Category Archives: Fire Island
Chita Rivera on Fire Island August 19th
Daniel Nardicio Productions and The Ice Palace present
CHITA RIVERA
And Her Longtime Trio!
Celebrating her 70th year in show business,
with special guest LISA MORDENTE.
Do you realize HOW MANY SHOWS she has been in???
Chita’s Theatrical Productions –
Call Me Madam…. Principal Dancer
Guys and Dolls…. Principal Dancer
Can-Can
Shoestring Revue…. Principal Dancer
Seventh Heaven….Fifi
Mr. Wonderful…. Rita Romano
West Side Story…. Anita
Bye Bye Birdie…. Rosie Alvarez
Prisoner of Zenda …. Athena
Bajour…. Anyanka
Flower Drum Song…. Linda Low
The Rose Tattoo Threepenny Opera…. Jenny
Sweet Charity…. Charity Hope Valentine
Zorba the Greek…. Zorba
1491…. Beatriz
Kiss Me Kate
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris… Carousel
Born Yesterday…. Billie Dawn
Chicago…. Velma Kelly
Bring Back Birdie…. Rose Grant
Merlin: The Magical Musical…. The Queen
The Rink…. Anna
Jerry’s Girls….Chita Rivera
Kiss of the Spider Woman…. Aurora
Chita & All That Jazz
Anything Goes…. Reno Sweeney
Casper: The Friendly Musical…. Magdalena Monteverde
Venecia…. La Vieja
House of Bernarda Alba…. Bernarda Alba
Nine the Musical…. Liliane La Fleur
Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life….Chita Rivera
The Mystery of Edwin Drood…. Princess Puffer
The Visit…. Claire Zachanassian
Charles Busch August 12th
FOR most of his adult life, Charles Busch, the playwright, actor and drag artist, has lived in one room near Abingdon Square in the West Village.
“I’ve been on this block for 26 years,” said Mr. Busch, who became legendary in New York in the 1980s for Off Broadway plays like “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” and “Psycho Beach Party,” which he wrote as star vehicles for himself. “My first apartment was around the corner on West 12th Street. When it came time to buy, I only looked at places within a three-block radius. I saw a nice apartment on Fifth Avenue and 11th Street, but it was too far away.”
Now, he has finally traded up by turning his apartment into a duplex. “I persuaded the lady upstairs to leave,” he said ominously, raising an eyebrow in femme fatale fashion. Check out article and renovations HERE.
Invasion of the Pines..Gay New York / Fire Island
Mascara, Mirth & Mayhem is a collection of photographs taken by renowned photographer Susan Kravitz over the past thirty years at the annual LGBTQ event known as the Invasion of the Pines.
The Invasion of the Pines occurs every July 4th and involves participants from the Fire Island communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. It began in 1976, when a member of the Cherry Grove community had been refused service in a Pines’ restaurant because he had been dressed in drag. In protest, a small group of Cherry Grove residents cross-dressed and took a water taxi to the Pines on Independence Day of that year, to stand up against this “height of insult” by “invading” their neighboring community. Four decades later, the Invasion has evolved into a uniquely raucous event that joyfully celebrates human rights and freedom of expression by thousands of people, straight and gay.
Kravitz’s photographs capture the rebelliousness, the high camp, and the joy of the Invasion. They are provocative, introspective, sad and funny, and tinged with sexual innuendo. Yet they also reflect another journey, one that gives insight into the LGBTQ movement itself.
From the fearful, AIDS-ridden years of the 1980s and 1990s, to the joyous years of this decade when LGBTQ people are out and proud (and, if they choose, legally married), these Invasion photographs celebrate a day to be free, to be whoever you want to be, and to be gay.
“My photographs are as much about the times I which they were taken as they are about the people who populate them. Ultimately, they are about human rights and freedom of expression seen through the lens of the Invasion.” said Kravitz of her eighty-eight color and black and white photographs.
Susan Kravitz is a social documentarian of daily life. Over the past thirty years she has exhibited her photographs in galleries and museums in the United States and abroad, including China, South Korea, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Her Cherry Grove photographs were recently featured on the New York Times Lens blog (A Gay Haven on Fire Island) and in the International New York Times, Paris edition.
