History Museum’s ongoing year-long exhibit, Out in Chicago, Roosevelt’s day-long program will feature a 2 p.m. screening of the Academy Award-winning film Brokeback Mountain, followed by a 4:35 p.m. panel discussion with makers of the film and a 5:35 p.m. staged reading with music of messages, essays and poetry that have been inspired by the landmark movie. Attendees are invited to come and go as they like during the event.

“It has been a little more than five years since Brokeback Mountain captured our nation’s conscience and imagination. With this production of Beyond Brokeback, we are not only remembering the movie, but we are also embracing its impact and a desire to be inclusive, which is in keeping with Roosevelt University’s historic mission of social justice,” said Brett Batterson, executive director of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.
One of Hollywood’s highest-grossing romance films of all time, Brokeback Mountain tells the story of a complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West between 1963 and 1983, and is based on a short story written by Annie Proulx.

Its award-winning director, Ang Lee, screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry and producer James Schamus have been invited to participate in the panel discussion on the impact the movie has had since its release in 2005.

Adapted for the stage by Gregory Hinton, and based on a book by the same name, Beyond Brokeback is a staged reading with music. It features excerpts of poignant and humorous messages, essays and poetry that were written by contributors to the Ultimate Brokeback Forum discussion website.

Original music is by composer Shawn Kirchner and director of the production is David Zak, an instructor in The Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. Students and faculty from Roosevelt’s theatre conservatory, working alongside several celebrity actors, also will have parts in the Chicago premiere, which is being presented for the first time in the Midwest and only the third time ever in the United States.

Tickets are $15, $20 and $25, and are on sale at Ticketmaster.com or at the box office of the Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. For information, call 312-922-2110.

Patricia Nell Warren - My West at the Autry National Center - Part 2

Patricia Nell Warren - My West at the Autry National Center

Inspired by the mission of Out West, Patricia Nell Warren assembled forty years of articles, essays, editorials and blogs to create My West, her terrific anthology of which I wrote in the foreword, "A masterwork by one of our most gifted storytellers, Warren's deeply evocative stories will transport even the most dug-in urban reader to the heartland that is the American West!" - Gregory Hinton

" I'm doing another anthology called My West -- a collection of short pieces about the American West that I've written over the course of 50 years. It covers quite a number of subjects, from rural to urban to religion to politics to ethnicity, and of course sexual orientation. In fact, I was inspired to leap into this project by The Autry National Center of the American West when they accepted the two Brokeback Mountain cowboy shirts into their collection of clothes worn in great Western films. Our stubborn survival in a "red state" region is a subject whose time has come. "-- Patricia Nell Warren

Beyond Brokeback: A staged reading with music

Beyond Brokeback workshop in Fiesta Hall on June 25th, 2011

Beyond Brokeback has expanded to include additional songs written and performed by Los Angeles Master Chorale composer Shawn Kirchner and friends as we prepare for its Chicago debut in November at Roosevelt University's historic 3,700 seat Auditorium Theatre, directed by David Zak.



Beyond Brokeback was recently performed for the Matthew Shepard Symposium on Social Justice in Laramie by the University of Wyoming Theatre and Dance Department, directed by John J. O'Hagan.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN scene directed by Paul Warner

Patricia Nell Warren’s New Book, My West

Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.667.2000, www.theAutry.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Out West at the Autry Presents

Patricia Nell Warren’s New Book, My West

Author talk and book signing with noted historian and author of The Front Runner (1974),

the first gay-themed novel to be named a New York Times bestseller

Sunday, June 26, 2:00 p.m.

Museum Admission Rates Apply

Los Angeles, CA (May 16, 2011) — After a successful inaugural year of Out West at the Autry programs, the Autry National Center continues its commitment to telling the stories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the American West by presenting Montana native, noted historian, and author Patricia Nell Warren on Sunday, June 26, 2011.


“The continuation of Out West at the Autry is a testament to the great interest that exists for the LGBT stories of the American West to be heard and the need for them to be added to our mainstream historical narrative,” said Daniel Finley, Autry President and CEO. “We thank Ms. Warren for her dedication to this groundbreaking series and are pleased to have her participate once again.”

