A perfect throwback Thursday morning show tune. From the 2011 Broadway production of GODSPELL, Hunter Parrish sings “Beautiful City.” Originally written for the 1973 movie of the musical, the Broadway creative team decided to add the song to the stage version. Beautiful.
In revisiting the material, the production team explored new arrangements and harmonies that honored the original but had a fresher sound for 2011. Check out the newly-revised “Save the People” below with Hunter and the rest of the cast.
News anchor Thomas Roberts (via Facebook) America’s first openly gay national news anchor, Thomas Roberts, has launched a new digital series focusing on upbeat stories for the LGBTQ community. Titled ‘Gay Good News,’ the series streams on Thomas’ new Facebook page, Thomas Roberts LIVE at 5. Thomas told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently that with so many Pride Month celebrations canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic he wanted to provide upbeat content to help fill the gap. Roberts says the streaming series is inspired by The Office star John Krasinski’s YouTube video series ‘Some Good News.’ “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” Roberts shared with the Journal-Constitution. “There are so many good things happening in the world and it’s easy to lose sight of that. We need more good news!” The plan is three Facebook Live shows a week for the month of June, although he has left the door open to continuing past Pride Month. “We can take this platform and celebrate things,” Thomas shared during his first episode on June 8. “We want your voice to be amplified… We hope to do something really fun and really special because we’ve been through a weird moment with isolation. For me, it’s deeply personal.”
That first episode streamed from Thomas’ home in Atlanta, Georgia, featured a chat with Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordan of Will & Grace fame. During the pandemic, the actor has seen his Instagram account swell from 80k followers to over 4.7 million thanks to his hysterical daily observations of life while sheltering at home. Celebrating Jordan’s success, Roberts declared, “He is the best thing to come out of COVID!” Part of the charm of the series has been Roberts coping with his lack of tech skills. That first show opened with the veteran newsman holding his iPad up to the camera of his laptop to play the intro sequence. And for his interview with Jordan, he sat next to his laptop computer on a plexiglass stand with the actor streaming through. In the second episode, Roberts moved to Zoom technology but still struggled a bit to play his intro. But all done with a sense of humor. His most recent installment covered the landmark ruling on LGBTQ protections in the workplace by the U.S. Supreme Court and a chat with comedienne Kathy Griffin.
After ending his seven-year run as anchor of MSNBC Live, Thomas relocated to Atlanta where he became the evening anchor of the local CBS News affiliate WGCL.
Some news items you might have missed: • SCOTUS: I’m still on cloud nine over today’s landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that current civil rights laws prohibit discriminating against LGBTQ people in the workplace. Read my post on the momentous ruling here. • Instinct Magazine: The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri now officially has a gay Black man in charge. The Rt. Rev. Deon K. Johnson, who is not only Black and gay but also a married Barbadian-immigrant and father of two children, was elected in a landslide of 115 votes out of 164. As the 11th bishop for the diocese, he represents 42 parishes in the Eastern half of Missouri. • Quibi: The new streaming app premieres its new program from ’60 Minutes’ titled, ‘60 in 6.’ Stories include features, investigations, and profiles in 6-10 minutes. In this episode, Wesley Lowery takes you to Minneapolis to go in-depth, in minutes. Download Quibi here and try it out for two weeks for free.
• Out Music: Heather Mae and Crys Matthews’s new single “6 Feet Apart” showcases the phenomenal talent of the award-winning Mae (who has been described as Stevie Nicks meets Sara Bareilles) and the unique fusion of Matthews’ Americana folk/jazz sound. In addition to the new single, the duo has announced their LGBTQ+ virtual Pride concert tour, “The Singing OUT Tour,” with dates scheduled throughout the month of June. The concerts will feature not only music but games and giveaways as well.
• CBS News: Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on policing Tuesday that aims to accomplish three things — to incentivize police departments to use modernized best practices, to increase information sharing by tracking people who have “excessive” use-of-force complaints, and to address mental health, homelessness, and addiction. • Philadelphia Inquirer: A Philadelphia court supervisor has been fired after a video surfaced on Monday of him tearing down Black Lives Matter protest signs made by children at a South Philadelphia park.
