Category Archives: Theatre and Entertainment
Broadway Bares Raises $1.8 MILLION
Sexy seamen were ready to sink Battleships, frolicsome friends played “Striptionary,” and a rambunctious round of flashlight tag involved the entire audience during the steamy evening of sensational stripteases at Broadway Bares: Game Night.
This year’s record-breaking edition of the annual spectacular raised $1,875,090 with two standing-room-only performances at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom.
Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Game Night gave your ordinary night out a tantalizing twist with striptease production numbers inspired by beloved board, video, and arcade games.
Check out more photos on Gay Cities
“ANGELS IN AMERICA” Establishes Angel Fund
Producers Tim Levy (Director, NT America) and Jordan Roth (President, Jujamcyn Theaters) announced today that the Olivier Award®-winning National Theatre revival of Tony Kushner’s masterwork, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, has established the “Angels Fund” to provide hundreds of $5 tickets to each part of the play to NYC-area LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Some of the organizations that have received these specially-priced tickets include: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), SAGE, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and The LGBTQ Center.
The Angels Fund is supported by Howard Gilman Foundation and SHS Foundation with additional support from Debby Landesman, Barbara Whitman/Purple Plume Foundation, Daryl & Steven Roth & Elizabeth Armstrong.
“Everyone should have the opportunity to experience art as important, topical, and challenging as Angels in America – especially people like the clients and staff of GMHC, the world’s first AIDS service organization, who may not otherwise get the chance,” said Gay Men’s Health Crisis CEO Kelsey Louie. “Thanks to the Angels Fund and the National Theatre, many of our clients and staff will be able to see the production.”
“This season’s revival of Angels in America is much more than revisiting Tony Kushner’s brilliant plays with a spectacular cast,” said BC/EFA Executive Director, Tom Viola. “It is a deep dive into how we find the courage, outrage and love to survive, even thrive in the midst of any calamity. Angels in America is a searing reflection of how we dare to love each other, as our best, worst and most exhilarating selves. I thank the producers for sharing that mirror with Broadway Cares, our staff and volunteers. We are blessed and ripped open by the experience.”
Angels in America producer Tim Levy said: “We wanted to make sure that individuals who are most directly connected to the content of the show, but who couldn’t afford full-priced tickets, had the opportunity to see it at an affordable price. We wanted to be able to share ‘The Great Work’ with those in the community who are actually doing The Great Work.”
Angels in America, which was nominated for a record-breaking 11 Tony Awards® will play its limited engagement through Sunday, July 15, 2018. The show began previews on February 23, and opened to ecstatic reviews on March 25 at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).
Angels in America is directed by two-time Tony Award® winner Marianne Elliott, and stars Academy Award® and Tony Award nominee Andrew Garfield and two-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, and also features Susan Brown, Denise Gough, Amanda Lawrence, James McArdle, Lee Pace, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Beth Malone, Patrick Andrews, Glynis Bell, Amy Blackman,Curt James, Rowan Ian Seamus Magee, Mark Nelson, Matty Oaks, Genesis Oliver, Jane Pfitsch, Lee Aaron Rosen, Ron Todorowski, Silvia Vrskova, and Lucy York.
When it first premiered, Angels in America won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play. HBO’s 2003 screen adaptation won both the Emmy® and the Golden Globe® Awards for Best Miniseries.
The design team includes Tony Award winner Ian MacNeil (Scenic Design), Tony Award nominee Nicky Gillibrand (Costume Design), Tony Award winner Paule Constable (Lighting Design), Drama Desk Award winner Adrian Sutton (Music), Tony Award nominee Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound Ltd. (Sound Design), Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell (Puppetry Designers), Finn Caldwell(Puppetry Director and Movement), Robby Graham (Original Movement), Chris Fisher (Illusions), Steven Hoggett (Movement Consultant). Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA.
Angels in America is produced by Tim Levy for NT America, Jordan Roth, Rufus Norris & Lisa Burger for the National Theatre, Elliott & Harper Productions, Kash Bennett for NT Productions,Aged in Wood, Baruch-Viertel-Routh-Frankel Group, Jane Bergère, Adam Blanshay Productions, CatWenJam Productions, Jean Doumanian, Gilad-Rogowsky, Gold-Ross Productions, The John Gore Organization, Grove Entertainment, Harris Rubin Productions, HornosMoellenberg, Brian & Dayna Lee, Benjamin Lowy, Stephanie P. McClelland, David Mirvish, Mark Pigott,Jon B. Platt, E. Price-LD ENT., Daryl Roth, Catherine Schreiber, Barbara Whitman, Jujamcyn Theaters, The Nederlander Organization, and The Shubert Organization.