In her new anthology, My West, Warren unveils a collection of intensely personal writings about the American West—a sagebrush bouquet on everything from agriculture to zest, by way of cooking, ethnicity, history, politics, and sexuality. A book signing will follow her talk.

“Seeing the Autry make its historic decision to explore the LGBT aspect of Western history, and participating in one of its first Out West programs, was a turning point for me,” said Warren. “The Autry inspired me to gather up dozens of short pieces that I’d published here and there over the years—and to herd some of these favorites together under one cover as an anthology of personal perspectives on my native region.”

“In a year when LGBT publications are failing and LGBT bookstores are closing at an alarming rate, as the author of the most famous gay novel ever written Patricia Nell Warren was and remains the ‘frontrunner’ of gay fiction,” said Gregory Hinton, creator and producer of Out West at the Autry. “Her 2011 Western anthology, My West, is a testament to her craft, her veracity, and her true Montana grit. Readers of LGBT fiction—past, present, and future—are forever in her debt.”

Tickets for this event include museum admission: $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors 60+, $4 for children ages 3–12, and free for Autry members, veterans, and children age 2 and under.


Patricia Nell Warren
Warren was born in 1936 and grew up on the historic Grant-Kohrs ranch at Deer Lodge, Montana. The ranch was established around 1860 by mixed-blood trader John Grant and sold to her great-grandfather, Conrad Kohrs, in 1866. Her father, Conrad Warren, took over the ranch in 1933. Later, the National Park Service bought most of the ranch and opened it to the public in 1977 as the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.

Warren’s passion for writing came naturally, at age 10. Her family had a strong oral tradition that included lots of storytelling at the dinner table, which  left her deeply affected by the West’s multifaceted history. She first published in 1954, at age eighteen, by winning the Atlantic Monthly College Fiction contest. After college graduation in 1957, she worked as a Reader’s Digest editor for twenty years. In 1971, Dial Press published her first novel—The Last Centennial—which was set in a small Montana town.

In 1974, when she came out, William Morrow published her gay-themed novel The Front Runner, which became a New York Times bestseller. By 1991, she was publishing One Is the Sun, another Western-themed novel. Meanwhile, she freelanced on the side, focusing on Western subjects with articles in Persimmon Hill, American West, Montana Magazine, and many other publications. Her Reader’s Digest article, “Saga of an American Ranch,” won a 1982 award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 1994, with a business partner, Warren launched an independent publishing imprint, Wildcat Press, which has most of her books in print. Today she lives in the San Fernando Valley.

Additional Dates for Out West Programs
Saturday, June 18, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
The Bozeman Library Foundation and Out West Montana will present Out West at the Bozeman Library during annual Montana Pride festivities, along with the Montana launch of Patricia Nell Warren’s 2011 Western anthology My West. 

Saturday, June 25, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Beyond Brokeback: A Staged Reading With Poetry & Songs
Presented by the City of West Hollywood through its Arts & Cultural Affairs Commission, the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board, and Out West at the Autry
Fiesta Hall in Plummer Park, 1200 North Vista Drive, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Free with reception to follow. RSVP: pbonds@weho.org.

Sunday, October 16, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
Marsden Hartley and the American West
Out West at the Autry
Heather Hole, assistant curator from Boston’s Museum of Fine Art, will discuss her book Marsden Hartley and the American West with Amy Scott, the Autry’s Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator of Visual Arts in the Romance Gallery. After the death of his beloved German officer, our great American landscape modernist painter Hartley found solace in the Western landscape of the New Mexico desert.

November 13, 2011
Out West at Roosevelt University in Chicago presents Beyond Brokeback
Director David Zak directs Beyond Brokeback in Chicago’s historic, 3,400-seat Auditorium Theatre. Beyond Brokeback was written by Members of the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, adapted for the stage by Gregory Hinton, and first presented by the Autry National Center on December 11, 2010, in commemoration of the Fifth Anniversary of Brokeback Mountain.

Saturday, December 10
Saving the LGBT Story: Preserving Personal History Collections
Out West at the Autry
Personal history collections provide unique insights into historical, cultural, social, and economic aspects of the LGBT community. A panel discussion with archivists and experts will provide personal collectors with information about caring for their photographs, documents, and ephemera and raise awareness about institutions that might be appropriate future repositories for their collections.