According to reports, this is a Philadelphia city court supervisor tearing down childrens’ signs saying black lives matter. When the person recording says ‘black lives matter,’ the man responds, ‘Not to me.’ He’s apparently been fired by the city. pic.twitter.com/x3udrMbHNQ
Tom Goss in ‘Regretting’ (courtesy photo) Out singer/songwriter Tom Goss has released the emotional single/music video for “Regretting” from his seventh studio album. Territories. On the track, neon bass reverberates through “Regretting” as a dreamy chant takes hold. After walking in on his husband with another lover, Tom and his husband decided to open their marriage, resulting in Tom falling in love with another man, to his husband’s dismay. The next music video in the story, “Regretting” comes full circle with Tom expressing his boundless love for his husband. The music video marks Tom’s third collaboration with Mean Girls/Looking actor Daniel Franzese. Franzese previously co-starred with Goss in the music videos for “La Bufadora” and “Quebec.” The 15-track concept album, produced by Ian Carmichael (Lamb, The Orchids, One Dove) candidly delves into the complications of love.
“At the time, I was going through a really rough patch with my husband,” Goss shared with Gay Times. “I was writing a lot about the struggles we were having and I realized that I wasn’t focusing enough on why I was still in the relationship. I wasn’t honoring what we had built, what was still beautiful, and the potential future I hoped we still would have.” “‘Regretting’ is ultimately about not regretting. Regardless of how hard things have been, or may be in the future, I won’t live in regret. I will work to remember the wonderful, the beautiful, and the inspirational, regardless of how hard it may be from moment to moment.” To celebrate Pride Month, Tom is hosting a live stream show every Friday at 8PM PT for the month of June on the GROWLr dating app. The live stream events, titled Friday Night Live, feature the crooner serenading fans with original songs as well as covers. Goss has earned critical acclaim for Territories, which explores new emotional and musical terrain for the guitar-toting troubadour including a deep dive into electronic synth-pop sonic landscapes. Throughout the past year-and-a-half of world exploration and self-discovery, Goss found himself in a place that was not his own. Believing that we are more susceptible to emotional growth when we are pushed out of our comfort zone, Territories abandons any facade of safety and dives into the unknown. (scene from ‘Regretting’) Last year, I chatted with Goss at length about the story behind the new album, the new musical direction of the collection, and much more. Hit the play button below to hear Tom Goss share about his new album, Territories.
L-R Bette Midler, Ben Platt, Judith Light in ‘The Politician’ The gloves come off, and the claws are out. Get ready for the spiciest and most iconic election battle in NYC history. Netflix’s The Politician returns June 19. Check out the trailer for Season 2 of Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, pitting Ben Platt against Judith Light and Bette Midler as he attempts his next run for office. The new season time jumps three years ahead from the end of Season One where our hero, Payton Hobart (Ben Platt), is now in his third year at Colombia University and has set his sights on unseating New York State Sen. Dede Standish (Judith Light), a longtime incumbent and currently serving as the Senate Majority Leader. Bette Midler is along for the ride as Standish’s no-nonsense Chief of Staff, Hadassah Gold, who promises her boss, “We’re destroying him – you’ll thank me later.”
Standish’s reelection was supposed to be easy until Hobart jumped in the race. All of this is part of Hobart’s master plan to eventually become president of the United States, a goal he’s held since he was seven-years-old. The series also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Zoey Deutsch, Lucy Boynton, Laura Dreyfuss, Theo Germaine, David Corenswet, and Ryan Haddad. The always dependable Jackie Hoffman joins the cast for Season 2. The trailer moves at warp-speed dropping morsels of plot points including Hobart obtaining proof that Standish was in a throuple, campaigns bugging the other camps, and team members turning ‘double agents.’ And then there’s Midler demanding a staffer quickly purchase some “spicy lube.” The entire 8-episode season drops Friday, June 19, on Netflix. Judith Light in ‘The Politician’ (screen capture)
Funnyman Michael Henry really, really, really misses having sex. But newly coupled Lyle and Alejandro seem to have a different perspective when it comes to ‘needs’ and ‘wants.’ Check out Henry’s latest video, “Are Young Guys Really Not Doing It Anymore?”
Beginning tonight – Playbill is proud to present Pride Plays 2020 in celebration of Pride month. The festival, taking place throughout the month of June will feature four primetime live streams of key LGBTQIA+ plays and culminate in a musical celebration with Playbill’s Pride Spectacular June 28. The event, presented by Playbill, will serve as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The Pride Plays season will include: • one in two by Donja R. Love at 7PM ET tonight, June 12 • Masculinity Max by MJ Kaufman at 7PM ET June 19 • The Five Lesbian Brothers reuniting for a one-night-only live reading of their 1992 play Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy at 7PM ET June 22 • Mart Crowley’s The Men From the Boys, directed by Zachary Quinto, at 7PM ET June 26. All live streams will air on the Playbill website at Playbill.com/PridePlays. Honoring iconic LGBTQIA+ musicals, creators, and musical performers, the Spectacular will feature performances by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Tony Award winner John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Tony nominee Jenn Colella, Tony nominee Caitlin Kinnunen, Pose star Mj Rodriguez, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon, Cheyenne Jackson, and more.