Angels in America is a two-part performance — Part One, Millennium Approaches and Part Two, Perestroika.
For a complete list of performances (including the final two weeks), please visit, www.angelsbroadway.com. Tickets ($99 – $318) of Angels in America are available at Ticketmaster.com, by calling 877.250.2929, or in person at The Neil Simon Theatre box office (250 West 52nd Street).
Susan Brown, Denise Gough, Amanda Lawrence, James McArdle, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett are appearing with the support of Actors’ Equity Association. The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance of this production
www.angelsbroadway.com
www.instagram.com/angelsbway
www.omdkc.com
Broadway Cares holiday CD
Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Hamilton, Waitress and A Bronx Tale.
The Christmas season is in full show tune swing now that the 19th volume of Broadway’s Carols for a Cure has arrived. The latest compilation from the beloved series continues Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ tradition of pairing the casts from award-winning Broadway musicals with seasonal songs that are both classic and new. Once again, the result is pure magic and is sure to help make the 2017 holiday season shine brighter than ever before.
“These are all new, original recordings, creatively arranged and performed by the incredibly talented performers and musicians from the 2017 Broadway season,” explains producer Lynn Pinto who, once again, collaborates with engineer Andros Rodriguez on the album. Pinto allows each company a great deal of freedom in choosing the material and the style of the arrangement. She adds, “We record the musicians and singers in layers, utilizing isolation booths for a higher quality recording. It gives the album a unique sound from most cast albums and allows us to showcase some of the best voices and instrumentalists in the world.”
The first Broadway’s Carols for a Cure album debuted in 1999, making this year’s album the 19th in the annual series. Fans of Broadway will be overjoyed to hear recordings from Tony Award winning casts of Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Come From Away and many more:
Highlights are copious but include Billy Porter and the cast of Kinky Boots singing an all-new, rockin’ version of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and the cast of A Bronx Tale performing “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” in a New Yawker-style that will have listeners humming for days.Additionally, Meghan Toohey (Sara Barielles’ long-time guitarist) serves up a lovely 1960s-style original song, “Wonder What You Got For Me,” featuring the talented Anastacia McCleskey and the rest of the company and band from Waitress; and Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the composer/lyricist team behind Anastasia perform their original carol, “All Those Christmas Cliches,” along with their award-winning cast.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals with serious illnesses including AIDS receive the health care and support they need. In addition, they provide financial support in the form of grants to AIDS and family service organizations throughout the country.
“The 19th volume of Broadway’s Carols for a Cure is the best yet,” promises Lynn Pinto. “It exudes such warmth, like a cozy blanket on a snowy Winter’s day.”
The 2-CD set is in the web store at BroadwayCares.org or by calling Broadway Cares at 212-840-0770.
Rick Skye as Liza! Nov. 25th
RICK SKYE STARS AS LIZA MINNELLI
IN
DON’T TELL MAMA’S NEW HIT SHOW
BAZAZZ!
A SEQUINED VARIETY
Saturday, November 25th
Rick Skye, who won the 2017 MAC Award for “Best Impersonation,” opened Don’t Tell Mama’s new monthly variety show Bazaaz! A Sequined Variety last month to a sold-out audience and the media is buzzing. In New York magazine said, “There’s a new sequined variety show in town that is a must see!”
The show features Skye’s heralded impersonation as Liza Minnelli singing in his own voice and showcases award-winning impersonations, guest performers and Skye’s Kit Kat Boyz. Bazaaz! A Sequined Variety will next play on Saturday, November 25th at 8:00PM.
Liz Smith said, “Save your Saturday nights every month, from now on. Why? Because down at New York’s famous Don’t Tell Mama cabaret,Rick Skye is the host with the most at Bazazz! A Sequined Variety. Skye’s impersonation of Minnelli is sensitive, boisterous and moving although ’impersonation’ is too banal a word for his affectionate, on-target work.”
Skye is well-known in London and New York for having written and performed in a series of outrageously comic, award-winning shows including The Flip Side of Neil Sedaka, which earned him a Bistro Award, A Slice O’Minnelli and The War of the Mama Roses. His show Its Madame with an E! played Atlantic City and Las Vegas and brought him to television where he appeared on Watch What Happens, Live! With Andy Cohen and Celebrity Apprentice as well as Fox & Friends and the WB. His most recent success was Judy and Liza Together Again which closed after an unprecedented seven-year run at Don’t Tell Mama’s and garnered two MAC Awards.
