Reverend's Interview: Family Man

Darryl Stephens is well-known among gay men as the star of Noah’s Arc, which aired on Logo from 2005-2007 and was followed by a well-received theatrical movie, Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom.  As struggling screenwriter Noah Nicholson, Stephens embodied the many professional and personal challenges endured not only by gay African-Americans but by gay men of all ethnicities.

Stephens is also an accomplished theatre actor, dancer and singer, as I recently learned while researching Stephens’ career prior to interviewing him about his appearance this month in the world premiere of Gary Lennon’s play A Family Thing.  The Echo Theater Company production will run February 16th-March 17th at Stage 52, 5299 W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles.

“First and foremost, I wanted to work with Gary,” Stephens said of his decision to do Lennon’s latest work.  Lennon previously authored the acclaimed plays Blackout and 45 (both of which were turned into movies) as well as numerous episodes of TV’s The Shield, The Black Donnellys and Justified.  “I worked with (Lennon) last year on The Interlopers,” Stephens continued, “and he’s really good at writing certain voices and characters.”

In addition to Stephens, A Family Thing stars Saverio Guerra, Johnny Messner and Sean Wing as three brothers raised in New York’s tough Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.  One of the brothers has just gotten out of prison, another is a struggling drug addict, and the youngest is a gay screenwriter trying to break his family’s cycle of mayhem and betrayal.

“This particular play is to me about people running from the past and confronting their demons,” Stephens reflects.  “It’s about how the further we run from our issues or deny them, the stronger they become.”

Stephens’ own family upbringing was spent in Southern California.  He was born in Pasadena in 1974 and grew up between there and the Altadena area of LA.  He studied sociology and ethnic studies as well as drama and dance at the University of California, Berkeley.  Following graduation, Stephens performed in San Francisco for four years with the cult theatre troupe, Sassymouth.  He then moved back to LA to pursue roles in movies and TV.

I asked Stephens when he first began performing.  “It’s kind of a weird story,” he replied.  “In high school, I was getting weird, not necessarily positive attention in the school yard.  I wasn’t being bullied but it was very awkward for me.  I had a friend in show choir and I started going to practice with him during lunch to avoid the school yard.  The choir director asked me to start singing, which I did and enjoyed, and from then on it snowballed into acting.”

Upon his return to LA, Stephens secured parts in the films Seamless (with Shannon Elizabeth) and Circuit, as well as on episodes of the series Undressed and That’s Life.  Then, writer-director Patrik-Ian Polk noticed the actor and cast him as the lead character in Noah’s Arc.  I asked Stephens whether Noah and his circle of friends are gone for good.

“There was talk of a spinoff series after the movie, which did very well, but we all moved on,” Stephens responded.  “Fans are very enthusiastic about a reunion but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.  I hear from fans every single day, and it’s been an amazing experience for me seeing how powerful the representation of these characters was at the time.”

More recently, Stephens had roles in the gay-themed films Another Gay Movie and Boy Culture, and appeared on such popular TV shows as Ugly Betty, Two and a Half Men and Desperate Housewives.   Currently, he can be seen on Logo’s DTLA as well as alongside his fellow Noah’s Arc alumnus, Wilson Cruz, as a gay men’s health professional in Patrik Ian-Polk’s latest movie, The Skinny.  The dramedy about an emotionally- and sexually-charged reunion among a group of former college friends is newly available on DVD.

In speaking with him, it seems that Stephens is most enthusiastic about his work on two other fronts: the page and the stage.  His first novel, Shortcomings, was published last year, and he is currently writing his second novel in addition to “co-writing a couple of screenplays.”

Discussing his recent work on stage, Stephens has a particular fondness for his role in Lennon’s The Interlopers.  “I played a pre-op transgender activist,” he recalls.  “I had never played a character so loud and brassy and I loved flexing my comedy muscle, which I don’t get to do very often.”  Stephens is very much an activist himself when it comes to LGBT concerns.  “I definitely try to keep folks informed about issues that affect our community; I try to represent the community in a positive way.”

In closing, I asked Stephens whether he is satisfied with his career at this point.  “I don’t think an artist can ever really be truly satisfied, but I am happy to be working as an out black gay man,” he said.  “I wouldn’t say I’ve hit my stride yet as an artist but I’m definitely building up to it.”

For more information about A Family Thing or to purchase tickets, visit the Echo Theater Company website or call (877) 369-9112.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend’s Reviews: Around the World with the Fab Five

It is hard to imagine Jules Verne’s classic 1873 novel Around the World in 80 Days, with its globe-trotting storyline and cast of thousands, being effectively adapted for the stage.  It’s even harder to imagine a meager cast of five actors assaying all the adventure tale’s characters.  Playwright Mark Brown and Long Beach’s International City Theatre (ICT) haven’t only taken both of these unexpected routes but have succeeded near-brilliantly with them.

The plot is fairly well-known, if not from actually reading Verne’s novel than from one of several movie or TV versions, most notably Mike Todd’s Oscar-winning 1956 production.  Punctuality-obsessed British gentleman Phileas Fogg accepts a wager that he can travel completely around the globe in 1,920 hours — if not less — following his departure from London.  He takes with him his newly-hired manservant Passepartout, and together they navigate a route utilizing a combination of trains, steamer ships and even elephants (though not hot air balloon, which Todd’s film added).  The pair encounter a detective who suspects Fogg of being a thief, religious cultists, a pretty Indian princess with whom the impenetrable Fogg becomes semi-smitten, a rootin’-tootin’ cowboy and marauding Apaches in the prairies of the US, and a variety of other residents of the countries through which they travel.