L-R Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer in ‘Call Me By Your Name’ As of June 12, movie production in Hollywood will be allowed to resume. But the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will still be felt as actors get back into character. Not only will social distancing be required, but sexual distancing will also be the name of the game as well. A leaked 22-page document authored by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a group comprised of Hollywood studios, as well as Dr. Daniel Uslan, an infectious disease specialist at UCLA Medical Center, contains a list of guidelines that affect everyone working on a set. According to the document, “close contact moments” like romantic interludes or sex scenes should “either be rewritten, abandoned or CGI (computer-based imagery) fixes them.” The guidelines also advise that any fight scenes be reconsidered. In addition to the new rules for on-screen action, crew members will have to wear protective gear onset and every set will have to have a ‘coronavirus compliance officer’ present. Minors who might be overactive are to be relocated to off-set locations, and it’s suggested that actors and crew members keep petting animal actors to a minimum. TV shows will continue to broadcast without live audiences present. Plus, casting directors will be required to conduct auditions behind plexiglass barriers. Production in Hollywood came to an abrupt halt in mid-March as the coronavirus health threat spread across the country. Since then, several TV talk shows have turned to CGI for more creative backgrounds as hosts broadcast from their homes during the shelter-at-home orders in California.
Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Joel Green (above) offers some good advice this Monday – ‘Do not give your past the power to define your future.’ Follow him on Instagram here. • Amazon Prime: The streaming video platform has curated a collection of LGBTQ films, documentaries, and television series all in one place for you to peruse including Rocketman, The Handmaiden, The L Word, RuPaul’s Drag Race and more. • Provincetown: The Massachusetts LGBTQ getaway is open for business just in time for Pride Month. The announcement by Governor Charlie Baker of Phase 2 of the reopening, effective today, allows lodging, restaurants, and retail to open under newly eased and specific guidelines mandated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (image via Provincetown Instagram) • Out: Oregon State Head Coach Jonathan Smith dismissed sophomore football player Rocco Carley after learning he’d used racist and homophobic language in a recently discovered audio recording. Smith, along with the school’s Athletic Director Scott Barnes, agreed on booting Carley from the team saying what they heard was “entirely unacceptable, regardless of the circumstance or environment.” Carley has issued an apology saying – like just about everyone who finds themselves in this predicament – the recording doesn’t ‘represent’ who he is today. • The Advocate: L.A. Pride organizers have stepped away from the previously announced Black solidarity march after the event came under fire for its involvement with law enforcement. Some activists noted that any partnership with cops is counterintuitive to the purpose of the protests taking place in response to the killing of George Floyd, police brutality, and race-based violence. Pride organizers say they are “in full support” of the new protest, which is now named the All Black Lives Matter March. • New Music: Dig the super-catchy new single from pop-rock band Neon Trees, “New Best Friend,” from the band’s upcoming album, I Can Feel You Forgetting Me.“They call me crazy, but crazy’s my new best friend.” “’New Best Friend’ is about embracing the crazy that lives within all of us,” shared out frontman Tyler Glenn. “The nostalgic highs, the unflattering lows, and the beautiful messiness of being human. I’ve realized that there are memories with people that have come and gone in my life, and while I reminisce on those moments, ultimately at the end of the day I’m still left with myself.”
Mariah Carey zoom bombs the cast of Schitt’s Creek (screen capture) The cast of Schitt’s Creek zoomed up a special musical presentation for 2020 grads as part of ‘Dear Class of 2020’, a virtual commencement celebration broadcast on YouTube. After sharing their pride and congratulations to the new grads (complete with the exemplary vocabulary skills of Catherine O’Hara’s Moira Rose), the cast began a gorgeous a capella rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Hero” (led by Noah Reid) in honor of the teachers who guided their students to the finish line. But it wouldn’t be Schitt’s Creek without a twist, and so guess who zoomed themselves right into the musical moment? Mimi herself, Mariah Carey – complete with wind machine for flowing hair effects. It’s a lovely musical moment for a Monday morning 🙂
