Sexy Beast: Hugh Hefner

For Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, work and play are one and the same.

As figurehead of the men’s magazine since its launch in 1953, Hefner has embodied the publication’s spirit with his silk-pajama lifestyle and revolving cast of simultaneous girlfriends. At the same time, Hefner has established Playboy as a cultural juggernaut, a brand at once iconic and controversial.

But while most perceive the 84-year-old magazine mogul as a man living out a never-ending fantasy of girls, parties and luxury, there’s another side to Hefner that has remained understated throughout his career: that of the social activist.

Ask him why America may not have noticed this facet, and he'll tell you that the answer is straightforward.

"I think it's fairly obvious — It's because they're distracted by the pretty ladies, both in the magazine and in my life," he said. "Ray Bradbury, in commenting about the magazine a number of years ago, said, 'People don't see the force because of the tease.'"

Academy Award-winning director Brigitte Berman's new documentary, "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel" — opening Friday at Landmark's E Street Cinema — goes beyond "the tease" and examines Hefner's history of defying and re-defining social norms. The film paints a portrait of a man who was interested in putting out much more than just a magazine filled with attractive, nude women.

From the start, Hefner has been something of a trailblazer. His 1959 television series, "'Playboy''s Penthouse," was one of the first to show black and white Americans comingling. At a time when racial tensions ran high throughout the country, Hefner wanted "Playboy" to be an integrated brand, and bought back franchised clubs in the south that refused to serve African-American customers.

It was at this time in the early 1960s, when the magazine had reached more than a million in circulation and beaten out competitors like "Esquire," that the ideology of "Playboy" truly began to shift.

"Then I realized I could include in the magazine the other half of what I was all about," Hefner said. "That's when I started doing 'The Playboy Philosophy.' We introduced 'The Playboy Interview,' and the other nonfiction pieces that helped to change the way of things."


With this shift, "Playboy" was reinvented from a men's magazine directed toward single men "with an appropriate interest for the opposite sex" to a cultural platform that railed against such subjects as the Vietnam War, police brutality and gay discrimination.

"Playboy" has always been a lightning rod for controversy, and the documentary presents a diverse collection of perspectives on the magazine, from Christian activist and singer Pat Boone to notorious KISS bassist and frontman Gene Simmons.

In the face of decades of criticism from a wide rage of fronts — religious institutions, the United States government — Hefner has stood strong. Every time he has been presented with a legal battle, he has emerged the victor. Still, there was one group whose dissent he found "troubling" at the onset of Playboy.
                           
"When it [criticism] came from neo-feminists — early feminists — I was initially blindsided," he said. "I didn't know what they were talking about. As far I was concerned, there was certainly nothing exploitive about 'Playboy.' 'Playboy' was a celebration of our sexuality."

"Nowhere did you find a more positive view of female beauty and sexuality then in 'Playboy.' It took me time to realize that the women and the people who did have a problem with it were having problems with the whole notion of sexuality. That shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was," he said. "And the reason that it shouldn't have been is, in thinking about it historically, there's a Puritan element within everything in America. So the fact that there would be some anti-sexual, Puritan elements within the women's movement is understandable."

For better or for worse, "Playboy" has had a lasting influence on America's social climate. And while controversy continues to swirl around the magazine, Hefner is confident that, in the end, history will look favorably upon his legacy.

"I would like to be remembered as someone who had some positive impact on the changing social and sexual values of my time," he said. "And I think my position is pretty secure in terms of that."

Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW; opens Fri., $10.

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz

Punking Out: Deer Tick

John McCauley, singer and guitarist of indie-folk band Deer Tick, cites punk rock as a chief influence on his group's onstage antics and general attitude. Given what transpired within the first two minutes of our interview, the connection is clear.

"You don't mind if I pee while we talk, do you?" McCauley asked over some questionable sounds. "Because that's exactly what's happening right now."

In terms of other sounds McCauley makes, it's hard to reconcile how the raucous, live band McCauley describes — fueled by "drunken stupidity" — can be the same group whose albums carry an introspective, mellow tone with some country flair. But McCauley has dealt with this conundrum before.

"Our live shows have kind of gained us a reputation of somewhat of a party band. People are kind of searching to understand that about us," he says. "I think when you come to one of our shows; you should expect to have a good time, and if you're expecting to hear something that sounds exactly like the album, then you better just go home and listen to the album."
                           
Since McCauley set out on his first nationwide tour in 2005 at the age of 19 — the very same tour where he coined the name Deer Tick after taking a daytime hike in Indiana and discovering one of the little parasites on his scalp later that evening — his group has undergone several lineup changes. Now 24, McCauley says the band's current roster is what has fueled the energy of recent Deer Tick shows. So far, there have only been a few casualties.