ICT’s fantastically talented cast of five brings approximately 40 of these characters to vivid life during the play’s 135-minute running time.  Jud V. Williford is appropriately taciturn throughout as Fogg, whereas Michael Uribes primarily plays Passepartout but also a number of supporting roles.  As the lone female, Melinda Porto naturally plays Princess Aouda while also portraying a comical variety of other female and male parts.  Mark Gagliardi, who is well-known in southern California as the current Genie in Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at Disney's California Adventure, proves himself an accomplished master not only of physical comedy but of a diversity of international accents.  Rounding out the cast is Brian Stanton, very funny as the wily-in-his-own-mind detective tracking Fogg and any number of other roles.  On opening night, Stanton and Gagliardi brought the house down with hilarious improv when one of Stanton's mutton chops fell off mid-scene.

This Los Angeles area production was directed by Allison Bibicoff, who served as Assistant Choreographer and Associate Producer of Broadway's Tony-nominated Xanadu.  Her playful spirit gives the production a decidedly tongue-in-cheek approach; it would seem the script could be performed most seriously as well.  Bibicoff and set designer Staci Walters here employ an ingenious wall depicting Fogg's trip route that also contains hidden drawers and a series of Laugh In-like windows through which props appear and characters speak.  The period-perfect costumes were designed by ICT resident Kim DeShazo.

Splendid entertainment for adults, teens and school-age children, Around the World in 80 Days runs in Long Beach through February 17th.  To purchase tickets or for more information, visit the International City Theatre website.

Meanwhile, another, real-life “Fab Five” is currently making an appearance on the considerably larger stage of LA’s Ahmanson Theatre, where Backbeat is having its US premiere through March 1st.  Based on Iain Softley’s 1994 movie about the formational years of The Beatles, it is an uneven, occasionally inert production (especially during the first act) but not without its merits.  These are primarily the excellent quintet of young actor-musicians who play the five founding members of what would become one of the world’s greatest bands: Andrew Knott, as domineering ringmaster John Lennon; Daniel Healy, possessed of a lovely singing voice, as Paul McCartney; Daniel Westwick as George Harrison; Oliver Bennett as drummer Pete Best, who would find himself dumped in favor of Ringo Starr; and Nick Blood (cool, toned and shirtless as often as possible) as Stuart Sutcliffe, an aspiring painter who left The Beatles just as the band's fame was exploding in 1962 and tragically died shortly after of a brain hemorrhage.

Backbeat is essentially constructed around a speculative love triangle between Sutcliffe, Lennon and Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer with whom Sutcliffe did become romantically involved.  The more speculative part is the depth of Lennon's feelings for his longtime best friend, although Lennon's widow Yoko Ono would remark that "hardly a day went by that John did not talk about (Sutcliffe)."  Leanne Best, as Kirchherr, has little to do in the role other than be the camera-toting woman who came between the two erstwhile artist-friends, but then character development isn't this show's strong suit when it comes to virtually all the pop-culture figures portrayed.  Any younger viewers with little advance knowledge of The Beatles' members will likely wonder what all the fuss was about.

The book by Softley and Stephen Jeffreys covers the three-year period during which the boys groomed their sound and, eventually, themselves between Liverpool, London and "decadent" nightclubs in Hamburg.  The second of these German clubs provides the show with some needed style and diversity, populated as it is with drag queens and kings, a leather-suited gay dancer, and a tuxedoed, Cabaret-esque MC.  Five-time Tony Award nominee David Leveaux directs the proceedings with some visual flair, high decibels during the songs and, in Act II, some heavy-handed but nonetheless welcome emotional wallops that the first act sorely lacks.

Songs from The Beatles catalog comprise the show's score, including such classics as "Love Me Do", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Twist and Shout".  If the volume is more often than not excessive, I appreciated the free-wheeling feel and lack of obvious choreography during the musical moments.  Those who go to see Backbeat expecting an upbeat "Jukebox musical" crafted on Beatles songs will likely be disappointed.  There's some "dark night of the soul" stuff going on here when it comes to the conflicts that can arise among friends/lovers who are simultaneously heeding the call to be artists, all played out against a frequently seedy backdrop.  By the time band manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin enter the picture in Act II, one may understandably conclude that The Beatles sold their souls to the devil.  Thankfully, this show's talented cast members don't have to do so.

For more information about Backbeat or to purchase tickets for the LA production, visit the Center Theatre Group website.

Reverend’s Ratings:

Around the World in 80 Days: A-

Backbeat: B-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest, Rage Monthly Magazine and Echo Magazine.

Dearie Awards 2012: Stage Show of the Year

Winner: NEWSIES
"Extra! Extra! Disney Turns Flop Flick Into Boffo B.O.!" Broadway may have been surprised by the unexpected success of Disney Theatricals' screen-to-stage transfer of Newsies, but we devoted fans ("fansies"?) of the 1992 box office bomb-turned-cult favorite always knew that the beloved movie musical would "seize the day" on the stage.  With a cast filled with scruffy, athletic (over-aged?) newsboys, a book by Movie Dearest icon Harvey Fierstein and two Tony Awards (including one for, finally, Disney music man Alan Menken), Broadway's Newsies truly is the "king of New York".