About Out West at the Autry
Out West at the Autry is a series of public programs that explores the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community to Western American history by bringing together scholars, authors, artists, politicians, musicians, and others for gallery discussions, performances, and screenings. Conceived by independent curator Gregory Hinton in 2009, Out West at the Autry was inspired by the Autry’s installation of the iconic shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Brokeback Mountain, on loan from collector Tom Gregory, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) archives into the Autry library (both facilitated by Hinton). Beginning in 2011, the Autry will present four public Out West at Autry events, and the series will travel to other Western institutions.
Out West at the Autry is made possible through the generous support of Tom Gregory, HBO, the David Bohnett Foundation, the Gill Foundation, the Small Change Foundation, and the Gay and Lesbian Rodeo Heritage Foundation in association with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and the Courage Campaign.

About the Autry National Center
The Autry National Center, formed in 2003 by the merger of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum, is an intercultural history center dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry’s collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States. The Autry Institute includes two research libraries: the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. Exhibitions, public programs, K–12 educational services, and publications are designed to examine the contemporary human condition through the lens of the historical Western experience and explore critical issues in society.

Weekday hours of operation for the Autry National Center’s museum at its Griffith Park location are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Autry Store’s weekday hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the Autry Cafe is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours for the museum and the store are 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The museum, the store, and the cafe are closed on Mondays. The libraries are open to researchers by appointment.
Museum admission is $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors 60+, $4 for children ages 3–12, and free for Autry members, veterans, and children age 2 and under. Admission is free on the second Tuesday of every month.

###

For press inquiries only, contact:

Yadhira De Leon
Sr. Manager, Public Relations
Autry National Center
323.667.2000, ext. 327
ydeleon@theAutry.org
www.theAutry.org

Beyond Brokeback - LIVE STREAMING

LIVE STREAMING


Friday, April 8

11:00 - 12:15 Mountain Time - Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film, A Staged Reading Commemorating the 5th Anniversary of Brokeback Mountain



http://outreach.uwyo.edu/conferences/justice/streaming.htm

...

Artifacts of Love and Violence: by Gregory Hinton

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When Jacqueline Kennedy escorted the body of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, slain by the assassin’s bullet of Lee Harvey Oswald, back to Washington, D.C., she refused to change out of the pink suit she was wearing as she rode next to him in the open motorcade through downtown Dallas. It was drenched with his blood. On Air Force One she told Lady Bird Johnson, “I want them to see what they did to Jack.”

I don’t know who the “them” was that she was referring to—the killers? his political enemies? the American people? She certainly must have known that children, watching the evening news with their families, would see her. Her own children, too, would eventually see this image. I think that even in her own profound grief, she was astute enough to seize the moment because she had a lesson to teach: This is what violence looks like.

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The Brokeback shirts and Harvey Milk’s suit provide two excellent examples of the associated conundrum the responsible curator faces when posed with the dilemma of telling a painful historical truth, physical or emotional, while tastefully putting on display the controversial artifacts of love and violence. I asked photographer Dan Nicoletta his opinion about putting Harvey Milk’s suit on public display. He was very careful with his words. “Like the West, I guess Harvey belongs to everybody now.”

In an earlier exhibition called St. Harvey, Harvey’s suit was mounted on a mannequin, prompting charges of ghoulishness. The GLBT Historical Society, in its current display, attempted to mollify critics by placing the suit in recline, under a glass case. But with the bullet holes and bloodstains still plainly evident, it is still hypnotically graphic, and hard to imagine that detractors might be appeased. I even apologized to visitors while photographing it. The suit horrifies. Horrifies.

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The full article as published in the Winter 2011 edition of 'Convergence', a publication of the Autry National Center is available here:

http://bbmfoundation.org/images/Artifacts%20of%20Love%20and%20Violence%20-%20Hinton.pdf
Courtesy Autry National Center

15th annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice

The 15th annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice will be held April 6 - 9, 2011. The theme of the symposium will be CREATE: Activism Toward Social Justice.

