Sunday night the 25th anniversary edition of Broadway Bares played to two sellout audiences at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom. This year's show was titled Top Bottoms Of Burlesque and as you'll see, it was spectacular from the moment the curtain arose to reveal the bouncing bottoms of buff chorus boys. All 25 years of Broadway Bares are available on DVD and they are taking pre-orders for this year's show.
Broadway tends to see a rash of closing announcements after the Tony Awards and this year is no exception.
Newsies, the surprise hit musical from Disney Theatricals that opened on Broadway in 2012, is quitting while it's ahead, ending its run of just over 1,000 performances at the Nederlander Theatre on August 24 before going on a national tour. It premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2011, opened on Broadway the following year and went on to recoup its investment after just nine months, faster than any other Disney Theatricals show. It continues to play to houses 85 to 95 percent full. Nevertheless, and true to recent form, Disney is ending the show's run before its box office has a chance to sag, and taking it on the road. Harvey Fierstein's Broadway hat trick will actually come to an end this weekend. His play Casa Valentina, about male heterosexual cross-dressers at a Catskills resort in the early 1960s, ends its run June 29. Upon its April debut it received four Tony nominations but no wins, though Reed Birney did win the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. Fierstein will continue to be represented on Broadway after the closings of Newsies and Casa Valentina by Kinky Boots, which he wrote with Cyndi Lauper.
Terrence McNally's AIDS-themed Mothers & Sonsclosed last night after only 33 previews and 104 regular performances. The Cotton Club retrospective After Midnightcloses this Sunday with Patti LaBelle guest starring all week. (Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole had been scheduled to guest star in the months of July and August, respectively.) Also closing this Sunday is the LBJ drama, All The Way, which stars Bryan Cranston. TheRealistic Joneses, starring Toni Collette and Marisa Tomei, closes on July 6th. John Steinbeck's Of Mice & Men starring James Franco closes on July 27th. The musical Violet, for which Sutton Foster earned a Tony nomination, closes on August 10th.
RELATED: Opening today is the movie version of Douglas Carter Beane's Tony nominated The Nance, starring Nathan Lane. I reviewed the play back in April.
2014 Tony Nominations Announced, Neil Patrick Harris Gets Hedwig Nod
Hedwig & The Angry Inch scored eight Tony nominations this morning, including a best actor in a musical revival nod for Neil Patrick Harris. Leading the tally is A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder, which landed ten nominations including best musical. Gay playwrights Harvey Fierstein and Terrence McNally both picked up best play nominations for Casa Valentina and Mothers & Sons, respectively. See the full list here and give us your thoughts.
At the same time that the show was winning the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, yesterday the cast of the six-time Tony winning show Kinky Boots was saying goodbye to its lead, Stark Sands. In the clip below, Tony winner Billy Porter calls Sands "everything that a leading lady could ever wish for."
RELATED:Kinky Boots became the target of anti-gay groups in November when the cast performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The show continues to sell out nightly and has grossed over $67M to date.
Broadway Stars Unite For Satire Of Russia's Crackdown On LGBT People
A galaxy of Broadway stars have gotten together for skits and songs that mock Russia's crackdown on LGBT people. You'll recognize a lot of people: Harvey Fierstein, Laura Benanti, Michael Cerveris, Joanna Gleason, Jonathan Groff, Jackie Hoffman, Andrea McArdle, Brad Oscar, Stephen Schwarz, John Tartaglia, Mary Testa, Michael Urie, and many more. There are even cameos from Dan Savage and Michael Musto.
Harvey Fierstein On "Rat Putin": It's Time For The Gay Community To Get Dangerous
Here's an except from Harvey Fierstein's interview with Michelangelo Signorile:
“It seemed to me a really good time for us as a community to say, ‘You know what boys? Time to stop fucking with us,’” he said, also backing the boycott of Stolichnaya Vodka that has taken off worldwide. “It’s time for them to stop to making money. Time for churches to stop raising money by demonizing us. Time for politicians to stop making money by demonizing us. It’s time to make the gay community too dangerous to do that too. Russia happens to be a great place to do it because Putin -- I call him 'Rat Putin' -- is such a villain. I think there’s an entire movement here and an opportunity to say the gay community is no longer available to be your scapegoat.” Fierstein urged LGBT people to take a stand. “A lot of people are saying, ‘We can’t do this, we can’t do that,’” he said. “You can do everything. You don’t necessarily see the results right away. We have to create an environment where we are too dangerous to mess with. “
"Look at that asshole [Orson Scott Card] that wrote this new Harrison Ford movie [Ender's Game]. I think that you can have any opinion you want, but at least be willing to take the consequences of your opinion. It’s like, 'Well, I hope that people will be more understanding,' or what did he say? 'More tolerant of my views.' The quotes that got me about him weren’t against gay marriage -- he wanted homosexuality criminalized in the United States. That's what he called for. You want me to be tolerant of you wanting to criminalize homosexuality? Fuck you on your grave, you piece of shit." - Harvey Fierstein, telling it like it is to the Hollywood Reporter.
