GayIcons

Hi to all Sheffield Film Group users! This February and March the University of Sheffield's Concert Series is launching it's Music & Film Festival, a series of events celebrating the music of cinema. We have two concerts of Great Movie Music, on Sunday 20th February and Sunday 6th March, featuring performances of themes from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Book, Star Wars, The Terminal and more. You can find more information here. We also have two events looking at iconic film composer and Alfred Hitchcock's frequent collaborator Bernard Herrmann. On Tuesday 15th February Psycho - The Music of Bernard Herrmann sees the acclaimed Tippett Quartet perform works by Herrmann and some of his contemporaries, including the renowned Suite from 'Psycho'. 'The Loyalty of an Eel': the rise and fall of the incomparable partnership of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, which takes place on Thursday 24th February, explores the relationship and collaborations between the two men and why they fell out so spectacularly over the score to 'Torn Curtain'. Hopefully we'll have a lot of fun exploring the relationship between film and music, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Perhaps the Magic Lantern Film Club would be interested in the University of Sheffield's Music & Film Festival, taking place this February and March? We have two concerts of Great Movie Music, on Sunday 20th February and Sunday 6th March, featuring performances of themes from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Book, Star Wars, The Terminal and more. You can find more information here. We also have two events looking at iconic film composer and Alfred Hitchcock's frequent collaborator Bernard Herrmann. On Tuesday 15th February Psycho - The Music of Bernard Herrmann sees the acclaimed Tippett Quartet perform works by Herrmann and some of his contemporaries, including the renowned Suite from 'Psycho'. 'The Loyalty of an Eel': the rise and fall of the incomparable partnership of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, which takes place on Thursday 24th February, explores the relationship and collaborations between the two men and why they fell out so spectacularly over the score to 'Torn Curtain'. We think there's a lot for cinema-lovers to enjoy in the programme, and hopefully we'll see some of your group there!

Just to let you know, tonight's talk on Leigh Bowery as part of the Gay Icons Project has been cancelled due to weather conditions. We also had to cancel David & Jonathan on Wednesday and Anne Lister on Thursday, and our speaker for Sunday's Andy Warhol & Susan Sontag talk has come down with the flu, so that's cancelled too. We'll be looking to reschedule these for the New Year though, and maybe even add a few more... But tonight we have the film Give Me Your Hand at 18.00 at The Showroom, and come Monday we have Peter Tatchell at 19.00 in Firth Hall, so all is not lost! Make sure to get down there and warm yourself up with a little gay culture...

I had a good night at Climax too! Lost all my friends and nearly made one of them puke. It was a great way to kick things off for the Gay Icons Project too... If you were there, you might have seen our interviewer Kate talking to people about their gay icons - these recordings are going to be part of A Search for Sheffield's Gay Icons, an exhibition that's going to be running alongside the events. We've been asking people from all over Sheffield who their icons are, why they are iconic and what makes an icon. There's been a really varied and colourful response, and I think it's going to make a really interesting and enjoyable exhibition! if you'd like to be involved, there's still time to submit your icon on our website: just click here and it'll take you straight there!

Also, Climax tomorrow doubles as the launch night for the Gay Icons Project! It's gonna be crazy.

The Gay Icons Project gets closer and closer! Here's some of the 'Literature & Stage' events you can expect! Jackie Kay - Wednesday 24th November - Firth HallLesbian poet, playwright and novellist Jackie Kay will read from, and talk about, her work, particularly the creation of complex gay characters from her novel, short stories, and memoir. She will also talk about the gay writers she admires, including Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Jeanette Winterson, Ali Smith, Jane Rule, Quentin Crisp, Edwin Morgan. Quentin Crisp - Friday 26th November - Firth Hall Paul Bailey presents a portrait of this unique and uniquely amusing character paying tribute to one of the twentieth century’s true English eccentrics. Having known Quentin Crisp for over 30 years, Paul will discuss Crisp’s surprising rise to fame, his various careers, the autobiography, Crisp as an authority on style and etiquette and his dramatic change of character in his final years. Joe Orton - Sunday 28th November - Firth Hall Leonie Orton-Barnett, Joe Orton’s sister, explores Joe’s life in Leicester, his leaving Leicester for Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and his meeting Kenneth Halliwell. The evening will also include readings from Joe Orton’s diaries. Oscar Wilde - Tuesday 7th December - Firth Hall Neil McKenna will explore the “Secret Life of Oscar Wilde”, an account of Oscar Wilde’s astonishing journey through Victorian London’s underworld, giving insight into Oscar Wilde’s emotional and sexual life, painting an astonishingly frank and vivid psychological portrait of a troubled genius who chose to martyr himself for the cause of love between men. He will also discuss his other work, including his latest publication on two further Victorian gay icons, Cross-Dressers Fanny and Stella. Check out our website for more information, and you can even submit your own gay icon!

evildrneil - Well, it's good point; the project is funded through the Department of Music, which means it's required to have a focus on the Arts, but we're aware there's a whole lot more to the concept of a 'gay icon'. This is why we have a section on our website where visitors can submit their own gay icons and tell us what a gay icon means to them. We've had quite a variety, with philosophers, politicians and, yes, even Alan Turing among the submissions. Perhaps you'd like to submit someone who you think we're missing? You can do so here! And you can read one of our daily blogs on Alan Turing here as well...