The staged reading of Beyond Brokeback has been accepted by the 15th Annual Matthew Shepard Symposium on Social Justice at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, April 6-9. This is a wonderful honor.

Because these programs are workshops, the scale won't be on the level of the... Autry, but still very potent

Those who wish to come to Laramie can register on the symposium website. We are booked for the afternoon of April 8th.

http://www.shepardsymposium.org/

In "Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film," journalist Dave Cullen and the members of an online forum have fashioned together a valuable and illuminating collection that proves testament to the very impact "Brokeback" had on so many lives. This anthology of intensely personal stories, selected from contributions to the forum, offer illuminating commentary on the impact of Annie Proulx's unforgettable story and Ang Lee's landmark film. The deeply personal approach speaks to fans of the film and story alike. And in doing so, further exposes the poison of "the closet," as well as its destructive, far-reaching effects on society as a whole.

These stories of regret, loneliness, sexual conformity and hidden truths harbored are intensely personal, and do perhaps more to sting your heart. They feature their own distinct experiences, views, and voices and are impossible to shake. While some prove deeply uplifting, in others there lies a sense of hopelessness that leaves scars. We come to see what many have withstood and what they have given up and it is inescapably heartbreaking. These voices tangibly remind us, through stories of real life hardships and life altering reactions, that both literature and film can reverberate our own emotional struggles through art. "Beyond Brokeback" is sheer testament to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Brokeback-Members-Ultimate-Forum/product-reviews/1595941223/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R1BX6YN5B7VMRA

Beyond Brokeback at the Autry

---

Yadhira De Leon

323.667.2000, ext. 327

ydeleon@theAutry.org

Autry National Center

4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles , CA 90027

323.667.2000, www.theAutry.org

The Autry’s Fifth-Anniversary Screening of Brokeback Mountain

and Staged Reading of Audience Reactions to the Film from the Book Beyond Brokeback

Filled with Praise for Film and Heartfelt Stories

As part of the successful series Out West at the Autry, the “Beyond Brokeback”

event included the movie presentation and staged reading of excerpts of the book

Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film included music inspired by the film

Los Angeles (December 16, 2010) — On Saturday, December 11, 2010, the Autry National Center, in association with Focus Features, celebrated the fifth anniversary of the screen debut of Brokeback Mountain with a film screening, a staged reading of excerpts from the book Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film, and a special appearance by Diana Ossana, producer and Oscar-winning screenwriter of the film. The event was part of the acclaimed program Out West at the Autry, a series of public events focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history and culture in the West with gallery talks, film screenings, lectures, performances, and other cultural events. Also announced was the continuation of Out West at the Autry in Griffith Park and Bozeman , Montana , with more national dates to be announced.

The moving event featured a welcome and presentation presided over by Daniel Finley , Autry President and CEO, in the Autry’s Imagination Gallery, where the Brokeback Mountain shirts are currently on display. David Bohnett, philanthropist and technology entrepreneur, provided the keynote speech and spoke of his partner, Tom Gregory, owner of the shirts, who generously loaned them for display at the Autry. “Tom's passion for collecting and preserving our history comes from a belief that those that have come before us have left an important legacy through their work and creativity. We would do well as a society to learn from those contributions and foster a culture of respect for our heritage,” he said. Out West at the Autry creator and producer Gregory Hinton also noted, “Greater national attention needs to be paid to the LGBT Western rural communities, who steadfastly maintain visibility with far less assurances and protection than we take for granted in the city. Brokeback Mountain very movingly portrayed the problem, but offered little in the way of a solution. We achieve visibility and normalcy by telling our stories, sharing our culture, and staking our claim in the lodestone of Western American history. This is the mission of Out West at the Autry.”

Diana Ossana recounts fond memories of working on the film Brokeback Mountain to fans of the film.

Photo by Abel Gutierrez.

