Playtime – issue 1027

Boys

MEET THE STINGERS
Come meet the Sydney Stingers gay aquatic sports team in-store at AussieBoys on Oxford St on June 26. Help support the Stingers get to Cologne for the Gay Games and buy a raffle ticket — tickets are $2 each. There are amazing prizes to be won! From 1pm-3pm, Aussie Boys store, 102 Oxford St, Darlinghurst.

POOL AT SADDLE
Cue up at SaddleBar’s pool competition every Thursday night from 9pm. Have a relaxed, friendly game in a chilled pub environment. Big prizes to be won — $100 first prize, $50 for the runner-up. Saddle Bar at the Midnight Shift, 85 Oxford St.

OPEN AND POSITIVE
The Positive Living Centre is having an open day on Saturday, June 26, noon-4pm. There will be information sessions, guided tours, refreshments and more. Find out what’s new at the revamped PLC. Special events include a life coaching information session at 12.45pm and an HIV treatment update at 1.30pm. Positive Living Centre, 703 Bourke St, Surry Hills.

Clubs

I’D RATHER JACK
Jack hits the Polo Lounge at the Oxford Hotel on Friday, June 25. The party celebrates house music in all its glory, from early Chicago house to deep house to disco house to a little bit of tech house. It’s free to get in, and the fun kicks off at 9pm with DJs Mark Murphy and MadgaB.

HARD CHAVS
Come and watch chavs and chavettes making a mess of their lives when Hard On goes chav-crazy at Phoenix Bar on June 26. With a killer local DJ line-up — Lovertits, Matt Vaughan and the incredible duo Stereogamous — punters are encouraged to embrace the chav spirit: we’re thinking tracksuits and lolly drinks at the bar, scally. From 10pm.

RIOT ’69
Take the queer movement back to where it all began on June 26 with Riot ’69: the dance party at the Stonewall Hotel. Shows, celebrities, three party levels, DJs. Hosted by Tora Hymen. Dress code: ’60s-style. It’s a Sydney Pride Festival event for Twenty10. From 9pm, Stonewall Hotel, 175 Oxford St, Darlinghurst

Community

SALSA CELEBRATION
The dancers at Same-Sex Salsa invite you to help celebrate their one-year anniversary at the Colombian on Oxford St. Being Pride week, they are also celebrating gay pride, Latino-style. There will be same sex-salsa performances and an appearance by special guest, the artistic director of Buena Vista Dance, El Moro. And it’s all free! From 8pm, Thursday, June 24. Join the ‘Same-Sex Salsa – Sydney’ Facebook group for the details.

PFLAG MEETING
PFLAG, the support group for parents and friends of lesbian and gay children, will hold its next monthly meeting from 7.30pm on Wednesday, June 23 at the Wesley Lodge Motel, cnr of Hawkesbury and Queens Rds, Westmead. Please call Judy on 9869 1454 for more information or visit www.pflagaustralia.org.au

AURORA DINNER
Aurora’s 10th anniversary dinner will be held on Saturday, June 26, with the theme ‘All You Need Is Love’. With performances by seasoned musical theatre performers Mitchell Butel and Tamsin Carol, the night will also feature a keynote address by Sir Ian McKellen. info: www.auroragroup.com.au

Free

AGEING FORUM
The two-hour information session ‘Older GLBT People and the Law’ will provide generic legal information on important legal issues faced by older GLBT people. Topics will include changes to federal legislation affecting same-sex couples plus advice about wills, enduring powers of attorney, and appointments of enduring guardianship. The session will be held from 4-6pm, Friday, June 25, at The Rex Centre, 58A Macleay St, Kings Cross.

RUN WITH PRIDE
The Sydney Frontrunners running group is holding its annual Pride 5km run on Saturday, June 26. It’s a free event, starting from the Paddington Gates of Centennial Park at 9am, and all are welcome to join in. info: www.sydneyfrontrunners.org

PLANNING OUR FUTURE
Planning for the future of NSW’s GLBT community is the aim of a unique community initiative called GLBT NSW 2020. Over the last 18 months, organisers have collected feedback from more than 1000 community members. They’re now ready to present their findings and seek ideas. This is the final stage of the initiative so if you want to help shape the future GLBT NSW, make sure you get along. 6.30pm June 28, The Aurora Room, Twenty10, 45 Bedford St, Newtown. info: www.sydneypride.org

Girls

DRAG IT UP
Hans Sparrow is giving the public what it wants with another drag outing, Kings Kings Kings. On June 26, seven wicked kings will take over the Oxford Hotel’s Supper Club and Polo Lounge for a night of delicious drag. DJs beLLa and Fu-Chi will provide the dancefloor sparkle ’cos this is most definitely a club night as well as a hot theatrical experience. Rex Everything, Sister Muscle Mary, Solid Gold, Alex, Tyler, and Leo De’Lush will be strutting their stuff on stage.

