'Hedwig' returns freestyle

Mega-hit rock musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" will run for a fourth season starting late June, production company Shownote announced.

But there will be a twist this season: Six different actors will take on the title role, each for three to six weeks at a time. All the Hedwigs will be completely different from the others, with outfits, make-up, and even lights personalized to fit and reinforce each Hedwig, the production company said.

Shownote added that five of the Hedwigs will be from past performances. Auditions will be held for the last actor.

Starting off "Hedwig-Freestyle" are two former Hedwigs: Kim Da-hyun, lead vocalist of rock band Yada and dubbed the "prettiest" Hedwig; and Song Yong-jin, lead vocalist of the band Cuba, who is regarded as the most provocative and passionate Hedwig.

Since its Korean premiere in 2005, the musical, whose protagonist is a transgender singer, has been a huge success, contrary to naysayers who thought that Koreans would find the subject uncomfortable.

Almost every performance was sold out, with ardent fans going over and over again. In its first season in 2005, the musical was also nominated for eight categories in the Korea Musical Awards, hosted by Sports Chosun.

"Hedwig" tells the tale of a transgender singer from East Germany who overcomes disappointment from a botched sex change operation and failed love life, finding healing through rock music.

The "angry inch" in the title is a reference to what she was left with after the operation, as well as the attitudes of people toward her.

The fourth season of "Hedwig" will be preceded by "Hedwig Concert," in which the cast performs songs from the musical.

The concert will feature John Cameron Mitchell, who created the show and played the original "Hedwig," and actor Oh Man-suk, one of Korea's most popular former Hedwigs.

Mitchell took part in "Hedwig Concert 2007" after seeing Oh's interpretation of Hedwig on Youtube. It was the first time that Mitchell performed as Hedwig outside the United States.

Oh and Mitchell will separately sing around a dozen songs from the musical, then take the stage together in a joint performance. The new Hedwig and other special guests will also be featured.

"Hedwig Concert" is slated for June 17 at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, eastern Seoul. Tickets are 55,000 won and 77,000 won.

The freestyle version of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" will kick off its fourth run from June 27 at KT&G Sang Sang Art Hall in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Tickets cost between 45,000 won and 55,000 won. For more information, call (02) 501-7888.

By Koh Young-aah

(youngaah@heraldm.com)

2008.05.27

Pa. professor leads 'Buffy the Vampire' study

on May 19, 7:22 PM ET

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - A professor at Ursinus College in suburban Philadelphia thinks "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is worthy of serious academic study.

The TV show went off the air in 2003, but Professor Lynne Edwards is still leading scholarship about it. She edits Watcher Junior, an online journal of undergraduate research into "Buffy" and its spinoff series, "Angel." And she's the editor of a book, "Buffy Goes Dark," which is to be published in September.

Edwards is far from the only academic with an interest in the show. The third academic conference dedicated to "Buffy" is planned in June at Henderson State University in Arkansas.

Oral sex isn't keeping kids virgins

Study contradicts myth of how teens avoid intercourse

Rob Stein, Washington Post

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Contrary to popular belief, teens do not appear to commonly engage in oral sex as a way to preserve their virginity, according to the first study to examine the question nationally.

The analysis of a federal survey of more than 2,200 males and females ages 15 to 19, released Monday, found that more than half reported having had oral sex. But those who described themselves as virgins were far less likely to say they had tried it than those who had had intercourse.

"There's a popular perception that teens are engaging in serial oral sex as a strategy to avoid vaginal intercourse," said Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization in New York, who helped conduct the study. "Our research suggests that's a misperception."

Instead, the study found that teens tend to become sexually active in many ways at about the same time. For example, although only 1 in 4 teen virgins had engaged in oral sex, within six months after their first intercourse more than 4 out of 5 adolescents reported having oral sex.

"That suggests that oral and vaginal sex are closely linked," said Jones, whose findings will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. "Most teens don't have oral sex until they have had vaginal sex."