"I got crowd-surfed into a ceiling fan once," he says. "Luckily, I went into it feet-first."

There are other changes happening within the Providence, Rhode Island-based band. On June 8, Deer Tick released "The Black Dirt Sessions," which was recorded over January 2009, just four months after wrapping up the sessions that made up last year's release, "Born on Flag Day."

According to McCauley, "The Black Dirt Sessions" is a purging of any lingering Deer Tick material. As such, the process for recording the album was straightforward, with no real planning or heavy stylization.

"It's considered our third album, but I don't think it was really put together too much like an album. That's why it doesn't have a title," McCauley says. "'The Black Dirt Sessions' is named after the studio we did it at. ...It was just kind of us cleaning out our catalog of stuff we hadn't recorded yet."

The release may also mean the last of Deer Tick's familiar, Americana sound. McCauley, who is as big a fan of Kurt Cobain as he is of Hank Williams, says that he wants to take the band in a direction more reminiscent of their live shows, with a faster, rock-oriented emphasis.
                           
"The only problem is that I haven't really written any songs like that in a long time, so I'll try to ease my way back into it," he says. "Try to channel my 17-year-old self."

Having experimented with a folk and country-infused sound for three full-length albums, McCauley feels that the time is right for expansion.

"I think we're a little terrified of being pigeonholed in any sort of way," McCauley says. "We kind of want to flex our musical muscles that we haven't used yet. In my opinion, as a performer, I just think it's a little more fun to play rock and roll."

» Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; with Wye Oak, Gamble House, Thurs., July 22, 8 p.m., $12.

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photo by Travis Huggett

Heavy Homage: Lez Zeppelin

There are two myths that have been perpetuated since the dawn of rock 'n' roll: People in cover bands aren't legitimate musicians, and girls can't rock as hard as the boys. So when Steph Paynes decided to start a Led Zeppelin tribute band in 2004 called Lez Zeppelin, it's safe to say that she experienced a few dissenters.

"If you're going to do it and you're going to be women doing it, you'd better get it together," Paynes said, who is the group's guitarist. "I don't want to add to the myth that women can't play — which is false, and if I were to go out there with a band that half-assed it, I'd be doing everyone a disservice. If you're going to do it, you're almost going to have to do it better because everyone's so cynical."

Years later and with a few nationwide tours, appearances on TV networks such as the BBC and MTV and — perhaps most importantly — a seal of approval from Led Zeppelin's guitar god, Jimmy Page, Paynes and company have proven to the critics that they are more than just a gimmick.

One of the reasons behind the New York City-based band's success is that since its start, the group (which has had about three major lineup changes) has been hesitant to follow the traditional course of tribute bands and dive into cover-band culture.

"[Lez Zeppelin] was just [for] fun because I love the music so much," Paynes said, "but then I realized, 'My God, there's this whole scene and I'm supposed to be in this scene,' and I made a very conscious decision early on because I didn't like the vibe of it and I didn't consider what I was doing to be any sort of tribute band. ... I decided to just book my band as if it were an original band and not to sign up with tribute band agents or do any of that or play those clubs or play with other tribute bands."

The fact that everyone in it is female also has a lot to do with why Paynes doesn't see the group as a regular tribute band. The musicians can't really impersonate anyone — Shannon Conley is never going to pass for Led Zep singer Robert Plant — and while there is still a certain amount of pageantry in Lez Zeppelin (dragon suits included) the girls honors their idols by focusing on the music.

"If you're a classical musician trying to take a piece of well-known music and interpret it, that's really what we're doing," Paynes said. "We're playing a very classical canon in rock 'n' roll and we're bringing our own self to it, and the energy and the power that I feel that Led Zeppelin was about. We do try to capture that; it's sort of a natural thing after awhile, when you study it this much."

As pupils of Zeppelin, the group has been thorough in its quest to embody the sound and atmosphere of its namesake. The musicians have employed a multi-faceted approach, from procuring only vintage gear for their performances to requiring sometimes high levels of commitment from some of the group's musicians.
                           
Bass player Megan Thomas, for example, learned to play mandolin and synthesizers for specific songs. Paynes not only had to master the technical, blues-based riffs of one of the world's legendary guitarists, but she also had to figure out how to work Page's signature tool: the bow.

"You need to hit it in the right place," she said. "It's almost like playing tennis."

In terms of their textbook, Paynes and her group draw from Led Zeppelin's live shows, which were filled with extended versions of songs and long bouts of improvisation, more than the group's studio releases.