Honorable Mention: CARRIE
Twenty-four years after its infamous Broadway opening (and quick closing), the notorious musical version of Stephen King's Carrie reared its pig's blood-soaked head this past year Off Broadway.  And while the revised revival ("revisal"?) took the material seriously instead of going to camp, it did produce the cast albumwe always wanted.

Reel Thoughts Interview: Songs of Bernadette

Few Broadway stars generate the unadulterated love and devotion in their fans that Bernadette Peters does. Patti Lupone, Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Betty Buckley and Bebe Neuwirth all have their obsessive fans, but Peters is in a class by herself, thanks in no small part to her frequent collaboration with musical genius Stephen Sondheim. Whenever she is asked why gay audiences love her so much, she always quips, “Because they have great taste.”

There is much more to Peters’ appeal, which lucky Scottsdale audiences will discover when the icon brings her musical evening to the annual Scottsdale Center for the Arts benefit ARTrageous on December 1st. A look at Peters’ calendar shows that she is selective with the number of shows she’ll perform, which makes her appearance this weekend that much more special.

Along with her long time collaborator Marvin Laird, Peters will entertain the audience with music from her long career, and even promises to lounge across the top of the piano while doing a sultry version of Peggy Lee’s “Fever”.

Of course, if you can’t score tickets, you only need to turn on NBC’s deliciously addictive drama Smash to see Ms. Peters playing Megan Hilty’s mother, a Broadway star whose success and perfectionism have scarred poor Ivy (Hilty). Peters hinted that after living in her mother’s shadow, Ivy has to deal with her mother being in the show with her. “You try to make a name for yourself, and then your mother whose shadow you live under is in the show!” Peters said, laughing. “Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote me a wonderful song, and I’m going to do another one, but I don’t know what it is yet.”

The sixty-four year-old powerhouse is guaranteed to give a show legs or keep it running longer than its original star, which is what happened when she gave a devastating performance as Sally in Sondheim’s Follies on Broadway and, before that, took over the part of Desiree in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music from the well-regarded Catherine Zeta Jones.

A well-known animal welfare advocate, Peters co-founded the charity Broadway Barks with her deaqr friend Mary Tyler Moore. The annual event brings out all of Broadways brightest stars like Angela Lansbury and others who donate their time to help unwanted animals find new homes.

Ms. Peters phoned from her home in New York City just days after Hurricane Sandy had devastated Manhattan and the rest of the Northeast.

“I’m very lucky because I live on the Upper West Side and we made it through very well, but friends who live downtown are still without power. But I have another friend who lives all the way down in Tribeca and one of the parking attendants in the garage lost his life. The water must have come rushing in and he drowned.” She posted a link to Broadway Cares on her web site to help fans donate to the victims. “They are an amazing organization. The word “cares,” they really mean it. They really do whatever they can when disaster hits.”

Peters and Moore hit upon the idea to found Broadway Barks when Peters was starring in Annie Get Your Gun. Now approaching its fifteenth year, the event is a fun way for the public to meet their Broadway idols and rescue pets from the shelters.

NC: I’m thrilled that you’ll be in Scottsdale in December. Do you have some favorite songs that you will be singing for us?
BP: There are certain ones I love just hearing the sentiments of like “No One is Alone” and “Children Will Listen.” Those are important things in life, and just for me to hear them again is a great reminder of how we should be thinking about each other and our lives. I do Rodgers and Hammerstein – “Some Enchanted Evening” – and I do “When You Wish Upon a Star” and I do some Sondheim as well.

NC: I flew out to NYC just to see you in Follies, and I was blown away.
BP: Thank you. That’s quite something, that show, isn’t it? I’m bringing two songs from Follies also.

NC: How did you become the go-to woman to bring Sondheim’s songs and characters to life, and how do you identify with his works?
BP: You know, I’m just so fortunate that he gives me so many things to sing about. He writes the music and the lyrics and he says exactly what the character is feeling. He writes the notes which expresses the passion and he writes the words that express the emotion of the moment. He writes about really great stuff... what a gift he is to us! He’s a national treasure, we’re just so blessed to have him.

NC: You must hear this a lot, but you are so iconic in all the roles you have created; how does someone with your talent and resumé still find challenging work?
BP: I trust the universe! (Laughing) And then things come to me. When I plan something, forget it, it never happens. Right now, I’m doing Smash. I am having fun with that because it’s an interesting role.

NC: I just saw the trailer for the film Coming Up Roses. It looks terrific.
BP: Thank you. It’s loosely based on the director’s story. She’s a fifteen year-old girl and I play her mother who has emotional issues. Back in those days, they didn’t really put names on them. She’s not only bipolar but also emotional, scary issues and the girl takes care of her. It’s sort of sad. But family triumphs in the end. It’s a very touching story, I think.

NC: I was touched to see your support of Spirit Day. What else would you like your GLBT fans to know about your support of our issues?
BP: Well, it’s interesting, I just came back yesterday from performing on my “dream cruise” which was that it never left the port and my audience was a gay audience. It was the most wonderful, lovely experience. But in the end I go out in the audience and sing a lullaby and I thought, “Why is this different?” They’re just so open and willing and eager and open. I think that their spirits are just so open, it’s really a beautiful thing. That’s what I felt from the audience, this great warmth. It was lovely, just lovely.