He has performed in many shows as Liza Minnelli in a number of hit shows that played internationally. He co-starred with Steven Brinberg in the London production of Barbra and Liza LIVE! which played the Dublin Gay Theater Festival and he toured with Liza LIVE! playing the New Players Theater in London and many spots in England. A Slice O’ Minnelli enjoyed successful seasons at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, The Dublin and Edinburgh Festivals, and from cities New York to Chicago. Critics called Skye “Masterful…Astonishing…
Skye’s special guests in November’s Bazaaz! A Sequined Variety will include Steven Brinberg as Barbra Streisand and entertainer Sidney Myer. Cabaret favorite Rick Ritzel is the evening’s Musical Director.
Bazaaz! A Sequined Variety will also play on:
Friday, December 29 – Guest stars TBA
Sunday, December 31 – Guest stars TBA
Don’t Tell Mama’s is located at 343 West 46th Street in New York City. There is a $20.00 Cover/2 Drink Minimum (Cash only). Reservations can be made at www.donttellmamanyc.com.
Torch Song with Michael Urie
Michael Urie takes on Harvey Fierstein’s epic play
Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song was originally written as a trilogy of three plays, but is now more commonly performed as one play in three acts. Centering around a gay Jewish drag performance artist and torch singer as he searches for love, purpose, and family, this epic, four-hour work focuses on three different periods in Arnold’s turbulent life. Dealing with heartbreak, bigotry from close quarters and raising a family, this touching drama first premiered in 1978, Off-Off Broadway. Torch Song will be helmed by Moises Kaufman and star Michael Urie, the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and LA Critics Award winning actor of Buyer & Cellar.
An iconic play returns to New York
Fierstein’s drama arrived on Broadway in 1982, winning two Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play (Fierstein) running for an epic 1,222 performances, before being adapted for the silver screen in 1988, also starring Fierstein, Matthew Broderick and Anne Bancroft, and directed by Paul Bogart. – As a young boy seeing this in 1982, I was awestruck and emotionally moved! And to see it with Matthew Broderick and Estelle Getty! What a cast!
Michael Urie first came to international prominence in the hit TV show Ugly Betty, and has since appeared as an immature NSA contractor on The Good Wife. On stage, he is most well-known for his one-man led show Buyer and Cellar, which premiered Off- 2013 to rapturous reviews, winning the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. Urie’s performance was universally praised for playing multiple roles in the show, including Barbra Streisand! Now he is set to take on the role that Fierstein wrote and originated himself.
More info at 2ndStage
Cher Show Heading to Broadway
NY TIMES reports –
It’s official – the new musical using Cher’s songs to tell her story — with three actresses playing different aspects of her life — is heading for Broadway 2018.
“The Cher Show” will play first in Chicago, beginning performances June 12 at the Oriental Theater and running for five weeks. It will then transfer to the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, opening next fall, the producers, Flody Suarez and Jeffrey Seller, said Thursday.
“We have been discussing this musical for 10 years,” Cher, a pop star and Academy Award-winning actress, said in a statement. “It’s exciting and scary.”
The musical has an unusual approach — it will be structured like a variety show, nodding to “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” which helped propel her to celebrity in the 1970s. The show currently features all or part of 35 to 40 of Cher’s best known songs.
“The Cher Show” is one of many jukebox biomusicals now in development, including “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” also featuring three actresses playing the title role, which is scheduled to run this fall at La Jolla Playhouse in California; “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations,” now playing at Berkeley Repertory Theater in California; and “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” which is scheduled to open in London next spring.
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.
BROADWAY sings for PRIDE
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Tyler Clementi Foundation
The Tyler Clementi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to end online and offline bullying, harassment, and humiliation.
Broadway Bares 2017 Highlights
THIS YEARS 27th edition of Broadway Bares pulled in a whopping $1,568,114 in two performances at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
This year’s Broadway Bares stripped away the fears of freshmen and saluted seniors as a journey across the Strip U campus took us to a seductive observatory, exploding chemistry lab, flirty fine arts class, frat party-turned-Greek god fantasy, a lesson in stiletto strutting and Havana, Cuba, for a sizzling semester studying abroad.
