By BetteAndTinaForever

As I found out, the whole event began with a VIP sit-down dinner, followed by the celebration of the five community leaders and activists who were honored with the L.A.C.E. (Lesbians and bisexual women Active in Community Empowerment) Award. Among the honorees was Katherine Brooks, who received an Arts and Entertainment Award for directing “Loving Annabelle”. I had an interview with her later that night and it will be posted on this site separately.

After a few moments of idle walking and admiring the silent auction collections that I couldn’t afford, I was allowed to go to the Green room. Honestly, I never understood why the Green room is called the Green room so I had to do a little research and according to wikipedia.com, “a Green room is a room in a theater, studio, or other public venue for the accommodation of the performers or speakers when not required on the stage” and, in my experience, also a room where their pictures are taken and sometimes the interviews are conducted.

As I read further I found out that the first use of the word Green room was mentioned in 1701 but the name is still a mystery, though wikipedia.com suggests a few etymology explanations: it was called green because of the color of the limelight, which was an early stage lighting; during Shakespearean times the actors would get ready for their performances in a room filled with plants and shrubs as they provided some moisture that was good for the actors’ voices; and finally it was noted by a Medieval Theater scholar that the actors called the stage “The Green” because often it was grass-covered, so the Green room was the room on the way to the green, or the stage.

Whatever the explanation is, I was expecting something green in the Green room area, which was downstairs in the basement of the Henry Fonda Theater. To get to that room was an adventure in itself. I had to go through some kind of a kitchen, then an outside alley filled with boxes and other thrown away stuff, then another set of stairs and finally I was in the right area.

And it was a big surprise. The entire basement had bright blue walls all over. Nothing was green, except some soda cans for volunteers and performers. Sorry to say, but the blue color was too bright to have nice pictures taken against that background but I had no choice and had to go with the flow. I was just hanging around there in my black slacks and a white

tuxedo shirt (it was a cocktail chic attire for the evening and I’m sick of wearing dresses since I do it every day at my full-time job) when suddenly Leisha Hailey showed up with her girlfriend, looking adorable and amazing in a cool t-shirt and a blue high heels.

Before I went to the party I had a distinct idea that Kate Moennig would show up as well because lately she and Leisha have been going to a lot of events together. So I wasn’t really surprised that she also came down to basement while I was taking pictures of Leisha’s band and waiting for Jane Lynch. By the way, I asked Leisha about beginning of the filming and if she had any idea about her storyline in the new season. She started to say that she knew some things but then changed her mind and added that she doesn’t really know anything, though she was smiling mischievously. I guess this year they try to keep everything quiet about the fifth season, so I have to find other ways to dig out any spoilers.

After I finished taking pictures of Leisha and Kate, I went in search of Katherine Brooks, who was somewhere around the theater. There was a life performance by a cabaret/burlesque troupe The Pinup Girls on the main floor stage but Katherine wasn’t there. I was surprised by how many different parties were going on everywhere at the same time and was questioning if I will have any luck finding anyone I wanted.

Finally I found out that Katherine was up on the roof where another party was in full swing and on my way up there I saw Jane Lynch. She just finished hosting the whole event, announcing the performances and doing some kind of an auction and she was kind enough to let me take a few of her pictures against that dreadful blue wall, of course. I asked her about season 5 and Jane told me that she will be in it but she doesn’t know for how many episodes, maybe just in one. I could mean that perhaps her affair with Phyllis Kroll (Cybill Shepherd) won’t last for a long time or Cybill will also appear only in a few episodes.

When I finally reached the roof, I saw Ilene Chaiken there and I said Hello while I was passing through to go find Katherine Brooks. I wonder if Ilene was surprised that I didn’t stop and ask her about TiBette. I found Katherine and we had a lovely chat in semi-quiet area with beds and couches and I can honestly say that I ended up in bed with Katherine Brooks, though not literally.

Then a dancing party erupted downstairs with Leisha’s band, Uh Huh Her, DJ-ing and a few times, as soon as they put on a new song, Leisha and her band members walked towards the edge of the stage and give away some t-shirts, talked to the fans, hugged them, and took pictures with them. Leisha was dancing a lot too, and singing along with the music.

This was a wild party with lots of attendees on the dance floor, Kate and some other celebrities dancing backstage and even I had a time to relax and show off a few moves, though that’s all it was…just a few moves because I don’t have many. I’m all about work, work and work when I’m traveling.

Just after midnight Leisha and her band members left the stage to some other DJ and I went back upstairs where I talked a little to Alicia Warrington, member of Uh Huh Her while she was relaxing after the DJ-ing job downstairs. She told me that on July 24 their EP will come out with 5 songs and it will be a digital release. Right now they are working with Network Management and are hoping for a full album release in the early 2008. She lives in Los Angeles, but because Leisha will be starting filming season 5 of The L Word, they all will be going back and forth between L.A. and Vancouver for their album’s recording.

The work part was finally over for me and I allowed myself to relax and spent some time chatting and dancing with a few friends. The party upstairs was going until two in the morning and it was well worth it to lose some sleep over it. I also found out that there are a few interesting things that you might see at a Women’s Night party in L.A.: two men making out in the

room full of women; a group of bisexual women who meet once a month to do some crazy things together, like going to a Women’s Night and take pictures of their crotches; witnessing “healing art” by world famous body painter Star Oakland while she was creating a “live” body paintings to celebrate the human spirit and promote positive body images; and a few other things that can only be witnessed and not described.

Next time the Women’s Night party and benefit will happen, I would suggest for all of you to go. It will give you a chance to donate money for a good cause and also have a lot of fun. I did.