5 Other Places to See Bernadette Peters:

• All’s Fair: This 1976 sitcom by two of the writers on I Love Lucy, Maude and All in the Family cast Peters as liberal photographer Charley Drake who is dating conservative writer Richard Barrington, played by Richard Crenna. “Richard Crenna really knew about scripts. I just felt honored to be in his company.”
• Silent Movie: Before The Artist, comedy genius Mel Brooks filmed an almost silent movie starring Peters, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise and every star in Hollywood in hilarious cameos. “He pushed the envelope, but it was always funny. I think what happens today is that they’re shocking, but they’re not funny.”
• Gypsy: YouTube videos recall Peters’ amazing performance as Mama Rose on Broadway. “I loved that role. It was like going into therapy... it was like the best therapy I ever had. I sort of lived that life because I was on the road with my mother and my sister in that show.
• Into the Woods: PBS recorded Peters’ performance as the witch in Sondheim’s twisted take on Grimms' fairy tales, which predated TV’s Once Upon a Time by two decades. “That’s another show that I feel so fortunate to have done, and I’m so glad they recorded it because it’s so funny. You don’t ever get to see it when you’re in it, but I finally watched it and thought, “What a good idea for a show! This is great!” But kids across the country studying theater got to see it and Sunday in the Park with George. And I just think it’s the most beautiful score.”
• The Jerk and Pennies from Heaven: Peters partnership with Steve Martin produced the iconic idiot comedy The Jerk and the unusual musical Pennies from Heaven, which also includes a dance number by Christopher Walken. Peters won a Golden Globe for her performance in the latter.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Interview: Anything Goes with Marcus Shane

Cole Porter's raucous musical-comedy Anything Goes has been entertaining audiences around the world pretty much non-stop since its Broadway debut way back in 1934.  With a storyline involving evangelists, sailors, gangsters and mismatched lovers, plus a score that includes such standards as "I Get a Kick Out of You," "You're the Top," "It's De-Lovely," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" and the title tune, the show has proven to be truly timeless.

If there was any doubt as to this popularity before 2011, that year's New York revival of Anything Goes proved naysayers wrong.  With current Broadway "It Girl" Sutton Foster as evangelist-turned-nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, a role previously played by Ethel Merman and Patti Lupone, and high-energy choreography and direction by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall, the new production was a huge success.  The touring version pulls into port at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for a six-week, holiday run beginning today.

Gay cast member Marcus Shane spoke with Reverend from the tour's first stop in Cleveland, Ohio.  Shane plays John, one of two Chinese gamblers who are posing as innocent missionaries.  Originally named Ching and Ling, the pair were given more politically correct, Gospel-inspired names (the other is Luke) in the musical's revised libretto.  The 27-year old Shane was born in South Korea but adopted by American parents when he was young.

REV:  Thanks for taking time out to talk with us.  How long have you been with the tour now?
MS: No problem!  Well, we just opened two weeks ago in Cleveland, which is our first stop following five weeks of rehearsal, so all in all it's been about two months.

REV: What have been some of the highlights of the show or tour for you?

MS: First and foremost, working with Kathleen Marshall, who came back and choreographed and directed. Then, working with Rachel York (veteran of the original casts of Broadway's City of Angels, Victor/Victoria and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, among many other shows) as Reno.  She is spectacular!  It's a great cast and show.

REV: What do you most enjoy about performing?

MS: The audiences, really getting to share our story with them and getting their feedback.  Every performance and audience is different.

REV:  When were you first bitten by "the bug"?

MS: Probably when I was in kindergarten.  I played the sun, with a yellow paper plate on my face, and sang "You Are My Sunshine" in a school production!  (Laughs.)  I've been singing and performing ever since.

REV: Anything Goes is such a well-known, classic show.  Does that pose any unique challenges for you as a performer?

MS: It does, but there have been countless revivals and so many interpretations.  It is always evolving. Kathleen Marshall has really made this one spectacular, and brought in a new writer to add and update some things.

REV: Would you say the show has any special appeal or relevance to the GLBT community, aside from Cole Porter's well-known bisexuality?

MS: You know what, it's a show for everyone but we have the hottest guys and gals of any show in very sexy outfits.  The chorus boys wear sailor suits that leave little to the imagination!

REV: I read that you were formerly a go-go dancer.  Where was that and what was the experience like?

MS: (Laughs.)  I had just graduated and moved to New York.  I got a tip from a friend of mine in Michigan (Shane's home state) to audition for this gay Asian club.  I went there and it was like Miss Saigon! (Laughing.)  The guys were so in-shape and hot, and I was so intimidated and shy that I worked there only one day.  My go-go dancing career lasted exactly eight hours!  It just was not for me. (Laughs.)

REV: What are your long-term goals?

MS: Being employed is #1.  As an actor, I want to play as many parts as I can.  I want to move to Los Angeles at some point.  I just did a short film called Half-Share, which is set on Fire Island and stars (gay actors) Alec Mapa and Jack Plotnick.  It was my first experience on a film set but I loved it and would like to do more movies in the future.

REV: Last question, but one I'm sure one many will ask you: are you single?

MS: I am.  I'm Grindr single. (Laughs.)

For more information about the L.A. engagement of Anything Goes and to purchase tickets, visit the Center Theatre Group website.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reel Thoughts Interview: Shores Del-ivers

Saying things other people don’t even want to think much less say, Del Shores is a take-no-prisoners fighter for GLBT equality and the perfect person to take on so-called Christians who use their religion to shame and demonize the GLBT community. Shores, who many people know from his hit Logo series Sordid Lives and the hit film of the same name starring Olivia Newton John and Leslie Jordan, is finishing a tour of his new show Naked. Sordid. Reality., as well as promoting his latest DVD Del Shores: Sordid Confessions.