And if you're wondering about their suggestive name, don't bother to ask because Paynes offers no answers. As to why she leaves it shrouded in secrecy, like everything else that has to do with the band, she's taken a few notes from the original.

"Led Zeppelin always did that," she said. "There was a lot of mystery surrounding that band, nobody knew for sure what was going on, and I think that adds to the excitement of a rock band. Too much is told now; I don't want to know everyone's details. ... It sort of brings people down to the most banal level. There's no imagination."

» State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church; Fri. July 16, 9 p.m., $19.

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photos by Kyra Kverno

Sleight of Hand: Victor Wooten

When Muhammad Ali spoke the words, "Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee," to describe his unusual fighting style, he was suggesting there's a certain grace to be learned from the habits of our fellow creatures.

Bass guitar virtuoso and core member of the group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Victor Wooten, shares a similar view. He believes that developing a skill to the point that it becomes like animal instinct is necessary for mastering any trade.

"Whatever you're doing, you want to be natural at it," he said. "I don't want to have to be concentrating really hard when I play the bass; I just want to flow."

Having taken this philosophy to heart, Wooten, 45, has hosted a bass and nature camp every year since 2000 during parts of the spring and summer. Located an hour west of Nashville, Tenn., the natural environment — it's called Wooten Woods Retreat — helps students to become better in tune with their natural rhythms.

"It definitely makes you play better," said Wooten.

When he's not at camp, Wooten will be on the road this summer with his quartet, the Victor Wooten Band. This tour will be less theatrical than previous efforts like his "Soul Circus" tour, which found Wooten performing another childhood passion onstage: magic.
                                 
Though Wooten wowed audiences on that tour with feats such as levitating mid-song and making his bass disappear, his favorite type of magic involves one-on-one interactions. "That's where it blows your mind," he said.

For a man who has conquered both crafts, Wooten sees magic and music as having more in common than just a sleight of hand. "If I go to a magic show," he said, "even if I know how it's done, it's still fascinating. Music is the same way: You'll hear a song or see an artist, and it's just magical."

» 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW; Fri., July 2, 7 p.m., $25. (U St.-Cardozo)

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photo by Steven Parke

Losing Literature: Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis is the type of author who doesn't leave you guessing where he draws his inspiration from. Most of his stories are framed around aspects of his real life; the most glaring example of this being his 2005 novel, "Lunar Park," which follows the exploits of an up-and-coming author by the name of, well, Bret Easton Ellis.

The chronicling of Ellis' life through his fiction has been characteristic of his writing since his literary career began 25 years ago when his first novel, "Less Than Zero," was published in 1985 before he had even graduated from Bennington College in Vermont.

A snapshot of Ellis' native Los Angeles in the mid-'80s, "Less Than Zero" was an indictment of the decadence and waywardness of the author's generation. The novel focuses on its young, perpetually despondent protagonist, Clay, as he returns home to L.A. for his college's winter break. Upon arriving in L.A., Clay reconnects with his high school friends and soon discovers that while he was away, many of them have become severely twisted by a combination of drugs, apathy and heartless entitlement.

On June 15, Ellis and Knopf Publishers released the follow-up to "Less Than Zero," titled "Imperial Bedrooms." Though Ellis maintains that he had never intended to write the next installment in the story of Clay, life intervened and brought his hand to the page.

"It took a couple years, in fact, to even get to the point to start making notes for 'Imperial Bedrooms,'" Ellis said. "During that time I was finishing 'Lunar Park' and I was also just wandering around thinking about a lot of things that were going on in my life: I was moving back to Los Angeles, I was working more heavily in the movie industry, I was reading a lot of Raymond Chandler, I was wondering where Clay was, and all these things kind of form a cloud that you become enveloped in and then you begin to write notes."

The sequel follows Clay, now working as a screenwriter, as he travels to L.A. 25 years after the events of "Less Than Zero" to cast roles for an '80s-themed flick which he penned. The book is a collage of the old and new, with many familiar faces returning from the original novel who are either suffering the consequences of their youthful debauchery or still indulging in it. It is not only a reunion for the characters in Clay's world, but also of Ellis and a straightforward, clean writing style he had long since abandoned.

"Part of the attraction of this project when I was thinking about it was how attractive it would be to go back to that kind of minimalism, in that style I haven't written in, I don't know, 25 years," Ellis said. "And that was very fun and exciting and after writing some verbose novels that were very long and were narrated by people who talked a lot. It was exciting to go back to this stripped, bare minimalism and just try to achieve an effect or a mood with few words as possible. It almost becomes kind of a game."