"Mr. Putin’s campaign against lesbian, gay and bisexual people is one of distraction, a strategy of demonizing a minority for political gain taken straight from the Nazi playbook. Can we allow this war against human rights to go unanswered? Although Mr. Putin may think he can control his creation, history proves he cannot: his condemnations are permission to commit violence against gays and lesbians. Last week a young gay man was murdered in the city of Volgograd. He was beaten, his body violated with beer bottles, his clothing set on fire, his head crushed with a rock. This is most likely just the beginning. [snip]
"With Russia about to hold the Winter Games in Sochi, the country is open to pressure. American and world leaders must speak out against Mr. Putin’s attacks and the violence they foster. The Olympic Committee must demand the retraction of these laws under threat of boycott. In 1936 the world attended the Olympics in Germany. Few participants said a word about Hitler’s campaign against the Jews. Supporters of that decision point proudly to the triumph of Jesse Owens, while I point with dread to the Holocaust and world war. There is a price for tolerating intolerance." - Harvey Fierstein, writing for the New York Times.
"Putin has declared war on the gay community. He's made it illegal to promote homosexuality in theater, film, tv, print that in any way could be seen by youth. In other words anything gay is now pornography. He's outlawed the adopting of Russian children to any country that has legalized marriage equality. And now it is reported that his next law will remove the children of GLBT families from their homes. This will apply to biological children as well as formerly adopted ones.
"This is a horror. Not only for our community but even for straight families. Already divorced parents are threatening one another with blackmail to tell authorities that their ex is now gay just to control parental rights. Putin wants this attack against human rights to be his legacy. He believes he can get the backing of the Vatican as well as all other conservative religious leaders to join his cause.
"What can we do? Make his actions and his plans public. Shine the light of public opinion on this evil doer. Boycott the Winter Olympics in Russia. Believe me, Putin will use the Olympics as proof that the world backs up his action. There are only two ways to deal with a tyrant: Starve out the rat, or destroy him. So, my friends, do your research and then GET LOUD AGAINST PUTIN AND HIS ANTI-GAY POGROM. This is a very small world. Our brothers and sisters in Russia need us NOW!" - Harvey Fierstein, in a Facebook post that has already been shared over 2000 times.
"The first prong is political. When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.
"The second wave is the steady barrage coming from those who would call themselves moral leaders. Shielded behind lecterns, they assign condemnation with impunity. Claiming to be brimming with the love of their creator, they spew forth the cowardice of the mob. Fundamentalism, whether raining down terror abroad or in homilies from our home parishes, is the enemy. It is the death knell of tolerance, progress and compromise. Fundamentalism is, in all practicality, nothing but an invitation to bigotry.
"And thirdly, when we excuse homophobia as a matter of opinion instead of treating it as a destructive social illness, we invite fear to explode into violence. How often are the perpetrators of hate-crimes discovered to be self-loathing? Valued individuals do not strike out against strangers." - Harvey Fierstein, writing for the Huffington Post.
2013 Tony Award Nominees Announced, Cyndi Lauper Scores Big For Kinky Boots
The 2013 Tony Award nominees were announced in NYC this morning at a press conference hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sutton Foster. Topping the list with 13 nominations is the Cyndi Lauper-scored Kinky Boots. Notably shut out was Bette Midler and we've got dueling gays in the Best Leading Actor In A Play category. Via Broadway.com:
Best Musical A Christmas Story Bring It On Kinky Boots Matilda
Best Play Lucky Guy The Assembled Parties The Testament of Mary Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Best Revival of a Play Golden Boy Orphans The Trip to Bountiful Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Revival of a Musical Annie Cinderella Pippin The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Best Leading Actor in a Play
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Santino Fontana, Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown: The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Cinderella
Gay authors Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots) and Douglas Carter Beane (Cinderella) are nominated for Best Book. Hit the link for the full list.
Last night was Douglas Hodge's final night as the lead in the Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles. Today he passes the boob-torch to Harvey Fierstein, who won the Tony Award for writing the show's book in 1983.
Four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein will join the Broadway revival cast of La Cage Aux Folles on February 15th for a 12-week limited run. Fierstein won the Tony in 1983 for writing the show, but this will be his first time actually appearing in it.
"I've loved watching this new production of LA CAGE and think director Terry Johnson and the wonderful company at the Longacre have really mined the material for its humor as well as its heart and humanity," Fierstein commented. "I'm thrilled to get the chance to play Albin a mere twenty-five years after creating him. It will be a challenge to follow in the footsteps of all the brilliant actors who have portrayed the role before me. But I do have one secret weapon - I know how to reach the author for rewrites."