As the film screening ended and the house lights brightened, guests were greeted by Diana Ossana, producer and Oscar-winning screenwriter of Brokeback Mountain . She thanked the audience for their support of the film and invited them to view the Brokeback Mountain shirts with her in the Autry’s Imagination Gallery (this would be the first time she would see the shirts since working on the film). The emotion-filled gallery was quiet as Ossana stood in a private moment. Moving back to the center of the gallery, she began to speak to the crowd, leading to nearly an hour’s worth of conversation about the film—particularly its leading stars, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. “There are so many memories associated [with the Brokeback Mountain shirts] because I was there,” said Ossana as she contemplated the display. When asked about her passion for creating the film she said, “I’m a woman. I’m not gay, but lightning struck with this film, and it was amazing. I could not let it go. Every time I read the script I would cry again—and I wrote it!” she laughed. “Everyone has a different take on the film. It is a universal love story but the reason it affects people is because it’s specific about two men and it cuts to our hearts. The way people responded, it created dialogue, and I love that.”

After an awe-inspiring in-person conversation with Ossana, the audience filed back into the theatre for the Beyond Brokeback staged reading, adapted by Gregory Hinton and featuring Carolyn Campbell, Tom Gregory, William Handley, Ryan Harrison, Marlene Head, Michael Butler Murray, Lydia Nibley, and Jeffrey Richardson.  Each read various excerpts of poignant and humorous messages, essays, and poetry—by writers young and old, male and female, gay and straight—from the book Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film. The book was written by members of an online community, the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, many of whom attended the celebration from as far away as San Francisco , Virginia , New York , and London . Harrison sang the Brokeback-inspired song “Meet Me on the Mountain” from the CD of the same name, written by composer Shawn Kirchner, with Murray on acoustic guitar and Head, Murray, and Nibley adding background vocals. Head also performed “Up All Night,” another song from the same CD, with Harrison, Murray, and Nibley on background.

Brokeback Mountain was produced and released by Focus Features in December 2005. Hinton worked with James Schamus, CEO of Focus Features, to create this fifth-anniversary commemoration—the only Brokeback Mountain anniversary screening of its kind.

Future Out West at the Autry programs include a book event with Heather Hole, Boston Museum of Fine Art curator and author of Marsden Hartley and the American West; a survey of the “Two Spirit” Native American tradition, which honors individuals perceived as having blended male and female spirits; an in-gallery program, Pride in the Saddle: Gay and Lesbian Rodeo; and a book event with Patricia Nell Warren who will discuss her new book My West. In addition, the Bozeman Library Foundation and Montana Pride will present Out West at the Bozeman Library during annual Montana Pride festivities on June 18, 2011, where oral histories will be collected and offered to the Montana Historical Society.

Out West at the Autry continues the dialogue started by the Autry's installation of the iconic shirts worn by stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association's (IGRA) archives into the Autry Library, both facilitated by Gregory Hinton.

High resolution images available upon request.

About Out West at the Autry

Out West at the Autry is a series of public programs that explores the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community to Western American history by bringing together scholars, authors, artists, politicians, musicians, and others for gallery discussions, performances, and screenings. Conceived by independent curator Gregory Hinton in 2009, Out West at the Autry was inspired by the Autry’s installation of the iconic shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Brokeback Mountain, on loan from collector Tom Gregory, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) archives into the Autry library, both facilitated by Hinton. Beginning in 2011, the Autry will present four public Out West at Autry events and the series will travel to other Western institutions.

Out West at the Autry is made possible through the generous support of Tom Gregory, HBO, the Gill Foundation, and the Small Change Foundation, in association with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and the Courage Campaign.

Autry National Center

The Autry National Center , formed in 2003 by the merger of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum , is an intercultural history center dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park , the Autry’s collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States . The Autry Institute includes two research libraries: the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. Exhibitions, public programs, K–12 educational services, and publications are designed to examine critical issues of society, offering insights into solutions and the contemporary human condition through the Western historical experience.

Weekday hours of operation for the Autry in Griffith Park location are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Autry Store’s weekday hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the Golden Spur Cafe is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours for the museum and the Autry Store are 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The museum, the Autry Store, and the cafe are closed on Mondays. The libraries are open to researchers by appointment.

Museum admission is $9 for adults, $5 for students and seniors 60+, $3 for children 3–12, and free for Autry members, veterans, and children 2 and under. Admission is free on the second Tuesday of every month. For more information, visit www.TheAutry.org.