The book comes out next week! 148 pages, available in softcover or hardcover.
Book is available now on http://www.
Gay New York Resort Cherry Grove gets Historic Recognition
Decades before the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, lesbians
and gay men were living freely and openly in a place called Cherry
Grove.
The seaside resort on Fire Island,
about 60 miles east of Manhattan, was known as far back as the late
1940s as a sanctuary where gay writers, actors and businesspeople from
the city and beyond escaped to relax, hold hands and show affection in
public.
“It’s
probably one of the earliest examples of don’t ask, don’t tell,” Carl
Luss said after learning in June that the Cherry Grove Community House
and Theater, opened in 1948, added to the National Register of Historic
Places. The theater was cited for being the oldest continuously
operating gay and lesbian theater in the United States.
“The message is, we have arrived, finally,” said Diane Romano, president of the Cherry Grove Community Association.
READ MORE
New York Clamps Down on Nude Sun Bathing
NO MORE NUDITY on Fire Island beaches??
Well yes, and no.
A decades-long tradition of nude
sunbathing on Fire Island beaches is coming to an end this summer: Fire
Island National Seashore authorities have announced plans to enforce
long-standing laws banning the practice…
…Koschmann also said some social media sites carry invitations to meet for public sex on the beach.
The fact that public nudity is illegal in
New York was another compelling reason to change the policy, since FINS
maintains joint jurisdiction with the state, she said. The ban also
will be enforced at four other Fire Island beaches where nude sunbathing
is known to take place — including the tract of land in front of
Sailors Haven, from Point O’ Woods to Cherry Grove.
UPDATE – According to NEXT Magazine,
Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove not affected by National Parks public nudity ban.
“Community beaches—including those in front of the Pines and Cherry Grove—will not be affected by this.” READ MORE AT NEXT
Fire Island HALF SHARE show to Benefit Ali Forney Center
Try to imagine The Golden Girls summering on Fantasy Island if it were run by Patsy & Edina! Then watch it for free! Half-Share is a 30-minute sitcom shot on location in Fire Island Pines featuring an all-star cast of fabulous gay comics including Alec Mapa, Jack Plotnick, Jesse Archer and Sam Pancake!
Hot on the heels of film festival success spanning three continents, Half-Share will debut its FREE worldwide streaming premiere at 10pm EST/7pm PST on Tuesday November 20th at www.half-share.com & Ustream.tv/channel/half-share.
GET A SNEAK PEAK NOW!!
Through December 31st, 50% of all net profits on DVD and Amazon Instant Video sales will be donated to the Ali Forney Center in NYC
which provides homeless LGBT youth with shelter, food, and counseling.
Sandy left their offices underwater and they are in desperate need of
donations to continue their important work (Aliforneycenter.org).
New Yorks Fire Island Pines Recovering
Fire Island Pines Recovering from Hurricane Sandy
FIRE ISLAND PINES, New York (November 06, 2012) – FIP Ventures, which
owns and operates 80% of the commercial properties at Fire Island
Pines, is pleased to report that The Pines weathered Hurricane Sandy
well, and that The Pines has already made good progress recovering in
the wake of the storm.
While parts of Fire Island suffered devastating damage, the Fire Island
Pines Property Owners’ Association (FIPPOA) reports that The Pines
experienced the least damage of any Fire Island community. FIPPOA
reports that no one was hurt, no homes were destroyed, and that any
damage is repairable this winter. Additionally, FIP Ventures notes that
the properties it operates are located on the harbor side of The Pines,
which experienced less of Sandy’s force than the beachfront houses on
the ocean side of the island.
FIP Ventures operates the Blue Whale restaurant, Hotel Ciel, and
Canteen cafe. It is also rebuilding the Pavilion dance club, which was
lost by fire less than a year ago. The Blue Whale and Hotel Ciel
suffered some wind damage, and there was flooding at FIP Ventures’ staff
house, but all indications are that any needed repairs will be able to
be made in the near future.
Construction on the new Pavilion should resume as well, after initial
clean-up and when local authorities allow contractors access to the
island again. FIP Ventures secured construction permits for the building
earlier this year, and the Pavilion’s foundation and septic system were
completed before the storm arrived.