It's nearly time for events from the Gay Icons Project at the University of Sheffield to begin! Here's some of the things we've got coming up under the heading of 'Fashion and Trendsetters': Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation - 25 November - Firth Hall Kristin Knox pays tribute to the late Alexander McQueen, discussing his impact on the fashion world, in an illustrated talk covering some of his most iconic and controversial designs. Leigh Bowery - 3 December - Firth Hall Shaun Cole explores the life and work of Leigh Bowery, the reasoning behind some of his most iconic looks, insight into his desire to distort his body, his bizarre obsession with pain, and why Leigh Bowery is such a gay icon, who still to this day influences many of the present 'fashionistas'. This will be combined with pictures and rare footage of his most outlandish performances. Andy Warhol & Susan Sontag: Screen Test - 5 December - Firth Hall Mandy Merck explores Andy Warhol’s relationship with writer and human rights activist Susan Sontag, which led to his 1964 infamous screen test of her. He was a working class Catholic, trained in commercial art. She was a middle-class Jewish intellectual. He painted Coke bottles. She endorsed Absolut Vodka. He liked her look. She doubted his sincerity. They were both homosexual. In 1964 he filmed her portrait. In 1967 she called his work 'inhuman'... Check out our website for more information, and you can even submit your own gay icon!

Hi Sheffield Writers Group! You may be interested to learn about the Gay Icons Project at the University of Sheffield. It's a series of talks, concerts and screenings in November and December, each taking as their subject a figure who could be considered a gay icon. There's events across the realms of music, literature, social impact, history, theatre and more. We have several events featuring or addressing notable writers; novelist, poet and playwright Jackie will read from and talk about her work, with particular attention on how she creates gay characters and other gay authors who have influenced her. Award-winning writer Paul Bailey will discuss the life and work of his friend Quentin Crisp, whose autobiography The Naked Civil Servant became a runaway hit shortly after its publication, and who became an iconic figure of both the London and New York gay scenes. Noted Biographer Niel McKenna will present a talk on the 'secret life of Oscar Wilde', based on his recent book of the same name. Check out our website for times, venue and other events, and if you like submit your own gay icon!

Hi Sheffield Film Group! You may be interested to learn about the Gay Icons Project at the University of Sheffield. It's a series of talks, concerts and screenings in November and December, each taking as their subject a figure who could be considered a gay icon. There's events across the realms of music, literature, social impact, history, theatre and more. We also have a series of film screenings arranged in conjunction with The Showroom Cinema and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. There's Give Me Your Hand (Donne-moi la main), in which two handsome twins set off on a road trip together, experiencing a number of social and sexual encounters along the way, And Then Came Lola, a raunchy, funny, sexy comedy and a loose homage to hit film Run Lola Run, and Plan B, in which one man's attempt to break up his ex-girlfriend's new relationship takes an unexpected turn as he befriends her new partner. As well as this, there's a talk on Andy Warhol and Susan Sontag's meeting in his infamous Screen Test films and on the closing night of the project a screening of the fascinating documentary Gay Sex in the '70's, which examines the period after Stonewall and before the AIDS epidemic in which gay life in New York flourished. Check out our website for times, venue and other events, and if you like submit your own gay icon!

Hi Millman - I'm really glad you're excited for it! First of all the idea was to do a small program of concerts playing music by gay composers, but then as the ideas and possibilities grew we applied for funding and were able to set up the project on a much bigger scale. We just really hope it'll give something different to gay culture in Sheffield; hopefully inspire people to get involved and broaden things out a bit for the community!

Hi everyone! I wanted to let people know about The University of Sheffield's Gay Icons Project. It's a series of events and an exhibition taking place at various venues across Sheffield in November and December. The project explores contrasting conceptions of gay iconography through the realms of music, art, theatre, fashion, history and literature. There's also a couple of parties planned which should be great fun, and hopefully generate a bit of an unusual buzz. Have a look at our website for more info and to submit your own gay icon for inclusion in our exhibition!

Hi guys! I wanted to let people know about The University of Sheffield's Gay Icons Project. It's a series of events and an exhibition taking place at various venues across Sheffield in November and December. The project explores contrasting conceptions of gay iconography through the realms of music, art, theatre, fashion, history and literature. There's also a couple of parties planned which should be great fun, and hopefully generate a bit of an unusual buzz. Have a look at our website for more info and to submit your own gay icon for inclusion in our exhibition!