Two-time Tony Award nominee and seven-time Emmy winner Allison Janney started the show with a video invitation as Strip U’s president, offering sexy salutations, a campus history and words of wisdom: “Our motto reminds us of our core values every day: Honorem, Integritas, Nuditas, Erectus.”
Internet personality Randy Rainbow and On Your Feet’s Ana Villafañe made special guest appearances as a psychology professor and a foreign exchange student.
In the finale, Instagram sensation Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), playing a pesky Department of Education auditor who appeared throughout the show, finally saw the Strip U way and offered the university full federal funding. The entire cast of more than 180 dancers flooded the stage, providing an electrifying finale to the show.
Tony-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who created Broadway Bares in 1992 and serves as executive producer, and Tony winner Judith Light thanked the audience at the show’s close. “We must take the power of our diverse communities and dedicate our energies to the importance of taking care of ourselves and each other,” Light said. Light and Mitchell also reminded the audience: “Safe sex is hot sex. We can best love each other by protecting each other.”
WATCH the video highlights HERE
Bette Midler Wins TONY Award
CONGRATS TO BETTE!
Great speech and she took time to honor Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey, it’s and class!
She shuts down the orchestra!
See Glenn Close present Bette Midler with the Tony Award for Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role In A Musical for her work in Hello, Dolly! WATCH.
CHER on Broadway 2018
A musical based on Cher’s life is slated to debut on Broadway in 2018. The singer confirmed the news on Tuesday night on her Twitter account.
“Just got off phone w/Writer & Director of musical,” Cher wrote. “There will [be] performance in theatre with actors, dancers, singers!! It’ll be on Broadway 2018.”
News of a possible musical production tracing Cher’s life – and using Cher’s extensive catalog of pop hits – surfaced in January, when the singer attended a read-through of the production. According to The New York Post, Jason Moore, known for Pitch Perfect, will direct. Rick Elice, of Jersey Boys, penned the musical. Three different actresses will portray Cher at various points in her life. At the read-through, one of the actresses was Tony Award-winner Lena Hall.
After Cher attended the event in January, she tweeted her support for the project. “Just walked [off] the musical,” she wrote. “I SOBBED & LAUGHED & I WAS PREPARED NOT 2 LIKE IT. AUDIENCE CLAPPED AFTER SONGS & GAVE IT STANDING OVATION.”
Earlier this year, the singer accepted the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards. “I’ve wanted to do what I do since I was four years-old,” she said during her speech. “And I’ve been doing it for 53 years … I’m 71 yesterday. And I can do a five-minute plank, ok? Just saying.”
Gay Porn Star Off Broadway
Gay adult film star Chris Harder bares all in a behind-the-scenes and between the sheets solo directed by David Drake.
May 27 – June 15 at Laurie Beechman Theatre
Chris Harder will present the World Premiere of his behind-the-scenes tell-all #BigBrightStar at The Laurie Beechman Theater inside West Bank Cafe (at 407 West 42nd Street — at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street). Directed by Obie Award winner David Drake, performances are Saturday, May 27 at 7pm and Thursdays, June 1- 15 at 7pm. Tickets are $22 plus a $20 food/drink minimum. A $35 VIP ticket that includes reserved seating, a gift bag and a meet-and-greet are also available. To purchase tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
In #BigBrightStar “professionaly naked” Chris Harder is so #grateful you’re coming to his one man show, because after all, he is a really famous gay adult film star… right? Using theater, burlesque, and like, so many #instagood emojis, Harder relives the defining moments and illustrates the real-life people that have shaped his career. But as he delves further between the sheets, Harder may just discover that a life on camera is ironically, “harder” than he thought. Trust, you’ll never tweet #OMFG the same way again.
Chris Harder is a NYC burlesque performer, writer, and yes, an “adult film star.” Harder has traveled the US and the world with his beefcake burlesque shows, including headlining the 2017 Helsinki Burlesque Festival as well as performances in New Zealand, Vienna, London and… Fargo, North Dakota. Harder is also the writer and creator of the “Nasty Drew and That Harder Boy Series,” a burlesque/drag parody of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels running at The Laurie Beechman Theater. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @HarderBurlesque and Google him at your own risk! www.HarderBurlesque.com.