A follow-up to his hilarious DVDMy Sordid Life, in Sordid Confessions he jumps right in and addresses how his life completely blew up last December when he and his husband Jason Dottley (who played Ty in the Sordid Lives series) divorced. “I’m living a Tammy Wynette song,” he jokes in the show, although he has no regrets about showing his anger toward his ex.

Shores grew up the son of a Southern Baptist minister, and he tried to live life the way the Church dictates, getting married and having two daughters whom he cherishes. After the success of his first play Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got the Will?, Shores went on to write Sordid Lives, which ran forever in Los Angeles, and he got into television writing, first on Ned & Stacey (starring Debra Messing and Thomas Hayden Church), then Will & Grace and Queer as Folk. “I can point to the day that changed my life and it was the day the review (of Daddy’s Dyin’) came out in the LA Times. That show ran for twenty-two months in LA, and it changed my life. I started getting the chance to do television and movies, and to this day, that is still my most-produced play,” Shores explained, as he prepared to do a show in Oklahoma City.

Sordid Confessions is just what the title infers, and Shores does not hold back on his feelings about such “celebrities” as Bristol Palin and former Saturday Night Live has-been Victoria Jackson. The most hilarious part of the show is when Shores, who knows his Scriptures, turns the Good Book back on the bad people who like to wield it like a club. His standard P.S. on responses, which he actually sends to these people, is “P.S.: F*** you!”

I had the opportunity to ask Shores about his life and his decision to go back on the road after his divorce, and he was just as honest as he is in his writing and on stage:

On Sordid Lives:“It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and I’m very grateful for that franchise.”

On Sordid Confessions: “I’m really happy with that. You know, I scheduled a taping of that and then my world was rocked with my husband leaving, and I had to delay it. I was really worried about being funny. I was going. “Can I do this?”, but then I stepped on stage at the Rose Room and I felt like it was one of my best shows in my career. I just loved the audience and they allowed me to go off my roadmap and do some really funny ad-libs that made it onto the DVD. That whole bit about AOL chat rooms and the “9 ½ inches” who show up was completely on the fly.”

On Bristol Palin: The untalented TV personality gets special treatment by Shores when he reads from her book, where she claims that she got blackout drunk from wine coolers and doesn’t remember having sex with Levi Johnston. “I read from that book during my shows, but legally, I couldn’t show that,” Shores explained. “It really is comedy at its very best. The fact that she wrote what she wrote and thinks that that’s okay. It amazes me that she claims she has no memory of her encounter with Levi and had to be told the next day by a friend. I always say, “Where was that friend (who knew she had sex)? I always say that the reason that Bristol Palin was the only contestant to gain weight while on Dancing with the Stars was that the whole staff was gay,” Shores joked, adding that they probably steered her to the craft service tables, pulled her hair back in unflattering buns and put her in a flamenco dress that Shores swears in a copy of his Sordid Lives character Brother Boy’s funeral outfit.

On Sarah Palin claiming that John Kerry “diminished himself” by talking about her: “We all have. We all have diminished ourselves by keeping her relevant, and all the Palins.”

On his sold-out shows: “I think the poster (pictured above) had a lot with it. I say in my show, “I deserved that photo shoot after all the angst I went through with my divorce. I also talk about Leslie Jordan’s reaction, “Oh Del, what were you thinking? That picture! It’s so… airbrushed!” and I said, “Yes it is, Leslie, and you should try it.”

On his divorce: “I don’t hold back. In the new show, I don’t tell all the gory details, but I definitely challenge the philosophy that we have to rush to forgiveness and not be angry. Do we really wish our exes well?” Shores worried about how that would be received at first. “I have had such an outpouring from people who’ve gone through breakups or even other conflicts in their lives where they feel less guilty now for having a human response to something. Quite frankly, using my humor and using my no-censor attitude has been very healing for me. It’s the therapy I needed. And certainly I needed to hear those laughs, I needed to feel the applause. I needed to just marinate in love, if you will. I could have closed down creatively, which I did for a while, or I could have embraced this and done what I do best and tell stories. I strongly believe that tragedy, hurt, pain, anger, is the gasoline that’s needed to ignite your creativity.”

On his new film: Blues for Willadean marks the big screen adaptation of Shore’s serio-comic hit The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, starring the incomparable Beth Grant, one of Shores’ muses, as well as The Help Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, Dale Dickey from Winter’s Bone, David Steen and Debby Holiday. Shores admits that he resisted changing the title, but that the name now fits the feeling of the piece better, which is a fairly dark story of spousal abuse. The film is now playing in New York and Los Angeles, and will premiere On Demand soon, so everyone can enjoy Grant’s amazing performance.

About those ladies with C.L.A.P.: Sordid Confessions opens with Shores being accosted outside the theater by a number of women protesters calling themselves Christian Ladies Against Pornography, or C.L.A.P.. He and Jordan pitched a mock reality show where Shores and Jordan would play two Christian women who try to stop homosexual depravity wherever they exist, like gay pride parades and festivals. While the show didn’t happen, Shores really wanted to bring C.L.A.P. back in some way.

About Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield: The notorious author of Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill engaged in a nasty correspondence with Shores after Shores challenged the ill-informed legislator to a debate. Campfield, who claims that it is virtually impossible for people to get HIV from straight sex, proved himself to be just as ill-informed about legislative ethics when he demanded $1,000.00 to debate Shores. Word of the demand has prompted the State Attorney General to open an ethics investigation against Campfield.

