LGBTQ news and entertainment
Tafari Anthony (photo: Elliott J. Tilleczek)
Fight for what you want, take back your power, and find contentment in your current situation.
Musically, Tafari’s powerhouse vocals are framed in a sonic soundscape featuring elements of pop, reggae, and Afro-beat. The result is a totally infectious earworm. Hit the play button below. You can follow Tafari Anthony on Instagram here and Facebook here.
L-R Jeb Havens, Julie Garnye, Matt Zarley Recording artists Jeb Havens, Matt Zarley, and Julie Garnyé collaborated on the music video long-distance from their respective isolations during the pandemic lockdown. I’ve profiled two-time OutMusic Award winner Zarley and the handsome Mr. Havens before on TRR, but this is my first chance to share Ms. Garnye’s talents here as well. All three have lengthy resumes that reflect their vocal gifts and “Found” proves to be the perfect vehicle for the talented trio. Havens leads out alongside a spare, pensive piano accompaniment, and is soon joined by Zarley and a soothing cello line. Next stop – the chorus, tightly-woven harmonies, and that key change you know is coming. Like a powerful clarion call, Garnye sings as the beat kicks in:
There’s a place where we don’t have to feel alone / Every time that you call out, you’re a little less alone If you only say the word / From across the silence your voice is heard
Beat, beat, beat, accelerando, more harmonies (excellent musicianship, btw) and we get to the big gorgeous ending that seems our due. Big props to Zarley who edited the video. Three solo shots could have been a real snore to watch, but the whole shindig takes on such visual dynamics it feels like having a whole Broadway ensemble on my screen. Enough of my prattling, though. Hit play, kick back and feel good. The right message at the right time.
Broadway fans are about to lose their minds! The filmed version of the mega-hit musical Hamilton – originally scheduled to hit theaters on October 15 – will now premiere on Disney+ on Friday, July 3. The televised version was shot over three days in July 2016 with the original Broadway cast. Squee!!! Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show’s creator, and Bob Iger, executive chairman of The Walt Disney Company, made the surprise announcement Tuesday on “Good Morning America.”
(image via Instagram)
Gustavo Naspolini and mom (via Instagram)
Nathan McCallum was working out (for a change) his back and biceps with those band thingies that I totally keep meaning to order:
Trans bodybuilder Paulo Batista was sweating out a major pump in his garage gym:
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Garage sweat for #humpday🐪. #quarantinelife wacky beard #quarantinebeard❤️ @flexcomics
Out in the sunshine, Ramses Principe offered up some new ways to workout abs:
Gymbear Wes Dupree was delivering while distancing in Seattle:
Petr Hollesch went on a walk with his cute pup:
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My little puppy #amstaff #spring #southmoravia #czech #gay #daily #instagood #instaphoto #tbt #igers
Fitness model (and Britney Spears’s main squeeze) Sam Asghari got pumped taking a neighborhood bike ride:
Ignacio Pérez Rey took his Madrid morning slow:
AND – there were some great tributes to the 100th anniversary of Tom of Finland:
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#tomoffinnland #toms100 #throwback to the great shoot with @kikodionisio_photography
L-R Aretha Franklin and Tom Jones (1969)
We begin with a particularly lively Aretha, looking fantastic, delivering a SPECTACULAR “I Say A Little Prayer.” (Seriously, my head almost exploded.)
Medley next, with Tom and Aretha, both at the top of their powers, with no hint of competitive elbowing – just a mutual admiration society (Toms knows who’s in charge here) – “ It’s Not Unusual” / “Seesaw”* / “Spirit In The Dark”
“Seesaw” (4:30 to 6:47) is a perfect example of what I thought life would always be like — inclusive of vocals, visuals, and vibe.
Last up, “The Party’s Over,” with Aretha looking gorgeous in white beaded mini dress (!), sporting a perfect fro do (!!) and Tom reminding me why he was my first – and best – imaginary celebrity boyfriend.
Tony Award winner Betty Buckley sings Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Souvenir” set to music by Ricky Ian Gordon and played on the piano by Kenny Werner. The delicate arrangement, brimming with emotion, was a collaboration between Werner and Buckley. “I love this poem and the song,” says Buckley. And the connection is apparent in her deeply human, artful performance. Miss Betty contributed the recording as part of the Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Challenge. If you look up the definition of the word “sublime”…
Rock and roll icon Little Richard (screen capture)
The musician, whose birth name was Richard Penniman, was 87, although some sources say he was older. His death was confirmed by his son, Danny Jones Penniman, who told the New York Times the cause was cancer.
Richard’s manic 45s for Los Angeles indie label Specialty Records — “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up,” “Jenny Jenny,” “Keep A-Knockin’” and “Good Golly Miss Molly” — became major crossover hits in the pop sphere and influenced succeeding generations of rockers.
Pompadoured, mustachioed, slathered with pancake makeup and popping his mascara-painted eyes — “Ooh my soul, I’m the prettiest man in rock ‘n’ roll,” he declaimed — and graced with an ego as outsized as his personality and his voice, the daringly androgynous musician established himself as the wildest performer of his musical era.
Little Richard was an inaugural inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. Over the years, the flamboyant artist seemed to have had a complicated relationship with his own sexuality. Ebony reports in 1995 he told Penthouse Magazine, “I’ve been gay all my life and I know God is a God of love, not of hate.” In 2012, he shared with GQ Magazine, “We are all both male and female. Sex to me is like a smorgasbord. Whatever I feel like, I go for. What kind of sexual am I? I am omnisexual!” But then in 2017, during an interview with Three Angels Broadcasting Network, he seemed to recant it all:
“Anybody come in show business, they’re going to say you’re gay. Are you straight? Are you a homosexual something? They’re going to say it. But God, Jesus, he made men, men, he made women, women, you know? And you’ve got to live the way God wants you to live.”
Lincoln Center Theatre will stream (for free!) it’s Tony Award-winning 2015 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s THE KING AND I (2015) tonight, May 8, at 8PM ET on BroadwayHD. Directed by Bartlett Sher, starring Kelli O’Hara, Ken Watanabe, and Ruthie Ann Miles, the production was honored with 4 Tony Awards including Best Revival. If you can’t make it tonight, don’t worry – the show will be available to stream for free for 48 hours following the viewing party. If you like to do the Twitter participation thing, use the hashtag #RNHMovieNight to watch along with other Broadway fans. This screening is being presented in support of The Actors Fund, an organization near and dear to my heart 🙂 To donate, visit: ActorsFund.org/TheKingAndI
The original and new casts of Queer Eye will compete on Celebrity Family Feud
• Daily Herald: Two Utah County businesses told staff to not follow quarantine guidelines and required staff who had tested positive to report to work resulting in 68 positive cases. • Variety: For the past seven decades, the show has always gone on for the Tony Awards, which honor the best Broadway performances and productions. But with the 74th edition being postponed from its planned June 7 date due to the coronavirus, there’s a real chance that the ceremony will be scrapped altogether this year. • CBS News: At an event marking National Nurses Day at the White House, Donald Trump contradicted Sophia Thomas, the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners who works at a community health center in New Orleans, who said the availability of personal protective equipment has been “sporadic.”
At an event marking #NationalNursesDay at the White House, President Trump contradicted a nurse who said the availability of personal protective equipment has been ‘sporadic’ pic.twitter.com/hAKTybRDYp
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 6, 2020