David Drake is an actor-writer-director best known as the Obie Award-winning playwright/performer of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, one of the longest-running solo shows in Off-Broadway history. David also starred in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (succeeding Charles Busch for 856 performances), originated the role of “Miss Deep South” in the hit Pageant, as well as co-starring with Jim J. Bullock in End of the World Party at the 47th St. Theater, and with B.D. Wong in A Language of Their Own at The Public. His TV credits: The Good Wife, Law & Order, The Beat, NY Undercover. Feature films: Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, as well as It’s Pat, Naked in New York, David Searching, Bear City, Longtime Companion, and his own adaptation of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me. As a stage director, David has twice been a Directing Fellow at the Sundance Theater Lab, and has directed new works at The Public’s Under the Radar Festival, Joe’s Pub, and Rattlestick, among others. Most notably, Drake director of the 2009 world premiere of Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge, which made the “10 Best Lists” in The New Yorker, NY Post, The Advocate, Paper Magazine, and won a 2010 Village Voice Obie Award.
Broadway Bares STRIP U
More than 150 of New York’s hottest dancers will be hitting the books ― figuratively, at least ― this June, but the lessons they’ll impart are decidedly not for kids.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS officials whetted fans’ appetites for “Broadway Bares: Strip U” this week with some steamy photos and a behind-the-scenes video. The 27th installment of the wildly popular Broadway-meets-burlesque fundraiser will feature a collegiate theme, and its chiseled cast will “school” audiences with steamy art, math and sport-themed dance numbers. This year’s show will hit New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom June 18 and will be directed by Nick Kenkel, whose Broadway credits include “Catch Me If You Can,” “Evita” and “The Wedding Singer.”
“Class will be in session this summer at the only college campus where clothing is optional and bodacious burlesque is always in the curriculum,” officials wrote in a press release, before promising “a science lab exploding with sizzling chemistry or sculpted studs exhibiting model behavior in art class.”
Created in 1992 by Tony-winning “Kinky Boots” director Jerry Mitchell, the event has raised more than $15.8 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a nonprofit group dedicated to AIDS-related causes across the U.S. Previous installments of the show have ranged from 2012’s fairy tale-themed “Happy Endings” to 2016’s tech-driven fantasy “On Demand.”
GET TICKETS AND Read more about “Broadway Bares: Strip U” here.
EVERYONE IS RAVING! The View Upstairs
The View UpStairs “TAKES YOUR BREATH AWAY!” (Time Out New York).
This provocative new musical pulls you inside the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant ’70s gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The forgotten community comes to life when a young fashion designer from 2017 buys the abandoned space, setting off an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration that Entertainment Weekly calls “a moving homage to LGBT culture, past and present.”
Filled with “beautiful love songs performed by a soulful ensemble cast” (The New Yorker), it’s “an eye-popping roller coaster for the visual senses” with “a jambalaya of sexed-up tunes! Sung by an outstanding cast, The View UpStairs has all of the ingredients for an iconic cult phenomenon!”
EVERYONE IS RAVING ABOUT THIS SHOW!
Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, no intermission
Harvey Fierstein in gently Down the Stream
THIS IS SOOOOOO EXCITING!!!!!!
Gabriel Ebert will join fellow Tony winner Harvey Fierstein in the world premiere of Martin Sherman’s Gently Down the Stream at the Public Theater.
The off-Broadway production will begin performances on March 14, 2017 and run through April 23 (instead of the previously announced April 16).
Sean Mathias directs the staging, which is set to open on April 5.
The cast will also include off-Broadway alum Christopher Sears.
SYNOPSIS: Beau, a pianist expat living in London meets Rufus, an eccentric young lawyer, at the dawn of the internet dating revolution. After a life spent recovering from the disappointment and hurt of loving men in a world that refused to allow it, Beau is determined to keep his expectations low with Rufus.
But Rufus comes from a new generation of gay men who believe happiness is as much their right as anyone else’s, and what Beau assumed would be just another fling grows into one of the most surprising and defining relationships of his life. A remarkably moving, brilliantly funny love story, Gently Down the Stream reflects the triumphs and heartbreaks of the entire length of the gay rights movement, celebrating and mourning the ghosts of the men and women who led the way for equality, marriage and the right to dream.
You Need to Know Your Gay History—Says Harvey Fierstein
The Tony winner unearths the emotional past of the gay rights movement in Gently Down the Stream.
“You’re going to put in the work either way, whatever you do,” he says. “You’re still dedicating this amount of hours, this amount of time, and pieces of your life and your energy. Why do something that’s trivial garbage when you can do something that has higher aims?”
