Culture Night to be a GALA affair
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 4, 1999 9:00 p.m.
Friday, February 5, 1999
Culture Night to be a GALA affair
FESTIVAL: Two-day event features dance, conference, film
festival, performance by comedian Lavner
By Michelle Zubiate
Daily Bruin Staff
When you’re a short, left-handed, Jewish, lesbian comedian from
New York you pretty much have your market cornered. Combine all
that with social awareness and intellectual wit and you can really
make an impression on the UCLA community.
That’s exactly what comedian Lynn Lavner hopes to do Saturday
when she performs her "sit-down piano comedy" for the Gay and
Lesbian Association (GALA) Culture Night.
The culture and talent show marks one of the many events
scheduled for this weekend as GALA hosts two nights filled with
entertainment and resources made available to the entire campus.
Friday night will consist of a film festival featuring movies such
as "Fire." On Saturday, besides the talent show, GALA will hold a
multi-campus conference, resource fair and dance.
The talent show will feature three professional acts, including
Lavner and six other acts performed by students themselves. The
acts will range from spoken word to dance to skit comedy.
"We wanted to present a night where members of the LGBT
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community could take
center stage and display their talents," says Tamar Tokat, GALA
chair. "We just wanted to create an environment to both display gay
culture and just have fun."
One of the most anticipated acts of the evening belongs to
Lavner. A New Yorker, Lavner’s cabaret-style act includes songs,
monologues and jokes about growing up gay.
"It started out in a piano bar in Greenwich Village," Lavner
says. "Since nothing good happens in a bar after 2:00 a.m., I began
to throw in my own bits of comedy."
Lavner’s own heroes include Richard Pryor and anyone who has
written a song prior to 1940. She claims her love for both music
and comedy comes from her childhood days, when she would run home
from school to play the piano and "make the kids choke on their
milk and fall off their chairs."
Lavner feels that these types of culture nights remain important
for the gay community for a variety of reasons.
"Like a lot of other disenfranchised people, we’ve been really
cut off from our own history and our own culture," Lavner says.
"We’ve been referred to as a subculture and marginalized that way.
For us to reach out and connect with one another helps us to see
similar experiences and stages in our development. I wish they had
had this type of thing when I was in school."
In addition to the entertainment and the fun, GALA is also
hosting a conference featuring presentations by graduate students
and panels with topics such as gay women in the media.
"The night will reflect the diverse nature of LGBT culture,"
Tokat says. "Everyone in the LGBT community comes from different
races, cultures, genders and upbringings. The night’s
representation will depend on what each individual brings to the
stage."
EVENT: The GALA film festival will be held at the Northwest
Campus Auditorium tonight at 7. The culture show will be held
Saturday in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom at 7 p.m.
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