The Autry National Center to Present 5th Anniversary
Screening of Landmark Film Brokeback Mountain

Saturday, December 11th, 2010

SCREENING AT 11: 30 AM

As part of the successful series Out West at the
Autry, the movie presentation will be followed by a staged reading of excerpts of the book Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film as well as music inspired by the film.

STAGED READING AT 3:00 PM

LOS ANGELES, CA – On Saturday, December 11th, 2010 the Autry National Center will present, in association with Focus Features, a 5th anniversary screening of the award-winning landmark film Brokeback Mountain followed by a staged reading of messages, essays, poetry, and music inspired by the film. The event is part of the acclaimed program Out West at the Autry, a series of public events focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history and culture in the West with gallery talks, film screenings, lectures, performances and other cultural events.

“Brokeback Mountain helped to bring wide attention to important conversations about LGBT issues in modern Western communities,” said Autry President and CEO Dan Finley. “This powerful film resonates deeply with the Autry’s own strong connection to the history of Western films as well as our mission to share and explore the inspiring stories of all the peoples of the American West.”

Independent curator and Out West at the Autry creator Gregory Hinton adapted for the stage selections of the 2007 book Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film, which comprises compelling writing contributed to the website The Ultimate Brokeback Forum. Excerpts of poignant and humorous messages, essays, and poetry by writers young and old, male and female, gay and straight—will be read after the Brokeback Mountain screening.

Accompanying the reading is the Brokeback-inspired song Meet Me on the Mountain written by composer Shawn Kirchner. Jeffrey Richardson, the Autry’s associate curator of Film and Popular Culture will present the film and introduce the reading by himself reading a passage from Beyond Brokeback. Six additional readers include Autry staffers and friends and supporters of Out West at the Autry from its inception.

Brokeback Mountain was produced and released by Focus Features in December 2005. Hinton worked with James Schamus, CEO of Focus Features to create this 5th anniversary commemoration—the only Brokeback Mountain anniversary screening of its kind.

“2010 has been a tough year for members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community with an epidemic of teen suicides, bullying, and disappointing setbacks in such highly charged issues as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and equality marriage,” said Hinton. “After five years, Brokeback Mountain remains our most eloquent and cathartic outlet. I applaud Focus Features and the Autry for the hospitality they have demonstrated by screening the film and the wisdom the museum has shown by its ongoing support for Out West at the Autry.”

Inspired by the success of the program at the Autry, other institutions throughout the West will be working with Hinton to present Out West events. Details about future Out West programs at the Autry, as well as other institutions, will be announced on December 11th before the screening of Brokeback Mountain.

Out West at the Autry connects to the success of the Autry's recent
installation of the iconic shirts worn by stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association's (IGRA) archives into the Autry Library.(Both facilitated by Gregory Hinton.)

This event is free with admission to the Autry and is expected to sell out. Advance reservations are recommended. For more information the public may call 323-667-2000, x252or visit TheAutry.org


About Out West at the Autry

Out West at the Autry is a series of public programs that explores the
contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to Western American history by bringing together scholars, authors, artists, politicians, musicians, and others for gallery discussions, performances and screenings.

Conceived by independent curator Gregory Hinton in 2009,Out West at the Autry was inspired by the Autry’s installation of the iconic shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Brokeback Mountain, on loan from collector Tom Gregory, as well as the permanent inclusion of the International Gay Rodeo Association(IGRA) archives into the Autry Library (both facilitated by Hinton). Beginning in 2011, the Autry will present four public Out West at Autry events and the series will travel to other western institutions.

Out West at the Autry is made possible through the generous support of Tom Gregory, HBO, the Gill Foundation, and the Small Change Foundation, in
association with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and the Courage Campaign.

 Autry National Center

The Autry National Center, formed in 2003 by the merger of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum, is an intercultural history center dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry’s collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States. The Autry Institute includes two research libraries: the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. Exhibitions, public programs, K–12 educational services, and publications are designed to examine critical issues of society, offering insights into solutions and the contemporary human condition through the Western historical experience.

Weekday hours of operation for the Autry in Griffith Park location are
Tuesday through Friday,10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Autry Store’s weekday hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the Golden Spur Cafe is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours for the museum and the Autry Store are 11:00 a.m. to5:00 p.m. The museum, the Autry Store, and the cafe are closed on Mondays. The libraries are open to researchers
by appointment.