Fierstein has been telling gay stories onstage for more than 30 years, and has long been a vocal defender of LGBT rights. It seems only fitting that he would feel drawn to this play, which depicts key moments and icons of the gay rights movement. “It’s really important,” says the actor. “Gay history got washed out and washed over, but unless you know who you were, you can’t know where you’re going.”
What Fierstein relishes about playing Beau is the ways in which the character has been shaped by his history and his era. “He survived through these periods—[but that] he didn’t come through it whole is what I think I love most about him,” says Fierstein.
“He talks about himself as somebody who walks around with excess scar tissue. I like to think that I too have excess scar tissue, but I’d like to think that I’ve recovered more. And that’s what makes him fascinating to play. You don’t want to play yourself. You don’t have to get a script to do that.” Because for Fierstein, there’s just no interest if the work is too easy.
Director: Sean Mathias
Starring: Harvey Fierstein, Gabriel Ebert, Christopher Sears
Show Times: Tuesday – Friday @7:30pm; Saturday – Sunday @1:30pm and 7:30pm
Tickets from $50 publictheater.com Playwright: Martin Sherman
Michael Urie in Torch Song Revival
Second Stage Theatre has announced that it will stage a 35th anniversary production of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy this fall starring Buyer & Cellar’s Michael Urie as Arnold Beckoff.
Fierstein has provided director Moisés Kaufman with a newly edited text; the revival will be titled simply Torch Song.
“It’s 1979 in New York City and Arnold Beckoff is on a quest for love, purpose and family,“ read 2ST production notes. “He’s fierce in drag and fearless in crisis, and he won’t stop until he achieves the life he desires as a doting husband and a Jewish mother. Now, Arnold is back…and he’s here to sing you a torch song. The Tony-winning play that forever changed the trajectory of Broadway returns for a new generation.“
“’Thirty-five years?’ I thought, ‘It’s time!’ I’m thrilled that Second Stage Theatre will be reviving Torch Song Trilogy next season,” commented Fierstein in a press statement. “In conversation, I’ve been encouraging director Moisés Kaufman to look at the play with fresh eyes. I would never think of rewriting the plays but have given him a newly edited text that re-conceives the way I want the story told. Theatre is a living breathing entity and so are audiences. Even the most faithful stage recreations are tinted by the moment in which they are experienced. I’ve asked [2ST artistic director] Carole Rothman to call the evening simply, Torch Song, and let’s see what truths we can preserve, what histories we can rediscover and what futures we can forge together. Living theatre has always been my life’s goal.”
After an acclaimed Off-Broadway debut, Torch Song Trilogy opened on Broadway in June 1982 and played an award-winning three-year engagement at the Little Theatre (now the Helen Hayes Theatre). Fierstein played the lead role of Arnold Beckoff, a gay drag performer in a tempestuous relationship with his bisexual, closeted lover. The play won Fierstein two Tony awards—both as playwright (for Best Play) and for Best Actor. It was produced throughout the country and also turned into a film in 1988 starring Fierstein, Matthew Broderick, and Anne Bancroft.
Torch Song is set to begin previews September 26 and will officially open in late October at Off-Broadway’s Tony Kiser Theatre. Additional casting and a complete creative team will be announced at a later date.
Devils Wears Prada on Broadway!
“Is there some reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?”
That’s a snippet of Meryl Streep’s dialogue from the 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada. Now Sir Elton John and Paul Rudnick are writing a musical adaptation for Broadway.
DEADLINE reports, A production timeline is TBA for the show, which will be produced by Kevin McCollum, Fox Stage Productions and John’s Rocket Entertainment. The ’70s hitmaker and Lion King and Aida composer said of the new project: “Re-imagining The Devil Wears Prada for the musical theatre is super exciting. I’m a huge fan of both the book and the feature film and a huge aficionado of the fashion world. I can’t wait to sink my musical teeth into this hunk of popular culture.”
“To bring The Devil Wears Prada to the stage, we knew we needed to find artists as inimitable as the characters in the story,” Bob Cohen of Fox Stage Productions and McCollum said a joint statement. “We needed artists whose work has run the gamut from music and publishing to drama and fashion. We could think of only two names: Elton John and Paul Rudnick. That’s all!” John is writing the music, and Rudnick is penning the book and lyrics.
Rudnick’s myriad credits include Broadway’s I Hate Hamlet and such other stage fare as Jeffrey and The New Century, along with the the screenplays for In & Out and Addams Family Values. He also has authored novels and written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue and other magazines.
BUSBY BERKELEY Film Fest!
