Jingle Bell Time

Men Alive’s Christmas concert jump starts the holiday season

BY JAMES F. MILLS

With winter approaching, Men Alive is ready to don their gay apparel and sing about the season while going Hollywood.

The Orange County's gay men's chorus annual holiday concert is “Holly, Jolly Hollywood.” They'll sing seasonal songs from movies and other popular holiday hits including Mariah Carey's “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Irving Berlin's classic “White Christmas,” the jazzy “Hot Chocolate” from the film The Polar Express, Bette Midler's bluesy “Cool Yule,” and Handel's “Hallelujah Chorus” sung with a twist.

As the men sing on a lavishly decorated set, dancers will perform while a giant screen in the background shows clips from holiday movies such as Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, and Holiday Inn.

“It'll really be spectacular,” promises Men Alive artistic director Rich Cook. “The songs are great and the dancers keep the energy up. We're going to be over the top with some of our set design. There'll be a lot of color and tinsel, but it'll be tasteful.”

Men Alive was founded in 2001 following a performance by the LA Gay Men's Chorus held in Irvine. Cook had been thinking about creating a gay men's chorus in Orange County for several years. Right after that concert, when both his roommate and a priest approached him with the same idea, he knew the time was right.

“We had 12 people join initially,” recalls Cook whose day job is Music Director at Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach. “By the first concert in Dec. 2001, we were up to 19.”

Today, Men Alive boasts a membership of 150 with men coming from as far a Los Feliz, Riverside, and San Diego for their weekly Tuesday night rehearsals.

Last year, Men Alive released its first CD, Curtain Up: Light the Light. “It's an all-Broadway CD chock full of showstoppers recorded at our fifth anniversary concert where Michael Feinstein joined us,” says marketing director Paul Findlay.

Despite being behind the “Orange Curtain” in conservative Orange County, Men Alive has managed to develop a strong following. “Our audiences keep growing,” Cook brags. “They know they're going to have a good time when they come. We're high energy and lots of fashion.”

And while the shows are about entertaining audiences first and foremost, they also have a message to carry.

“Our message as a gay group is to spread the message of good will and to say gay people are just people. We love, we laugh, we pay our taxes,” says Cook. “Our shows are entertaining but we slip in some truth along the way. I think our message is carried by who we are, how we perform, being the best in our world.”

Men Alive's Holly, Jolly Hollywood will be performed Friday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr. on the University of California at Irvine campus. For more information, visit www.menalivechorus.org.

SCENE

The Power

MpowerOC is helping build strong character and friendships in the younger generation

BY JONATHAN RIGGS

Young gay/bisexual men between the ages of 18-29 in the OC have a powerful ally in terms of health and happiness: MpowerOC, an organization adopted by AIDS Services Foundation-Orange Country in 2004.

“We empower each other through community-building, friendship and education. The project's goal is to influence these young men to make healthy life decisions, whether this resolves around making friends, dating, relationships, sex, careers or school. These life issues are all intertwined,” says Michael Li, the project supervisor. “We have weekly social events-movie nights, game nights, guy talks and our Core Group meetings. Our Core Group is basically the deciding body of MpowerOC. Think of it as a prom committee, but even gayer.”

The organization provides a safe space for guys to be themselves, especially during such an unsure and vulnerable time in their lives-both as gay/bisexual men and as young adults.

“A guy is more likely to take care of himself if he has a positive self-identity,” Li says. “It's important that we provide this demographic with a supportive and fun group that normalizes safer sex, reaffirms queer identity and the value of diversity and understands that image certainly isn't everything.”

With the sometimes-mixed attitude of the younger generation towards HIV-that it's a burden of the older generation—a no-nonsense organization like MpowerOC strives to empower and enlighten.

“We are not prudes, nor do we discourage sex. I want them to see that we are a very sex-positive, fun group,” Li says. “The most important message I can give, though, is that no guy is worth compromising your health or your life. There are always ways to reduce your risk without taking the fun out of sex.”

Li credits his staff, Anthony and Jeffrey, and the group members themselves for inspiring him.

