Fortitude Valley Friday

Left: Lobby of the Globe Theatre


The "Showgirl" cinema tribute to Kylie Minogue at the Globe Theatre was sparsely attended: a matter of bad timing, I think, since her shows have already come and gone in Brisbane. The movie was wonderful, of course, and showed how "Showgirl" was originally conceived to be, before Kylie's illness, and the reworking of the current "Showgirl Homecoming" tour. Nevertheless, poor turnout meant greater intimacy among the people there, as we danced and gabbed in the lobby.

The manager of the Globe Theatre described how the theater is an all-volunteer, non-profit arts organization. Wait....that sounds a lot like DMTC! Turns out, both organizations, thousands of miles apart, are eerily similar in important managerial respects, and so we began comparing notes.

The manager described the local scene as 'stifled', which I found surprising given the vibrant youth culture here. There are growing redevelopment pressures in the Fortitude Valley area, which are culminating in ballot measures to lift height restrictions on buildings and raze old structures so as to build high-rise housing. Various local performance venues have been closed recently, not only because of redevelopment, but because of noise complaints.

What has saved the Globe so far is that the venue is partly underground, which helps control noise. So, like DMTC has done, the Globe is resisting outside pressures to close its doors. The Globe uses income from emerging artist performances to subsidize its cinema, much as DMTC is trying to use income from folk artist performances to subsidize its musical theater ventures. The Globe sells liquor (but not food for some reason), just as DMTC sells cookies, T-Shirts, and other items (but not liquor). Some volunteers here get a free drink for their efforts, just as some DMTC volunteers (orchestra) get free cookies.

Also present was Sue, a die-hard Kylie fan (from 1996!) She's met Kylie several times, and recounted how she once followed Kylie on foot on the streets of downtown Brisbane and observed people's dismissive treatment of the star. Kylie at first ignored her trailing fan club, thinking they might be abusive too, but relented at last, and signed autographs before stepping into a limousine.

Most enjoyable to talk to and dance with was Ann Hutchinson, who was something of a natural leader: a fine dancer, a longtime surf instructor, and a grass roots environmental and antiwar activist. She was there because her mates were Kylie fans.

Youth everywhere face the powerlessness of penury and inexperience, which is exacerbated in Australia, a nation with a large area but a small population, far from many of the world's power centers. How people deal with powerlessness is important. One of Ann's mates wants to emigrate to the U.S., which is one way to deal with the problem - join the powerful! Still, joining a powerful nation like the U.S. doesn't make one personally powerful. Organizing, like Ann does, alone is ultimately effective in making one powerful. Fiery Ann offered to teach me surfing at Noosa Beach, and apprehensive as I am about water, I'd love to take her up on the offer someday.

After the show, I wandered the mall on Brunswick St. and watched the out-of-control antics of youth in the hectic night-club scene. What a place! How the homeless folks slumped in noisy doorways could manage sleep baffled me. At one time, I had planned to find a room in this neighborhood, because it had the highest number of discos per acre in the entire city, but seeing the resultant effect on peace and quiet in the neighborhood, I'm glad I'm staying in the quiet mountain fastness of Mt. Glorious.

I wandered into a burlesque house, hoping to see exotic Goths do *something* on stage, but instead arrived just in time to catch the live band on break. I waited, and fidgeted, and eventually they returned. 'Small Sensations' described their music as 'new wave indie electro pop trash', but 'New Wave' seemed good enough.

New Wave songs always seem so similar to each other. The lead singer crowed, "we are playing to fifteen people here tonight!" He continued, "how many 'Devo' fans are there here?" Then the band launched into a Devo cover tune, which they treated in orthodox New Wave fashion, meaning it didn't sound like Devo at all, but rather exactly similar to the previous four songs in their set.

After the show, I headed back to Mt. Glorious, and upon arriving, encountered what looked like a dread Cane Toad, that destructive alien import from South America. With ecological zeal, I had intended on killing any Cane Toad I encountered, but I couldn't be completely sure it was a Cane Toad. The guidebooks say, don't worry, the dread Cane Toad looks unlike any Australian Toad you'll ever see, but that doesn't help me, because I don't know what Australian Toads look like either. So, I spared the dread Cane Toad.