“BUSBY BERKELEY,” a nine-day festival spotlighting the early movie musical trailblazer famous for his eye-popping kaleidoscopic production numbers, will run at Film Forum from Wednesday, December 7 through Thursday, December 15.
He really took off when Ruby Keeler, via a single cut, moved from tapping in front of a painted backdrop to dismounting from an actual cab on a three-dimensional set of 42nd Street, complete with traffic, mounted police, and hundreds of dancers, all in character – but that was only the beginning. Dance director, choreographer, auteur… and visionary. In his heyday, Busby Berkeley (1895-1976) mounted a series of still must-be-seen-to-be-believed
Says Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Director of Repertory Programming, “Berkeley was the first to realize the endless cinematic possibilities of the musical form. Imitators have never even come close to what he created in the early 30s – not even with tools like CGI.”
Berkeley was born to an actress mother in Los Angeles and first performed on stage at age five. After a stint in the army during WWI, he began his career as a dance director and choreographer, working on nearly two-dozen Broadway shows. His film career began with producer Samuel Goldwyn, but he became a household name with his a string of iconic successes at Warner Bros.: 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, and many others, featuring one astounding production number after another.
In addition to his work as a choreographer and dance director (though neither title does justice to what he actually did), the festival also includes features films entirely directed by Berkeley, including Gold Diggers of 1935 (featuring the spectacular “Lullaby of Broadway” number); Hollywood Hotel (which introduced the song “Hooray for Hollywood”), the Technicolor extravaganza The Gang’s All Here, with Carmen Miranda sporting the world’s largest fruit basket; Strike Up the Band and Babes on Broadway, both featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney; For Me and My Gal, with Garland and Gene Kelly (in his debut); Take Me Out to the Ball Game, with Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Esther Williams, and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; and a rare non-musical, They Made Me a Criminal, starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and the Dead End Kids. Most films in the series will be screened as part of double features (two films for one admission), and most of the features will be screened in archival 35m prints.
December 7, the opening day of the festival, is the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In addition to the Berkeley double feature that day, Cavalcade of 1941, a vintage short including FDR’s famous “date that will live in infamy” speech, will be screened.
“Busby Berkeley” has been programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Director of Repertory Programming.
Public Screening Schedule
DECEMBER 7 WED
DOUBLE FEATURE
ROMAN SCANDALS (1933, Frank Tuttle) 35mm
Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart
3:30, 7:55
STRIKE UP THE BAND (1940, Busby Berkeley) 35mm print preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive
Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Paul Whiteman and Orchestra
Songs by George and Ira Gershwin.
12:30, 5:25, 9:45
PLUS “Cavalcade of 1941” 35mm
DECEMBER 8 THU
DOUBLE FEATURE
DAMES (1934, Ray Enright) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell
12:30, 4:00, 7:30
FASHIONS OF 1934 (1934, William Dieterle) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh
2:20, 5:50, 9:20
DECEMBER 9 FRI
DOUBLE FEATURE
THE GANG’S ALL HERE (1943, Busy Berkeley) DCP
Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
12:30, 4:30, 8:30
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (1949, Busby Berkeley) 35mm
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams
2:35, 6:35
DECEMBER 10 SAT
DOUBLE FEATURE
42ND STREET (1933, Lloyd Bacon) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell
12:30, 4:25, 8:20
THE GANG’S ALL HERE (1943, Busby Berkeley) DCP
2:20, 6:15, 10:10
DECEMBER 11 SUN
DOUBLE FEATURE
GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933, Mervyn LeRoy) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
Warren William, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers
12:30, 4:30, 8:30
FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933, Lloyd Bacon) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell
2:25, 6:25
DECEMBER 12 MON
Separate Admission
FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933, Lloyd Bacon) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
12:40
DECEMBER 12 MON
DOUBLE FEATURE
THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL (1939, Busby Berkeley) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
John Garfield, Claude Rains, Ann Sheridan, the Dead End Kids
4:05, 7:20
NIGHT WORLD (1932, Hobart Henley) 35mm
Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff
2:45, 6:00, 9:10
DECEMBER 13 TUE
DOUBLE FEATURE
THE GANG’S ALL HERE (1943, Busby Berkeley) DCP
12:30
42ND STREET (1933, Lloyd Bacon) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
2:35
DECEMBER 13 TUE
DOUBLE FEATURE
BABES ON BROADWAY (1941, Busby Berkeley) 35mm
Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland
4:25, 8:45
FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942, Busby Berkeley) 35mm print courtesy Harvard Film Archive
Judy Garland, Gene Kelly
6:45
DECEMBER 14 WED
DOUBLE FEATURE
GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935, Busby Berkeley) 35mm
Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart
12:30, 4:15, 8:00
WONDER BAR (1934, Lloyd Bacon) HD
Al Jolson, Kay Francis, Dick Powell, Dolores del Río,
2:25, 6:10, 9:55
DECEMBER 15 THU
Separate Admission
42ND STREET (1933, Lloyd Bacon) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
12:30
DECEMBER 15 THU
DOUBLE FEATURE
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL (1937, Busby Berkeley) 35mm print preserved by Library of Congress
Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
4:35, 8:40
IN CALIENTE (1935, Lloyd Bacon) New 35mm print courtesy Library of Congress
Dolores del Río, Pat O’Brien, Glenda Farrell
2:35, 6:40
For more information, links and showtimes, visit www.filmforum.org
For downloadable photos and press notes, go to: www.filmforum.org/press
Chita Rivera is BACK!