“We ultimately believe in the same cause: we face a harsh reality that HIV does in fact affect us, whether directly or indirectly. I want to be there to provide guys in Orange County a fun, supportive and educational experience with MpowerOC,” Li says. “I'm rewarded as I see the members mature over the months, become close friends and encourage each other through good and bad times.”

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/mpoweroc or www.mpoweroc.org.

GOOD CAUSE

Sharing Food

ASF’s Food Pantry raises funds for hunger

BY SYLVIA RODEMEYER

Throughout the year, Orange County's AIDS Service Foundation's Food Pantry provides food for over 450 families that benefit from OC ASF's many services. The holiday season is no exception. To continue providing food to the many people who depend on the pantry to supplement their groceries and provide food for themselves and their families, the food pantry depends on the generosity and support of the community.

OC ASF will be holding their annual holiday party on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Laguna Art Museum. The event starts at 6 p.m. and tickets are $50 a person. “All donations from this event will go toward the food pantry. It's our biggest fundraiser of the year.” Said Doug Vogel, Director of Pubic Affairs. The event includes gourmet cuisine and wine pairings.

OC ASF's food pantry receives a small amount of federal funding but relies mostly on this fundraiser to fulfill its funding goals. “With the growing needs of the community we rely on this fundraiser to meet those special needs.” Vogel said. The event typically raises $15,000 for the food pantry. OC ASF depends on these fundraisers so heavily because they are limited in the donations they are allowed to accept. “Because of our clients' compromised immune systems, we can't accept anything damaged.” Vogel said. In addition to the holiday party, the pantry receives a portion of the funds raised at other ASF events, such as the Orange County AIDS Walk and the annual SPLASH event.

The food pantry employs one full-time staff member and is supported by nearly two-dozen volunteers. “They really make the pantry what it is,” said Vogel, “There's a lot of work involved in collecting and distributing the food to our clients.”

OC ASF was founded in 1985 and has since become the largest non-profit AIDS services organization in Orange County. OC ASF helps more than 1,500 men, women, children and families in Orange County that are living with HIV. The food pantry has been a part of the foundation for nearly two decades.

For more information on ASF OC, the food pantry, or the holiday party, visit www.ocasf.org.

COMMUNITY BRIEFS

Holiday Wreath Auction

Shanti Orange County's annual Wreath Auction featuring holiday wreaths created by local artists is Monday, Dec. 3 from 6-10 p.m. in the Coastal Lounge at Mozambique Steakhouse, 1740 S. Coast Hwy. in Laguna Beach. “The wreaths that come out of this are incredible. They come in all sizes and shapes. And of course, they're from Laguna artists,” says Sarah Kasman, Shanti Orange County's executive director. Additionally, the evening features a silent auction of special one-of-a-kind tree ornaments created by area artists. Wreaths and ornaments to be auctioned off will be on display at Mozambique starting Tuesday, Nov. 27. For more information, call 949-452-0888.

World AIDS Day Candlelight Service

A World AIDS Day candlelight memorial service will take place along Second Street Promenade in the Artist Village in Santa Ana on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 7:30-8 p.m. The observance, which coincides with the monthly Art Walk, will have music, poetry and speakers along with a reading of names of area residents who have died from HIV/AIDS. “It's important that we gather our community together each year to help draw attention towards the fight against HIV/AIDS and remember friends and family who we've lost to the disease,” says Doug Vogel, public affairs director for the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County.

Kicking up a spectacular

The world famous Radio City Rockettes kick in the holidays with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular performing Dec. 13-30 in Segerstrom Concert Hall in the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Dr. in Coasta Mesa. The only West Coast appearance this year for the high kicking Rockettes, the show promises to be a treat for all ages with flying reindeer plus wooden soldiers and teddy bears come to life. “It's one of the greatest single holiday theatrical sensations in the world,” says ArtsCenter President Terrence W. Dwyer. Tickets are $25-75. For more information, visit www.ocpac.org or call (714) 556-2787.