Museum admission is $9 for adults, $5 for students and seniors 60+, $3 for children 3–12, and free for Autry members, veterans, and children 2 and under.
Admission is free on the second Tuesday of every month.

“Out West” Producer Gregory Hinton on Gay Teen Suicides

It was an unforgettable bit of impromptu television. In a setting we’re you’d more likely hear a discussion of the finer points of trash pickup, curb easements and property values, here was a city elder pleading for teenaged lives.

Joel Burns, an openly gay Fort Worth City Council member, used his alloted time for comments at a Tuesday evening meeting to beg despondent gay, lesbian and questioning teens not to take their lives.
“This story is for the young people who might be holding that gun tonight, or the rope, or the pill bottle,” said Burns, whose tearful speech has now gone viral. “Give yourself a chance to see how much better life will get.”
Burns’ is the latest high-profile response to a string of suicides of teens bullied because they were or were perceived to be gay. But writer Gregory Hinton, producer of the Out West at the Autry series, also has been affected by the news.

“What these kids don’t know is that there are other people who feel the exact same way,” he said. “We all know these feelings.”



 more...

http://blog.theautry.org/2010/10/15/out-west-producer-gregory-hinton-on-gay-teen-suicides/

Spent the day in L.A. this past Sunday. George Takei spoke at the Autry Museum about his experience as a Japanese-American during WWII when he and his family were forced into an internment camp, as well as his reasons for coming out as a gay man. He spoke without notes for nearly an hour and then engaged in a Q&A with the audience for about 45 minutes. A very enjoyable afternoon.

“If you look at the history of the United States, we have been making progress,” he said. “When the nation was founded, there was no role for women in the institutions of American society. Or for blacks. Or for Latinos. Now we have three women in the Supreme Court. Three women have become U.S. Secretaries of State. We have a Latino mayor. New Mexico has a Latino governor. And there’s a Latina in the Supreme Court. We have now an African American as the President of the United States. When you look at it in the larger historical context we have made incredible progress. With much grief, much pain, enormous suffering, but we’ve come to where we are.” 

Please tune in to Brian Kahn's in-depth interview with Bowen Greenwood, Executive Director of the Montana Republican party, regarding the 2010 Montana Republican Platform calling for the recriminalization of homosexuals on Yellowstone Public Radio's Home Ground this Tuesday, September 21st at 6:30PM. MT


If you miss it, you can hear on podcast at:

http://www.yellowstonepublicradio.org/programs/local/home_ground.html


If you blog, please alert your readers and friends. The Montana AP has gone nationwide with this story.

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_0dd25d3e-c344-11df-95b2-001cc4c03286.html

Brian's interview of Greg Hinton about the mission of Out West and his personal coming out story will be aired later in October.

Kiran Rao | Features | Screen

Mumbai-based filmmaker Kiran Rao talks about her directorial debut, Dhobi Ghat, which is receiving its world premiere in Toronto.

The film’s music was composed by Argentinean musician Gustavo Santaolalla who won Oscars for Babel and Brokeback Mountain.


Kiran Rao | Features | Screen

Beyond Brokeback | Autry National Center

The Autry will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the iconic film Brokeback Mountain on December 11th with a full day of programs and reflection. At 3:00 p.m. we will present a staged reading, scripted by Gregory Hinton, based on the book Beyond Brokeback, a powerful collection of stories about the film’s impact on the lives of so many.

Beyond Brokeback | Autry National Center

Brokeback Mountain | Autry National Center

The Autry will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the iconic film Brokeback Mountain with a full day of programs and reflection. Attend a screening of this iconic film at 11:30 a.m., view the Brokeback Mountain shirts in the Autry’s Imagination Gallery and meet Jeffrey Richardson, the Autry’s Associate Curator of Film and Popular Culture.

Brokeback Mountain | Autry National Center

Indie org picks top 30 pics - Entertainment News, Indie News, Media - Variety

Besides "The Hurt Locker" and "Slumdog," the selections for the past decade are "Brokeback Mountain,"


Indie org picks top 30 pics - Entertainment News, Indie News, Media - Variety