TONIGHT!
Lady Bunny Does Stonewall Bar
TRANS-JESTER starring Lady Bunny
The hardest working drag queen in the world is DOING STONEWALL!
“Long running drag star Lady Bunny is currently doing the most screamingly, gratifyingly, crap-your-pants funny show in town. Upstairs at the Stonewall which was always a riot , Bunny is appearing in Trans-Jester, poking merciless fun at pc normatives. She spins and shimmers in amazing voice. The show is all like that–raunchy and eye opening, fetidly appealing yet thought provoking.” – Michael Musto, OUT
“A scream for sanity from the nastiest, most big-hearted comic performer around.” -John Cameron Mitchell
“A gag-worthy show you can’t miss.” – Huffington Post, Gay Voices
In addition to new parodies of selections from Adele, Rent and Bruno Mars to hilarious, effect punctuated by zany Laugh-In style zingers, Bunny has widened her repertoire to include insightful social commentary. (Well, she thinks it’s insightful, anyway.) Targetting the current overemphasis on political correctness, Bunny breaks down some of the latest buzzwords that we’re all supposed to remember for every for every occasion as we “evolve.” Sometimes, Bunny feels, that we’re actually evolving away from common sense! Take the new name for our community–LGBTIA. Does anyone even know what that means?
While Bunny shies away from politics in this performance–because one train wreck on stage per night is enough and we all need a break from this toxic election–she doesn’t shy away from gender politics and the new pronoun we’re forced to learn every time Will Smith’s son puts on a dress. After Caitlyn Jenner reached out to Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz to become his “trans ambassador”, Bunny feels that it’s time for the gloves to come off while addressing that car crash. You don’t want to miss Bunny doing Cait’s twisted version of My Favorite Things.
Bunny may also shock you with revelations about her own gender identity. “She” asks pertinent questions about cultural appropriation prior to declaring her undying love for black cock in a vulgar version of Uptown Funk which has left recent audiences in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London reeling with mirth.
Theater queens rejoice! In her loooooong career in nightclubs, Bunny has never delved much into show tunes, but in Trans-Jester, Bunny brings it on home with a show-stopping finale featuring two classics from Gypsy and Follies. The eclectic evening also resurrects songs by country star Lynn Anderson, Millie Jackson and even an original tune which pokes fun at the dating life of whatever sex it is you want to call this “Lady”.
Back by popular demand, the show is now back for one month from August 31st-October 1st. Performances are from Wednesday to Saturday at 7PM. Please note: no shows on Thursday September 8th and September 9th. Stonewall is an intimate venue, so please reserve now to guarantee seats! The tickets are a low $19.99–as cheap as her humor–and there may be tickets for cash only at the door after the online sales close nightly at 5:30PM. (There usually are.) There is a two-drink minimum and the drink prices range from $7:50 (beer) to $12 (well drinks). There is no drink maximum, and Bunny’s singing will drive anyone to drink. Doors open at 6PM and seating is first come, first serve.
Please note: This show is raunchy. Not politically correct by definition–that’s the whole point. So if that’s not your cup of tea, you should honestly skip it. Or prepare to grab a drink and laugh, cheer and possibly even be challenged by a salty old kook who isn’t afraid to express herself from a viewpoint which is often unique.
Trans-Jester is written by Lady Bunny and Facebook sensation Beryl Mendelbaum.
53 Christopher Street, New York City, NY 10014