MOIST WINTER
Sydney’s spunkiest ladies night, Moist, hits Arq again on Friday, June 25, this time with an icy ‘Winter Wonderland’ theme. The night is set to go off, with a bevy of snow maidens who will send your temperature soaring and white-hot snow shows. Plus DJs Shalyn Gray, Sandi Hotrod and Bella. From 9pm to late, $10 entry.

On screen

BRAZILIAN BOYS
Fresh from three sell-out sessions in Melbourne, From Beginning to End is a sumptuous (and controversial) tale of two half-brothers who fall in love. In the spirit of Pride, it’s a story that explores love in its many forms. A portion of every ticket sold at the screening, on June 24 at the Chauvel Cinema, will go towards raising much-needed funds for the 2011 Mardi Gras Film Festival. 7pm, Chauvel Cinema, $20 per ticket.

Pubs & bars

FUNDRAISING NIGHT
The Chop Foundation supports organisations in Vietnam that aim to reduce the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. This year’s fundraising event, at Slide from 6pm on Sunday June 27, will be an exciting night of food, wine and entertainment by renowned jazz singer Emma Pask, acclaimed concert pianist Ambre Hammond and Slide performers. Tickets are available now for $80. info: www.chopfoundation.com/events

DEEP DISKO
Deep Disko continues at the Colombian this Sunday with Phil Hudson, Matt Cahill, Dave 54, Soul Junkies, Danny De Sousa + Mark Matthews live on sax from 10pm. Expect to hear the sexiest beats on Oxford St. The Lounge Bar will serve premium cocktails from 6pm-9pm for $10 to get the night off with a bang.

Song

LUNCHTIME RECITAL
Lunchtime in the city has never been so good (or affordable) with A Little Lunch Music. The one-hour concerts mean you can relax and go behind the music with some of our country’s finest musicians at City Recital Hall. The next instalment, on June 25, is an introduction to jazz with Dr V’s Swing Thing. Featuring 20 of Sydney’s finest jazz musicians on trumpet, trombone, saxophone and rhythm, the band has music to suit all tastes and occasions. info: www.cityrecitalhall.com

MIDNIGHT MUSIC
The Midnight Juggernauts new album The Crystal Axis is a 50-minute symphony of synth-rock invention, veering from percussive, hypnotic grooves to luxuriant jams, walls of sound, and ’70s AM melodic forks. Hear them showcase songs from the album when they play the Forum on August 20. Tickets through Moshtix.

Stage

FLAP YOUR WINGS
Wayne Blair returns to B Sharp to direct the Sydney premiere of Dirty Butterfly from British-Jamaican playwright Debbie Tucker Green. It is a moving tale of three lives brought together by their proximity and misfortune, linked by the paper-thin walls of their tenement housing. Trapped in a cycle of poverty and racial discrimination, Amelia and Jason cannot escape the dark and compelling world of their neighbour Jo, who in turn cannot seem to break from the reality of her own horrors. It’s playing from July 8. info: www.belvoir.com.au

CHILD’S PLAY
Fox, based on the story by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks is an enchanting new musical theatre work based on an award-winning Australian children’s book and is playing at Riverside Theatres on Thursday, July 1 and Friday, July 2 as part of Riverside’s Education Season. Utilising puppetry, projections and opera, it’s a perfect show for the young — or the young at heart. info: www.riversideparramatta.com.au

NEGLECTED GEM
The 1930 stage musical Girl Crazy is famous for making stars of Ethel Merman and Ginger Rogers and has the most endearing and wonderful Gershwin songs I Got Rhythm, Embraceable You, But Not for Me and Strike Up The Band. Now, the music returns for a second presentation of Neglected Musicals at Darlinghurst Theatre on Monday, July 26 at 2pm and 8pm. Neglected Musicals is a new theatre initiative dedicated to presenting musical theatre that has never or rarely been seen in Australia. info: www.neglectedmusicals.com.au