On a mild and clear night in September, their bodies covered only in blankets, Judith Howard and April Sellers climbed out of their upstairs window onto the roof of their home in St. Paul's Merriam Park. About 40 people watched from the backyard lawn, nearly all of them fellow artists — dancers, actors, singers and poets. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of wine, a lot of flirty energy. Many had been here before, for one or both of the women's previous performance parties, and some were still talking about what they did with strawberries. So nobody flinched...