Both current leads in the show, Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge, will leave the production when Fierstein comes on. Grammer's replacement has not been announced.
Harvey Fierstein guest starred on last night's episode of Nurse Jackie, playing the husband of a man being kept alive by a machine. Click over to this excellent commentary by Fierstein about the state of patient rights for LGBT people in New York.
- You've still got a few days to get tickets to Monday's gigantic marriage equality fundraiser, Defying Inequality. Appearing: Jane Fonda, Keith Olbermann, Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein, Nathan Lane, the casts of many hit Broadways shows, and many more.
- Will Ferrell's smash one-man show about Dubya, You're Welcome America, has recouped its investment in just a couple of weeks.
- GLAAD Award winning gay comedian Judy Gold plays Joe's Pub on March 20th in Judy Gold Is Mommy Queerest.
- Gilligan's Island: The Musical is touring Florida. Hopefully for more than three hours.
-The fifth annual Broadway Purim Shpiel plays the Hudson Theater on March 7th. Xanadu's Jackie Hoffman will host.
- Christine Jorgensen Reveals, the story of America's first and most famous transsexual, begins previews on February 26th at the Lion Theater. Bradford Louryk stars in the title role.
- Next To Normal comes to Broadway on March 27th at the Longacre Theater. J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, and Alice Ripley will star.
- This Beautiful City, a new musical about the rise of the evangelical movement in Colorado Springs, opens Sunday at the Vineyard Theater. Written by Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman.
This Beautiful City is a play with music, created from interviews with actual persons, that explores the Evangelical movement and its unofficial U.S. capital. Because of the presence of several national Evangelical headquarters, the influential megachurch New Life (formerly led by Ted Haggard), and numerous and diverse churches, questions surrounding religion and civic concerns are brought to the foreground of everyday life in this city. The Civilians’ project looks at Colorado Springs as a microcosm of issues facing the country as a whole—the shifting line between church and state, changing ideas about the nature of Christianity, and how different beliefs can either coexist or conflict within a community.
Tickets for This Beautiful Cityare available here. Below is a promotional clip. Looks great!
"A couple of boys were calling my best friend a faggot one unhappy day at summer camp. Courses of action seemed slim to my adolescent mind. I could stand up for Jack branding myself a fag as well and insuring myself a miserable summer, or I could join in with the name callers, lose my closest friend, but assure my standing with the majority. I sacrificed my friend on the altar of popularity. I don’t think I need to tell you that political expediency was a terrific short-term solution but a long-term nightmare. My summer concluded uneventfully but none of those boys became my friend or did me any favors. And forty years later I still feel the loss of Jack along with a piece of my self respect that I can never win back. Mine was an act of cowardice and betrayal.
"It seems Obama is now maneuvering through the summer camp of his political adolescence and is about to make the same bad choice as I. He can call the placing of a hate monger like Rick Warren on the world dais political healing or inclusiveness or any other nicety he’d like, but I call it pandering to the lowest instinct of the worst kind of politics.
"President Elect Obama, your victory was made possible in no small part to the votes and wallets of the gay and lesbian community along with our supporters. Turning your back on us does not make you more mainstream American. It just makes you a coward." - Harvey Fierstein, writing on Facebook.
- On April 28th, Xanadu star Cheyenne Jackson will host Live Out Loud's 7th Annual Gala, a benefit dedicated to empowering LGBT youth. Hundreds of community leaders will be on hand as scholarships are awarded to four high school seniors who have "demonstrated outstanding leadership skills." Tickets start at $85.
- Danny Elfman (my favorite movie scorer) will write the music for a Broadway musical about Harry Houdini, which is set to open in 2010. Lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Spy Magazine founder (and former editor of New York) Kurt Anderson. Tony winner Jack O'Brien (The Coast Of Utopia, Hairspray) will direct.
- Broadway's hits continue to flop in Las Vegas, with Spamalot to be replaced in July with impressionist Danny Gans. Recent closures in Vegas include Hairspray and Avenue Q. A language barrier for foreign visitors and the "short attention span of gamblers" is being blamed. Meanwhile, Cirque du Soleil is set to open their sixth permanent show on the Strip.
- The same company that handed a talk show to Ricki Lake a few years after the first Hairspray movie is now giving one to Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won a Tony for her Broadway version of Tracy Turnblad. Winokur's show launches nationwide next fall. I loved her in American Beauty. "You are so busted."
- More Cheyenne Jackson. About to beginning shooting is Shifting The Canvas, a movie starring Jackson as a just-out gay Wall Streeter. The flick "tells the story about a group of artists living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who struggle to maintain a rather dysfunctional family of friends in a post-9/11 world challenged by gentrification, deception, and sterilization." Also cast: Kids In The Hall alum Scott Thompson and Long Duc Dong Gedde Watanabe. "Sexy girrrrlfriend!"
