Break the Bank

Hello again everyone!

We're in the final days of the Kickstarter Campaign, and we have only $2,600 left to raise for Rights of Passage!

We have just under 70 hours to go; check out this video of Robert after he learned the deadline was fast approaching!

Please support our Kickstarter campaign and share this link as widely as possible. Any gift, large or small, will help push us over the top!

Hi Folks,

With Robert on video camera and me with flyers in hand, we work the Pride Sunday crowd at Civic Center in SF:



We've only one week left to meet our Rights of Passage Kickstarter Campaign $30K goal. We've got $22,810 pledged - so only $7,190 to raise. We must do it this week or we lose it all - please help and urge your pals to jump in with you!

It's the final week! Please support our Kickstarter campaign and share this link as widely as possible.

Down to the Wire

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It's a balancing act as we enter the final days of our Kickstarter Campaign. We have until July 1 at 3pm to raise the remaining 8K balance of our 30K goal to produce the world premiere of Rights of Passage. If we fall short then game over.

Please click on the Down to the Wire title above to make your pledge. No amount is to small or large. If you can spare an extra moment to write a quick note and share the link with your social network that would be awesome.

Kickstarting Rights of Passage

The activity around Rights of Passage is heating up. Production meetings are in full swing and casting is all but complete. Costumes, puppets, music and sets are in the minds and hands of an extraordinary creative team.

And there’s one more thing—fundraising, the necessary ingredient to make all the magic happen. About a week ago we launched an online Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production. We are aiming to raise $30,000 by July 1st at 3pm. Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition, so if we don’t raise the entire $30,000 in 30 days you’re off the hook.

If you think this is a worthwhile project we hope you will support it. Donations are welcome at all levels and there are some great rewards as well, including tickets to the play, meetings with the cast and playwrights and lots more. In the first 10 days we’ve raised $3,250, so we still have a ways to go. To get the whole story, please click on the link below and please pass it along to your friends. Thanks!

Check out the Rights of Passage Kickstarter Campaign!

A beaming visage seen by thousands

It’s now common knowledge that as a teenager Mitt Romney took the lead in attacking a fellow student, holding him down, and cutting off his long hair. Common knowledge to everyone except Mitt that is. In the course of his weak, cardboard cutout apology he claimed to not remember the incident.  If true (and that’s a big if), this is a disturbing piece of news because it can only mean one of two things. Serious memory loss when you consider that this was a direct physical attack. Or, Mitt was involved in so many escapades of a similar nature that they have all blurred together in his mind.  Neither scenario bodes well for the man who would be president. 


On a happier note, gay marriage seems to be all the rage these days thanks to the recent announcement from our current, and one would hope, future president. And let’s not forget the earlier words of support from the VP. The fortunes of the LGBT community in the US are rising like a shining star. Now if only those pesky right wing conservatives would develop some form of collective amnesia about their hateful homophobia and move forward with a new agenda that espouses love and inclusiveness this would truly be a much better country. Call me crazy, but it could happen. 


And on a final note, our recent trip to Indonesia began with a visit to a dear friend, Didik Nini Thowok. Didik is a transgender performer well known and respected throughout Indonesia for his live and televised appearances that run the gamut from comedy to sensitive and nuanced dance performances that draw on Topeng (mask), Sundanese, Cirebon, Balinese, and Central Javanese traditions. During the visit, he took us to the workshop where an eight foot high mask of his most well-known comic character was being made to hang on the building that houses his office and dance workshop in central Jogjakarta. It is exciting to think that his courageous and talented visage will beam down on the crowded streets of the city that is considered the cultural capital of Indonesia.

A Slow Spin

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In a recent interview with Christiane Amanpour the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, maintains that although homosexuality is illegal there is no discrimination against gays in his country. Rather, there is only concern about public displays of affection and the possibility that children will be recruited into "that lifestyle". Furthermore, he asserts that Ugandan gay activist David Cato was not beaten to death last year because he was gay but as a result of personal quarrels he had with his “partners.” Right.

Having just returned from Indonesia, I am reminded that in Muslim dominated countries, far to many LGBT citizens live deep in the closet for fear of reprisal from rabid religious fundamentalists. Many of those who engage in same sex intimacy, particularly men, see this behavior devoid of homosexuality and simply as an urge that needs to be satisfied.

Speaking of charades, how about that wacky Vatican? Let’s silence those “nuns gone wild” immediately! They should spend less time fighting for the rights of the poor because anti-abortion and promoting hatred of gays is far more pressing.

How about some encouraging news? Although 76 out of the 192 United Nations Member Countries still outlaw homosexuality, the UN Human Rights Council is at least talking about LGBT equality. In Latin American, citizens continue to defy the Catholic Church and provide equal protection for all of their people. In the United States we fight on against against bullying and teen suicide. (Check out  ayayale@tix.com) While in the EU, Canada, and the UK they are passing laws to help LGBT refugees who are fleeing countries who persecute them. A few hopeful signs. Still, it’s a slow spin towards equality.

It Takes a World of Courage to Just Be Who You Are

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Last weekend was a watershed moment for Rights of Passage. We had a brainstorming meeting that included talented designers and technicians who have signed on to bring the play to life. These professionals will lead the way in determining the look, feel, sound and soul of the play under the able direction of Arturo Catricala. To help set the mood, we pulled out what we had in the way of Balinese artifacts: shadow puppets, textiles, masks, books and photographs, then settled in, with a little wine and food, for a very interesting discussion that helped us all to see the play in a different light. Illuminated as it was by the vision of a host of theatre professionals exercising their creativity. It was a glimpse into the future and it was thrilling.

Beyond the lights, the costumes and the physical reality of the play, there is another big challenge as we move into a wider promotional phase. How do we capture the interest and emotions of the public, and potential donors? Up until now we've been talking in terms of "a play about LGBT human rights" -- accurate, but not exciting. It sounds like you're buying a ticket to an earnest, well-meaning production that will result in glazed eyes before the end of act one, a thirst for something alcoholic and the determination to avoid, at all costs, the second act.

This is a problem. And one that we have to solve if the play is to succeed. Rights of Passage tells a story, multiple stories, about people who want to be themselves and the courage that takes in an often hostile world. That's the thread that runs through this play and once we figure out the best way to convey that, you'll be the first to know. In the meantime, try this on for size: "It takes a world of courage to just be who you are: Rights of Passage."

Photo: Rights of Passage production brainstorming meeting, 3/4/12.