About the future: Shores is excited to bring his play Southern Baptist Sissies to the big screen by filming it in the style of classic television shows like Playhouse 90. The format will allow him to film economically and use original cast members like Leslie Jordan.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend’s Reviews: The President and The Spy

This presidential election season has already given Americans plenty to laugh — and cry — about.  Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group is weighing in with their local premiere production of David Mamet’s 2007 satire, November.  Now running at the Mark Taper Forum through November 4^th, it is a scattershot but frequently amusing work… so long as one can tolerate Mamet’s generous use of the F-word.

Ed Begley, Jr. headlines the LA production as President Charles “Chuck” Smith.  As Smith’s failed first term is drawing to a close, he’s less interested in being re-elected than in ensuring he has enough cash with which to build and furnish an impressive presidential library.  When Smith learns he only has $4,000 in his library fund, he begins to concoct far-fetched fundraising schemes with the help of his closest advisor, Archer Brown (played by Rod McLachlan).  Their most immediate target becomes the National Association of Turkey and Turkey By-Products Manufacturers, whose chief representative (the very funny Todd Weeks) happens to be waiting at the moment outside the Oval Office along with two turkeys waiting to be pardoned for Thanksgiving.

   

Smith also enlists the help of his longtime speechwriter, Clarice Bernstein (former Desperate Housewife and Transamerica Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman), to craft an alternate Thanksgiving Day mascot and menu item should the turkey rep fail to meet the President’s extortionist demands.  Bernstein is an out lesbian who has just returned with her partner from a trip to China, where the pair adopted a baby girl.  She also may have brought back an infection with highly-contagious bird flu.

While November is full of ripe ingredients for an effective satire, Mamet’s dish ultimately feels under-baked.  The cast works hard (especially Begley, who suffered a frog in his throat and some resultant poor delivery during his first scene on opening night but triumphed through the remainder of the performance) and Takeshi Kata’s Oval Office set is excellent, but too much of the play’s humor is dependent on unoriginal swipes at Jews, the Chinese and, yes, GLBT people.  Huffman is a hoot in the final scene, wherein she sashays about in a lavish wedding dress waiting for the President to marry her and her partner on national television (an arrangement she has herself extorted), and the play ends up taking a strong stance for same-sex marriage.  GLBT members of the audience, however, have to endure more than a few references to gay love as “disgusting” and “unnatural” along the way.

November is minor Mamet and hardly a play for the ages, unlike most of his other works.  If the satirically-minded among us aren’t getting enough kicks out of the current debates, though, this big-name LA production may be just the ticket to comedy heaven.

Speaking of presidential elections, the last time a James Bond adventure hit the big screen was just after Barack Obama's victory in 2008.  Now, 50 years after the debut of Dr. No -- the first feature movie adapted from one of Ian Fleming's classic novels -- and just prior to next month's premiere of the Sam Mendes-directed Skyfall, there is a terrific new documentary detailing the long-running film series' history.  Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 is now playing theatrically in the UK and on the EPIX satellite channel here in the US.

Writer-director Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon, Rave Against the Machine) expertly distills five decades' worth of backstage and onscreen drama into 98 rapid-fire minutes.  He incorporates interviews with Fleming and those who knew him, including distant cousin and horror film star Christopher Lee, who played the villain Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun; footage from Fleming's home movies; snippets from the 22 Bond features; and, most effectively, excerpts from the various Bond movie scores as the documentary's soundtrack.

"Fleming put his own struggles on the page," says current Bond Daniel Craig, while another commentator refers to the British superspy's creator as "a man of infinite contradictions."  Whereas Bond actually made his first appearance off the page in an American (and Americanized) TV adaptation of Casino Royale, it was producers Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and former circus showman Harry Saltzman who transferred Bond to the silver screen in 1962, and in the iconic form of Sean Connery.

Everything or Nothing (which was Broccoli's and Saltzman's motto as producers, the initials of which — EON — composed the name of their production company) recounts the Connery years, as well as the one-time appearance of George Lazenby in the role.  Lazenby gives a great interview in the doc, during which he reveals that he had to convince Broccoli and Saltman he wasn't gay since his only prior experience on camera was as a male model.  Subsequent Bonds Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan also give illuminating interviews.  

Saltzman eventually had to sell his share in the franchise in order to pay off debts, which made Broccoli the sole proprietor behind the Bond films from 1976 until his death twenty years later.  His daughter, Barbara, and son-in-law Michael Wilson are the current custodians of the Bond name.  "Cubby," Wilson states, "never took the audience for granted."  This shows, I believe, in the series' remarkable consistency and endurance.

Moore's last appearance as Bond in 1985's A View to a Kill is strangely omitted, but Everything or Nothing is otherwise a thoroughly, captivatingly comprehensive tour of 50 years of cinema and cultural history.  It's also one of the best, most uniquely crafted documentaries I've seen this year.

Reverend’s Ratings:

November: B

Everything or Nothing: A-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reel Thoughts Preview: Coastal Disturbances

San Diego Theater is Offering Up a Lot for GLBT Audiences

In addition to a variety of theatrical offerings for every audience, San Diego is an ideal destination to see world premieres and other unusual shows. This Fall is no exception, and here are some highlights.

Allegiance: The Musical, Old Globe Theatre (now through October 28): To call Allegiance a labor of love for Star Trek actor and gay icon George Takei has to be an understatement. The Asian-American actor best known for playing Lt. Sulu on Star Trek and for his hilarious Facebook page based Allegiance on his experiences as a child, when he and his family were placed in a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II. Losing everything, some of the men still went to fight in the war, while others protested being treated like criminals in their own land. The musical stars Telly Leung from Glee and Miss Saigon star Lea Salonga.