As seen on the special website set up by FIPPOA, the community has
already organized itself to keep Pines residents informed and streamline
communications related to recovery. More information can be found at
their website: http://sites.google.com/site/
The Pines’ water and cell phone service have been restored, LIPA is
working to bring back electricity, and ferry service may return as soon
as this weekend. Local agencies are enacting measures to expedite
permitting for repairs. In short, Fire Island Pines withstood the storm
relatively intact, repairs will continue this winter, and The Pines will
be strong and vibrant once again this Spring.
Matthew Blesso, CEO and Founder of Blesso Properties and Operating
Partner of FIP Ventures, notes: “Hurricane Sandy’s severity was
unprecedented, at least in recent history, and with it came
unprecedented damage across the island and throughout The Pines. We will
continue to assess damage to our properties, but expect to address any
necessary repairs in the coming weeks and to resume construction of the
new Pavilion very soon and be open for this summer.”
On the community spirit at The Pines, Blesso adds: “Fire Island Pines
unites and stands strong in times of crisis. Time and again, we have
witnessed this community’s extraordinary resilience. We have no doubt
that The Pines will bounce back from this setback, clean up, rebuild,
and be ready to welcome back its residents and visitors in no time at
all.”
Contact:
Constantino Papadakis
General Manager, FIP Ventures:
constantino@
WWW.THEPINESFIREISLAND.COM
Little House on the Ferry – Musical About Fire Island
Announcing The New Off Broadway Show ‘Little House on the Ferry’: A modern gay love story set in the weekend holiday resort of Fire Island, New York. Eleven original songs, a cast of New York’s twelve most exciting new musical theatre actors, spectacular costumes, ground-breaking multi-media effects and cameos by some of New City’s notorious LGBT community members. This show is about a group of friends in a Fire Island share house over a summer weekend. The story centers around Randall who is reluctantly in an “open” relationship with his older boyfriend Timothy. Randall goes to ‘Tea’, (or happy hour), where he meets Jake; a younger, good-looking romantic who falls in love at first sight with Randall. Randall must ultimately decide between staying with Timothy or taking a chance and going with Jake. Also in the Share House, adding diversity and trouble, are Donnie, the “House Mom”, Bobby, a large muscle boy lusted after by weekend guest Antonio, who is willingly tempted by all the island has to offer. Auditions: The Company is also looking for male Non-Equity actors, singers and dancers with strong physique and character. All ages welcomed. Those interested can submit a resume and headshot to info@littlehouseontheferry.com
Off Broadway 3 Week Run: November 3rd until November 20th…. American Theatre of Actors Chernuchin Theatre. 314 W. 54th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenue). The eighty minute show runs at Wednesdays & Thursday 7pm , Fridays & Saturdays at 7pm & 9pm and Sundays at 3pm – November 20th the Sunday show is at 7pm. TICKETS ON SALE NOW.
Free Song! Go to Littlehouseontheferry.com/song and download the new theme song: “We’re On (Clap Clap) Fire Island”.
Jesse Archer Has Fire Island Web Series in the Works
What better place for a gay comedy series?!
Jesse Archer and Sean Hanley.
Fire Island Pines is where the sun meets the sand—free of hesitation, oppression, or explanation! It’s the fantasy every gay man dreamed of as a child—The Island of Misfit Boys!
Check your inhibitions on the mainland and hop aboard the fairy ferry to a land where carefree men frolic in the skimpiest fashions as if the stuffy outside world didn’t exist. Stroll exclusive boardwalks where the flip-flops are fierce and the only thing stronger than the golden Adonis-like men are the cocktails at Low Tea!
Take a peek into the lives of one summer house in Half-Share. Sometimes debaucherous, usually randy, and always outrageous… When you share a house on Fire Island with six gay men, anything can happen. And often does!
We live in the Web 3.0 world, where anything is possible.
Video may have killed the radio star, but the internet is definitely reviving the careers of the TV star! When Lisa Kudrow (Friends) was unable to get the roles she wanted, she decided to co-produce the original Internet comedy Web Therapy. After three successful online seasons, Showtime was so impressed they bought it for their lineup. Similarly, the TV hospital spoof Childrens Hospital (Rob Corddry—Hot Tub Time Machine), was launched as a web-series and just made its network premiere after being snapped up by the Cartoon Network.