As the plot progresses in "Imperial Bedrooms," the story becomes less of a cautionary tale of the dangers of reckless excess and, instead, takes a noirish turn as Clay becomes obsessed with a young actress named Rain Turner during his casting calls. His infatuation leads him down a path of haunting paranoia, strange text messages and gruesome acts of violence.

Just the same, the world has been a little different for Ellis since "Less Than Zero" first hit the shelves. One of the main differences Ellis has noticed over the years is the reduction of an environment that has been essential to his career: that of the literary book culture.

"It's just a very different culture now," he said. "My friends, if you talked to them five years ago, at least they'd have a book going next to the nightstand and I'd be able to talk about a literary novel. I don't have those discussions anymore, they diminished by 70 percent and they say, 'Oh, yeah, my computer, or 'I'm watching movies.' It's a different culture now in terms of that kind of book. ... You can argue that it's kind of a transitional period; we're still figuring out how to make money off of technology and selling books. Maybe down the road, it'll be a different world, but right now, it's kind of shaky and I think people are a little freaked out by the general public's lack of interest in book culture."

How will the withering literary culture affect the writers Ellis writes about? Maybe a character will drop a hint in his next story.

» Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW; Mon., June 21, 7 p.m., free.

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photo by Jeff Burton

Against Tradition: Steven Greenstreet of "8: The Mormon Proposition"

The film "8: The Mormon Proposition," has all the makings of a Dan Brown novel: political intrigue, front organizations and questionable church practices. The difference is that the people in this story are real. It isn't even fictional intrigue the documentary scrutinizes, but the events — some might say manipulations — that culminated with the passing of California's Proposition 8 in November 2008.

The measure banned same-sex marriage by defining marriage in the state's constitution as only valid between opposite-sex couples. The move came just six months after same-sex marriage had been ruled constitutional by the California Supreme Court. The documentary examines the role that the Mormon church played in supporting Prop 8 and the estimated $22 million that it spent in the months leading up to the election.

For co-director, Steven Greenstreet, "8" has been a personal endeavor — he was raised in a Mormon household.

"To make a film that criticizes that thing [the Mormon church] that for so long defined my life was at moments harrowing and at other moments liberating," he said.

The film premieres June 18 at the AFI Silver Theatre — a day and two years after the first same-sex marriage took place in California.
                                
» EXPRESS: Was there anything that came as a revelation to you as you made this movie?
» GREENSTREET: Even having grown up in the church and being a Mormon missionary, I was still shocked when we got a hold of the internal documents kind of outlining the church's battle plan against gay marriage. It seems less of a plan written by representatives of God and more a plan written by political lobbyists in Washington. It was this kind of very politically scheming; all of the values I was taught in the Mormon church, of charity, of love, of loving your neighbor and tolerance were void in all of these documents that I was reading. It was so anti-gay it was mind-boggling.

» EXPRESS: How has your family reacted to your involvement with the film?
» GREENSTREET: When I made this film, I feared division and arguments within my own family and I had to battle with that every day on my involvement in this film. ...I feared horrible encounters with my own family and, luckily, that hasn't happened. My family has just been amazing and they love me no matter what and they understand that it's important to me. While we may disagree religiously and politically, they understand that love conquers all of that and I'm glad we've been unified despite our differences.

» AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; opens Fri., through Sun., $10. (Silver Spring)

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photo by Brandon Bloch

Stage of Development: Source Festival at Source Theater

The arrival of summer means it's festival season, and from beer to bands, there's an event for every fancy.

Theater buffs can get their kicks over the course of the next three weeks, as 300 artists descend on D.C. to take part in the third annual Source Festival. The festival — the reincarnation of the late Washington Theater Festival — will showcase artists as they perform varied and versatile forms of theater during each week of the event's run.

The fest kicks off with a week of 18 original, 10-minute plays. The second week will feature the culmination of what producer Jenny McConnell Frederick describes as "artistic blind dates." These "dates" consist of 12 selected artists who have never previously collaborated and were first brought together in the fall to create four pieces to perform at the festival. Finally, the third week will be composed of three full-length plays.

According to Frederick, the festival not only promotes the arts, but also serves as a bridge between rising stars and those who have already established themselves within the theater community.

"One of the major components of the festival is the bringing together of early-career artists, of later-career artists," she said, "to create a synergy and to help launch some careers in Washington."

Written by Express contributor Topher Forhecz
Photo by C. Stanley Photography

» Source Theater, 1835 14th St. NW; opens Sat., through July 3, 8 p.m., $18 per night