Proponents of sex education programs that focus on abstinence said the findings debunked the criticism that the approach was inadvertently prompting more teens to have oral sex, which still carries the risk of sexually transmitted disease, in order to preserve their virginity.

If anything, the findings support the need to encourage more teens to delay sexual activity of all kinds, said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.

"This report reveals that teen sex - even with a condom - presents significant risk for future sexual experimentation and so underscores the need for redoubled emphasis on abstinence education for teens," she said. "Only abstinence education adequately addresses this problem."

But critics of abstinence programs said the findings reinforced the need for comprehensive sex education, because teens engage in a wide variety of sexual activities, all of which carry risks for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

"More than half of our teens are having sex - vaginal and oral," said James Wagoner, president of the group Advocates for Youth. "We can't afford the luxury of denial. Abstinence-only programs are the embodiment of denial. They have been proven not to work, and it's time to invest in real sex education, including condoms."

Others praised the research for providing much-needed data in the often highly polarized debate over teenage sexuality.

"We have these images of oral sex parties, but it's not based on evidence. It's not based on research," said Claire Brindis, a professor of pediatrics and health policy at UC San Francisco. "A study like this allows us to begin to dissect what actually is going on."

The new study analyzed data collected from a nationally representative sample of 1,150 females and 1,121 males ages 15 to 19 who were questioned in detail in 2002 as part of the federal government's National Survey of Family Growth.

A majority of the teens - 55 percent - said they had engaged in oral sex, which was slightly more than the 50 percent who said they had had vaginal sex. But oral sex was much more common among those who already had had intercourse: 87 percent of those who reported on a computerized survey that they had had vaginal sex said they had engaged in oral sex as well, compared with 23 percent who described themselves as virgins.

When the researchers examined the number of partners the teens reported, they found that among those who reported engaging in oral sex, 67 percent had only one partner, "another piece of evidence that there's not a lot of teens engaging in serial oral sex," Jones said.

This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Gay wedding for Star Trek's Takei

Takei appeared in the popular TV series Heroes last y

US actor George Takei is to wed his long-term partner after California lifted its ban on same-sex marriage.

Takei, 71, best known for playing Mr Sulu in Star Trek, said he and Brad Altman were going through the "delicious dilemma" of where to marry.

The actor and 54-year-old Mr Altman have been together for 21 years.

"We can have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage. We embrace it all heartily," Takei wrote on his website.

'Good times'

Takei, who recently appeared in the popular US TV series Heroes, added: "We've worked in partnership; he manages the business side of my career and I do the performing.

"We've travelled the world together from Europe to Asia to Australia. We've shared the good times as well as struggled through the bad.

"He helped me care for my ailing mother who lived with us for the last years of her life. He is my love and I can't imagine life without him."

On Thursday, California's Supreme Court said the "right to form a family relationship" applied to all Californians regardless of sexuality.

But opponents of the decision said they would seek an amendment to the state constitution, which would override the ruling.

Following the Supreme Court's decision to legalise same-sex marriage, comedian Ellen DeGeneres announced plans to marry her girlfriend, actress Portia de Rossi.

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"Likable or Not" Reach Highest Drama Ratings since 2000

The KBS 1TV daily drama "Likable or Not" is now the most popular daily drama to have been broadcast after 2000. On the 24th, AGB Nielsen Media Research released the results of a survey of the 20 highest-ranking TV programs by episode after 2000. The "Likable of Not" episode which aired on the 22nd ranked 17th with 43.9% ratings. The daily drama edged in front of the 2003 MBC daily drama "Miss Mermaid" (43.6%, January 2nd) and the 2007 KBS1 daily drama "Innocent at 19" (43.2%, January 2nd). TV ratings for "Likable or Not" began at 26.8% on September 3rd of last year and have continued to rise steadily. The last episode will air May 2nd.