Today, content creators are easily able to distribute through many avenues: DVD (compilations in this case), Video On Demand, iTunes, YouTube, Netflix, and future revenue generating outlets of online streaming. Apple has iTunes and Apple TV, Microsoft has built Windows Media Center into virtually every copy of Windows 7, Google TV is on the horizon, and all of Google’s increasingly popular Android phones come with the YouTube app pre-installed.
HALF SHARE is utilizing all of these tactics, in addition to taking advantage of new media technology (when it is released) to ensure that Half-Share becomes the kind of success detailed in the examples above.
More details soon! Check out Jesse’s blog for more info~!
MEANWHILE grab Violet Tendencies
on DVD coming in May!
Written by Jesse Archer and Directed by Casper Andreas.
At 40, Violet is the racy, fun-loving belle of the ball. She spends her nights as royalty, but when the party ends, she always heads home alone. While her co-worker Riley struggles with his boyfriend Markus going baby-crazy, and her roommate Luke tackles monogo-mania, Violet’s romantic life is one big bellyflop.
Chasing love and lust at all costs, she may find them in the most unlikely of places.land a straight boyfriend.
A film festival favorite and rated 4 out 5 by many! This is a must-see if you haven’t already.
Daniel Nardicios Spring Training Banging Beach Body Club March 3rd
Do you LOVE porn pup Lucky Daniels?
Are you a big fan of jocks?
We have the perfect event for you –
A “Spring Training” event at Boxers Sportsbar. Now, we know that Sportsbars are usually the kind of place that breaks you out in hives, but at Daniel Nardicios Spring Training’s Banging Beach Body Club, you get weighed in and win prizes if you make your goals each week before Fire Island!
Daniel says, “Track your progress week to week getting ready for Summer, all the while watching the insanely hot jock Lucky Daniel’s on the bar in a jockstrap, plus my newest find Adam joins him!
If you meet your goals, you can win a two night stay on Fire Island this Summer at the legendary Belvedere Guest House , Gym memberships, free shots, Playgirl Magazines and more!”
WHEN? Thursday March 3rd
37 West 20th Street
10-2am- get ready- we’re getting real jocky!
Best Gay New York.com
Wanda Sykes Escapes to Fire Island
After playing the White House, welcoming twins and premiering her own late-night talk show, outspoken lesbian Comedian Wanda Sykes needed an escape. JC Alvarez of NEXT catches up with an old friend on Cherry Grove recently.
It seems ever since Prop 8 and Wanda coming “OUT”, she is now even more famous in the gay community.
Sykes has whole-heartedly embraced being a role model in the gay community. She and Alex understand the importance of being a visibly gay couple. “The more people see us,” Sykes says, “the more they can put a face to someone who is gay. I look at Constance McMillen [the Mississippi teen not allowed to bring her girlfriend to the prom] She’s a strong girl. She had some nasty things said about her. It makes you think about those kids at the lunch counter during the civil rights movement.” The historical parallels are an uncanny reminder to her. “It’s my obligation [to be visible].”
Read more at NEXT
The Stonewall Swim August 21st
On August 21,
fifty (50) LGBT athletes
will take a daring plunge into
the Great South Bay.
They will swim from Sayville to the Fire Island Pines (approximately 3.5 miles!) to raise money for the Stonewall Community Foundation . These disciplined athletes have been training for months and your support is needed!
Stonewall was begun as a collection of advised-funds and endowments by like-minded donors concerned about creating a vibrant and healthy lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Today, Stonewall is a full service community foundation seeking the participation of everyone interested in bettering our community.
Since 1990, the foundation has distributed more than $14 million in grants. Grantmaking from Stonewall’s general fund concentrates on the needs of organizations in the five boroughs of New York, while Donor-advised funds support a variety of organizations locally and throughout the country.
Stonewall supporters envision a community of shared resources where donors, funders and organizations work together, joined by a commitment to strengthen one another. Stonewall is dedicated to increasing charitable giving within the community today while building a strong endowment for tomorrow.
