Michael Kearns

RE "It's Time We Looked," by Patrick Goldstein, April 18: Sadly, "United 93" will probably not do all that well at the box office because Americans (who love to pretend they're still as tough as the World War II generation) hate to feel "bad" about anything -- thus, the reactions to the previews. LYNN PARANA \o7Los Angeles \f7 PATRICK GOLDSTEIN notes that the most effective movies about the Vietnam War and Watergate "were not about the events themselves," but he lauds the "documentary-style" and "no-nonsense authority" of "United 93's" director, Paul Greengrass.

IT is a sweaty afternoon in the tiny Silver Lake theater where director Michael Kearns is rehearsing actors Dean Howell and Joe Gill. The concentration is intense on the small stage as the performers reenact a phone call between two lonely men in 1985 San Francisco. Looking outward but never at each other, they traverse fantasy and reality, trying desperately to connect across the void. Some moments are erotic, others emotionally fraught.

Cardinal Roger Mahony's personal tour of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels gives new meaning to the word "grandiosity" ("Mahony Shares His Delight at a Dream Made Manifest," Aug. 28). With each of Mahony's breathless descriptions, I was taken back to Jackie Kennedy's gushy televised tour of the White House during her stint as first lady. In a city plagued by a host of human tragedies resulting from poverty, among other ills, it's comforting to know that someone like Mahony can still find a place for high camp.

In relation to Ellen DeGeneres and her gal pal Anne Heche coming out as lesbians ("What's the Problem? Let Her Do Her Job," Counterpunch, May 5), Lizzie Borden hopes that "gay activists resist the urge to politicize the situation for their own purposes." Own purposes? As a gay activist (who happens to be an openly gay actor), my purpose is to be treated with the same respect afforded anyone else on this planet or in this town. I'll use whatever is necessary--politically or personally--to achieve what I rightfully deserve.

Performance artist. Michael Kearns will hold a work-in-progress reading of his new solopiece "Kiss & Tell," as a benefit for Caring for Babies With AIDS on Monday at 8 p.m. atStudio A, 2306 Hyperion Ave. on Silver Lake. Admission is by pay-what-you-can donation. Information: (213) 661-8311.

Actor-playwright Michael Kearns is the kind to kiss and tell, but his confessions involve no betrayals in "Tell-Tale Kisses" at Highways now and later at Glaxa Studios. Quite the contrary. The unmistakable authenticity in this trio of monologues dealing with romanticism, denial and mortality is an affecting testimonial to the gay lifestyles he chronicles. Kearns' fictional personas convincingly represent three generations of gay men.

The first time he read "Jerker," Michael Kearns was so moved he couldn't move. Sitting outside on a sunny day about 10 years ago, the Los Angeles actor-director breezed through the 40-page script. Then he discovered he was unable to rise from his chair.