The LGBT community can be fickle when it comes to its heroes and heroines. Queer celebrities are saints one day and forgotten the next. When you add decades of “the closet” and AIDS to the mix, we have very few lasting icons to orient ourselves to, even in the arts; however, if we do, then Walt Whitman would be one of them.
Acclaimed San Diegan actor David Cohen has been acknowledging Whitman for 19 years. On the weekend closest to the Spring Equinox, he has offered a public reading of When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, Whitman’s great elegy for Abraham Lincoln and all the dead of the Civil War.
The performance, Ever-Returning Spring is not just a remembrance of a poet Cohen describes as “a great Gay spirit,” it is also an annual opportunity to consider AIDS and, much like Whitman’s elegized soldiers, reflect upon the toll it has taken on a more recent generation.
From Cohen’s very first performance in 1992, he has underscored his purpose by dedicating Lilacs, as he calls it, to a particular person lost to AIDS.
Previous dedications have gone to Paul Monette, Essex Hemphill and local activist Jess Jessop. This year’s performance is dedicated to the actor Anthony Perkins who died of AIDS-related complications in 1992. Those attending are urged to bring a purple flower to honor someone they wish to remember.
This year Ever-Returning Spring continues its lengthy tradition at the 10th Avenue Theatre downtown (between E Street and Broadway). Cohen’s performance takes place on March 21, 7:30-10:30 p.m. The evening includes remarks by local film critic Scott Marks about Perkins’ contribution to American cinema, clips from Perkins’ films (don’t forget to shower first!) and a reception afterwards on the theatre’s spectacular rooftop.
Reservations can be made by calling 619-207-8313. There is a suggested donation of $25, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. All donations are tax deductible and proceeds will go to the Power of Change Foundation, an organization that helps children affected by HIV/AIDS.