CHARLIE FINLAY is a newly elected board member –
He says, “My role will not be as a swimmer this year (I will be kayaking across the bay with a team to monitor the swimmers). I have committed to raising $2,500 for this event, and I ask that you please help me reach my fundraising goal by sponsoring me — just follow these 5 simple steps:
1. Go to: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/shopping_cart/merchandise.cfm?c=1535
2. Click “Add to Cart” in the “Sponsor a Fundraiser” line (second to last item)
3. Choose my name CHARLIE FINLAY from the “Fundraiser” drop-down menu (very important!)
4. Enter the amount of your donation, then click “Proceed to Checkout”
5. Enter your contact information, followed by credit card information, and click “Submit.”
PLEASE HELP THIS GREAT CAUSE!
Does Fire Island Make Me Look Fat?
Limited editiion FIRE ISLAND T-shirts!
Artistic director and creative writer
Jeff Greenspan made these for fun.
Heavily populated by gym-manicured gay men, Fire Island probably has a total of 2% body fat. So the shirts, DOE’S THIS ISLAND MAKE ME LOOK FAT? are very funny!
“I made these shirts to sell there on my own, I made them just for fun, not to become rich. They are American Apparel and $20. I printed a couple dozen, and just have a few left. If anyone is interested in grabbing one, contact me thru Facebook – I’d deliver them to the buyers in Fire Island myself.”
New York Promoter Marc Berkley Dead at 57
NEW YORK CITY
mourns the passing
of Marc Berkley.
JOE MY GOD
reports Berkley had a heart attack .
He was 57. Berkley was the co-founder of HX Media, the now-defunct gay publishing company that owned the popular nightlife guide HX Magazine and the LGBT news title The New York Blade.
Berkley was a tireless promoter of all-night dance parties, gay culture, and, well, Marc Berkley — always knows where his thrill-seeking crowd wanted to be.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE profiled the famed promoter in 2001 . He talked candidly about his fight with drugs, his magazine projects and his “war” with Giuliani. “We’re living in Nazi Germany done by Disney right now.”
Over the years, Berkley’s served on his community board, coordinated Heritage of Prides nineteenth and twentieth anniversaries, and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to gay charities.
He may be gone, but not forgotten…..
There is a New King (Queen?) on Fire Island – Seth Jordan Weissman
NEXT Magazine broke the story first, that Von Kuersteiner and his business partner Tony Roncalli—whose empire includes two bars, a restaurant, a dance club, a small gym, a grocery store, a clothing store, a construction business, a freight business, the community’s dock, and the only hotel in town—has sold most of their properties to Seth Weissman, a young kid who no one knows anything about other than that he is from a rich family and is connected to the Hamptons and that he is an analyst at hedge fund Perry Capital who lives in Gramercy Park.
The deal—which is set to close next week—is reportedly $18 million for everything but the dock and freight companies.
GAWKER reports…Von Kuersteiner and Roncalli rescued the small resort five years ago since it had fallen into disrepair, but their business practices—especially von Kuersteiner’s, always the more public of the two—were often called into question. Since the town is so small and they were one of only three business owners, they often exercised their monopoly. They opened a grocery store to compete with the only other place to buy food—a small, family-owned store that had been there for decades. They had an acrimonious relationship with many of the local home owners and other business because they controlled the dock which means they controlled access to the island. Anything they asked for—or more often, demanded—they got.
Von Kuersteiner and Co especially had hard feelings for the neighboring gay community, Cherry Grove, and used their dock access to stop boats from taking visitors from one village to the next, and for anyone who has drunkenly stumbled through the Meat Rack—the dense forest between the two towns—at 3am, not having a boat to bring you to and fro is more than enough to keep you partying closer to your summer share and putting cash into Von Kuersteiner and Roncalli’s pockets. They also reportedly demanded that the army of young pretty boys they hired to staff all their properties were forbidden from hanging out in the Grove, even on their nights off.
Rumors are flying left and right he’s changing everything, he’s not changing a thing, this is great, this is horrible, blah, blah, blah, talk amongst yourselves. The summer season is still a few months away!