Allegiance strikes a nice balance between the horrors of the Japanese Internment Camps and the resilient and hopeful dreams of the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned there. Takei is never less than riveting as a proud veteran who looks back at the mistakes he made and the family he lost and also in flashback as his own loving grandfather who never lost his optimism, even in the cold environs of the Heart Mountain Camp. Leung sings and dances well, and gives his role depth and heart. Salonga is wonderful as Leung’s protective sister, who falls in love with a resistance-minded fellow internee. Her Broadway voice gives the music much-needed star power, although none of the songs will probably stand on their own outside of the show. You only have a short time to catch it at The Old Globe!

Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, La Jolla Playhouse (now through October 17): Get your Mad Men cocktail on and travel back to 1958 to see the swinging singer with a secret. Set in a smoky Greenwich Village nightclub more than a decade before the Stonewall Riots, the audience gets up close and personal with smooth Sam Bendrix, who is giving his final performance in New York City. Handsome Luke MacFarlane, who played Kevin Walker’s sweet husband Scotty in the much-loved show Brothers & Sisters, performs songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Kurt Weill. McFarlane’s Bendrix tells his poignant tale of a gay man looking for a love “that dare not speak its name” at a time when being gay was illegal.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, La Jolla Playhouse (November 6 through December 16): Des McAnuff, the man who brought The Who’s Tommy to Broadway, is tackling another challenging musical, this time based on the music by the Flaming Lips. Yoshimi is a young Japanese artist who must battle for her life in a fantastic and surreal robot world. Fortunately, Mitt Romney is not one of her robot attackers...

When Last We Flew, Diversionary Theatre (November 8 through December 9): San Diego’s GLBT theater company is finishing a successful reimagining of Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz’ first hit Pippin, but their next show is even more intriguing. Taking off from the iconic Tony Kushner play Angels in America, When Last We Flew tells the story of a gay teenage boy in a small town whose life is changed when he sneaks the town library’s only copy of Angels in America out and is exposed to the play’s emotional power. Extraordinary things begin to happen to him and those in his dull Kansas suburb as a result of the play.

Preview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend’s Reviews: Odds & Ends

The current, quiet in-between time that bridges the end of summer, with its popcorn movies and overall warm-weather frivolity, and the start of the all too “serious” awards season affords me the opportunity to go through the pile of review-consideration media generously provided by zealous PR folks from coast to coast. Here’s what I’ve watched, listened to and/or read recently among new and upcoming releases…

Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season (DVDavailable now): While the late series never grabbed me, my hopelessly-devoted partner was thrilled when this five disc farewell set arrived. I do recommend its bonus features, which include a “Finishing the Hat” episode commentary by series creator Marc Cherry (who deserves kudos for naming every episode after a Stephen Sondheim song title or phrase), deleted scenes and bloopers, and “I Guess This is Goodbye,” a series of honest and often moving reflections by various longtime cast members. Farewell, Wisteria Lane, at least until Cherry comes up with a reunion movie.

Del Shores: Sordid Confessions (DVDavailable now): Shores, the Southern-born son of a Baptist preacher, is beloved in the gay community for his play-turned-movie Sordid Lives (which also became a cable series) as well as Southern Baptist Sissies and writing for the American version of Queer as Folk. As a standup comedian, however, he doesn’t exhibit the satiric but good-natured aplomb that usually makes his written work so endearing. In Sordid Confessions, recorded in front of a live Dallas audience, he comes across as a wannabe Kathy Griffin and takes mean-spirited jabs at little people, the homeless, and now-conservative former Saturday Night Live star Victoria Jackson. Skip this and wait for his upcoming movie Blues for Willadean (starring Beth Grant and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer) instead. Or even better, re-watch Sordid Lives.

Twisted Romance (DVDavailable now): Twisted is right. This sexually-charged, Spanish-language potboiler by Jose Celestino Campusano isn’t for everyone, but more adventurous gay viewers will find much to admire. These include its provocative plot about a broodingly attractive (or should that be attractively brooding?) teen who begins a relationship with a middle-aged, sexually abusive man; the brave lead performances of Oscar Genova and Nehuen Zapata; and the film’s gritty yet scenic Argentinian setting.

Virago’s Love Over Fear (CDavailable now). This second studio album by female indie-rock duo Virago (a.k.a. Amy Schindler and Maire Tashjian) alternates in tone between fierce anthems and more reflective songs inspired by Schindler’s fight against breast cancer. The collection is generally inspired and inspiring, especially the soulful “To Be With You” and the rowdy title track. Schindler sounds a bit too Melissa Etheridge-esque at times, but lesbian women and gay men alike are sure to enjoy it.

Zombie Cat (bookavailable October 1st from Skyhorse Publications). Yes, you read the title correctly. Just in time for Halloween comes this whimsically ghoulish, vividly illustrated tale by Isabel Atherton of a sweet housecat, Tiddles, who turns into an undead, flesh-eating beast after being bitten by an infected rodent. If The Walking Dead kept a pet instead of eating it, Tiddles would fit the bill perfectly. In the end, though, the kitty still just wants to be loved by his non-infected human, Jake. Despite occasional scenes of Tiddles chewing on entrails, older kids, teens and my fellow twisted adults will get a big kick out of Zombie Cat.

Barbra Streisand’s Release Me (albumavailable now on vinyl and October 9th on CD). While I haven’t yet finished listening to the advance press download of this 11-track compilation of never-before-released Streisand recordings from 1963 to the present, I’ve heard enough to know it’s a stunning must-have whether you are a Babs-aholic or not. Songs include showtunes "Home" (from The Wiz), "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" (from Finian’s Rainbow) and "Heather on the Hill" (from Brigadoon), as well as songs by Jimmy Webb, Randy Newman and Billie Holiday’s arranger, Ray Ellis.

And while I haven’t yet received it, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival in my mailbox of the world premiere cast recording of Carrie: The Musical. The notorious 1988 Broadway production never got a cast album, but a recordingof the recent off-Broadway revival (starring the fabulous Marin Mazzie as the tortured psychic teenager’s religious-fanatic mother) was just released September 25th through Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records. I’m so excited, I might just have to go put on my prom dress and pour fake pig blood all over myself!

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reel Thoughts Interview: Wickedly Divalicious

Thousands of audience members have fallen in love with Alli Mauzey as Glinda in various Broadway companies of Wicked, but her breakout role was her hilarious role as crazy Lenora in the musical Cry-Baby, based on the John Waters comedy. (If you haven’t seen her perform the showstopping “Screw Loose” on YouTube, watch it immediately!) The girl from Anaheim Hills who grew up to watch over the Land of Oz from a floating bubble will be joining fellow Wicked alum and Broadway star Nicole Parker for two nights of delicious displays of their diva mastery with the Phoenix Symphony September 28th and 29th. I caught up with Mauzey and asked her what makes her a Wicked Diva, and what’s next for the rising star.

NC: So, what makes you a Wicked Diva?
AM: All being a Wicked Diva means is that Nicole and I got to star as Glinda and Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. We're not divas in the negative sense for sure! We would be the first people to call each other out on that! The night is a celebration of these two iconic women that we got to play and a celebration of so many more women in pop music, classical music and Broadway.

NC: What are your favorite roles that you’ve played? What roles do you want to play but haven’t?
AM: I love playing Glinda, and I loved playing Lenora in Cry-Baby and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Roles I hope to play, well, originating roles is ideal. I also love the character of Lizzie in 110 in the Shade and I love her music in that show.

NC: I was lucky enough to see you in Cry-Baby in La Jolla and then in New York . You were hilarious and I still rave to my friends about your performance of “Screw-Loose”. What was that experience like?
AM: Thank you! Cry-Baby was the first time I had originated a role. That combined with the character having a few "screws loose" gave me the freedom to be boundless in creating her. In my mind, there was nothing Lenora could do that was too absurd or too crazy because in her mind it always made sense. It was such a blast to work on a character like that. Very freeing.

NC: I am bummed that they never made a cast album of Cry-Baby. Isn’t there a following clamoring for that?
AM: Me too! I meet fans all the time who ask about a Cry-Baby cast album. It's too bad one didn't get done. It had some really fun music and lyrics. I mean, come on... the opening song, "Anti Polio Picnic"? "Girl Can I Kiss you With Tongue"? Anyone?

NC: What did you enjoy most about playing Glinda in the San Francisco production of Wicked?
AM: I fell in love with San Francisco! I had no idea how much I was going to love it. One of my favorite cities in the United States! I loved the ocean air in the city environment, I had no idea how much good food was up the there, and it just has some incredibly beautiful and breathtaking areas.

NC: I understand that you are from Anaheim Hills California. What was it like growing up near Disneyland , the Happiest Place on Earth?
AM: I love Disneyland! I've had an annual pass for as long as I can remember. Friday nights in high school consisted of meeting my friends at Snow White's Wishing Well in the park and hanging out until the park closed. And on some Saturday nights, Carnation Plaza had a swing band and you could go swing dancing which was always fun! Disneyland is such a familiar thing for me and I know the park like the back of my hand. I love taking people there who have never been.

NC: What was your journey to Broadway like?
AM: My journey to Broadway... It took me a while to warm up to being on stage because I was so incredibly shy as a child. My mother put me in some dance classes and such because my sister had been doing them but also because she thought it would help me come out of my shell. It was painful at first to have all the attention on me on stage. But the more I did it the more comfortable I became. But I mostly became comfortable because I had such a joy for singing and playing with my friends on stage. I also had other interests growing up but by the time I was ready to go to college, it just made sense for me to go into acting so I did. I moved to New York and graduated from NYU. Moved back to California after I graduated, got an agent in Los Angeles. One of the first auditions my agents sent me out on was for Hairspray. I went in for it, danced, sang, read sides and after a few callbacks got an offer to join the Broadway company so I moved back to New York and got my Equity Card and made my Broadway debut. It was an amazing show and I look back on it so fondly. I absolutely love the musical Hairspray. I was sad to see it close because it meant more people couldn't see it.

NC: What advice would you give to other aspiring Wicked Divas who want to follow in your footsteps (or floating bubble)?

AM: Work hard and always find the joy in it.

NC: What else would you like readers to know about you, your co-star Nicole Parker, and your concert?
AM: Nicole and I met doing Wicked in New York and have become such great friends since then. We had so much in common, grew up about 20 minutes from each other, knew some of the same people, worked at some of the same theatre in SoCal, et cetera. It was like connecting with an old friend even though we had just met. So when it comes to us and our concert, you see two friends rocking out and sharing stories and it's just a fun evening of great music and laughter. I have a blast with Nicole each and every time we perform together and I think audiences do too.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.