Tony/Grammy Award nominee Vanessa Williams & Daphne Oz (screen capture) Created by the producers of The Dr. Oz Show, The Good Dish will serve up chat and chow for a new talk show scheduled for Fall 2020. Award-winning actress/singer Vanessa Williams, Daphne Oz (daughter of Dr. Oz), Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and Jamika Pessoa (The Next Food Network Star) will serve as hosts. According to a statement, The Good Dish will offer simple shortcuts, everyday recipes, and trends that will bring families closer, save money, make life less complicated, and help them figure out what they are having for dinner. The show is a spin-off based on segments titled “The Dish on Oz” that have been featured on The Dr. Oz Show.
John Weiser, President First Run Television, SPT. said in a released statement:
We have experienced overwhelming feedback from our audiences on “The Dish on Oz” cooking segments, which have been recently featured on The Dr. Oz Show.
When Daphne Oz and this all-star ensemble were available, we recognized the opportunity for viewers, advertisers, and local broadcast stations.
We have on-air tested this format and talent for two years perfecting this show we are now bringing to market. Spinoffs have the highest success rate of converting into multi-year franchises. In fact, spinoffs gave us the great Dr. Oz straight from Oprah!
Daniel McGraffin (image via Instagram) In a new documentary from Channel 5 in the U.K., former military service member Daniel McGraffin says he found it difficult to find a decent paying job until he discovered he could earn up to £1,000 a day as a gay-for-pay porn actor. Sharing his story in The Sex Business: Swinging Both Ways, McGraffin says he spent six years as a soldier in the artillery until one day, due to lack of sleep, he snapped. At the end of a two-week leave, he went AWOL for a year. He was sentenced to 8 months in a military prison, and upon his release went in search of a job. After working as a janitor in a gym, then as a personal trainer and a DJ, a friend (who works as a dominatrix) told him about a guy who was “totally straight but does gay porn.” She put him in contact with a producer who told McGraffin “the majority of it’s fake” and hired the former military service member for £750 for a shoot. McGraffin liked the experience – and the money – so he researched the porn industry and eventually landed a 3-year contract with Lucas Entertainment.
He says he looked into the straight porn industry but found “in gay porn, there’s way less competition, and there’s no money in straight porn. For a straight guy, there’s way more money in gay porn.” And so, he decided to work as a gay-for-pay performer. McGraffin, who goes by the stage name Geordie Jackson, pointedly shares in the documentary, “My sexual identity is straight, one hundred percent straight.” His girlfriend, Freya, appears in the documentary as well and she’s totally onboard with McGraffin’s career choice. “It’s fake,” she tells the viewer. “People say he must be a little bit gay, [but] when he gets back, he doesn’t want to think about anyone with a d**k.” Freya explains if he was working in straight porn it might bother her since there would be the potential for him to be attracted to co-stars, but with men “that risk isn’t there.” https://www.instagram.com/p/B1JF-X_nbNg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link McGraffin admits there are people who say he’s gay because he looks so at ease in his videos, but he just takes that as a compliment on his acting skills. “They don’t know the tricks of the trade,” he explains. “They say ‘you look like you’re enjoying it’. And I say, ‘thanks, that means I’m a good actor.’” Asked if he considers himself an ally to the LGBTQ community, he’s unsure but shares that his brother is openly gay. He also explains the logic, at least for him, for remaining in the adult entertainment industry as a gay-for-pay performer. “I ain’t smart, academically,”he admits. “It’s either this or going to work in a warehouse, ’cause I have no qualifications. I have driving qualifications, but obviously, I’ve had one of them lifestyles where I’ve been banned from driving. So driving jobs are a no go.” “You need to make your money, man,” he continues. “I’m glad I found porn because I make more money now than I ever have. I see the perks of it now, I don’t even think about what I’ve got to do anymore, it’s that easy.” Some viewers, however, took to Twitter to express their skepticism about the “100% straight” label and also take offense at the gay-for-pay idiom. We’re not here to judge, though. How McGraffin identifies is his own business. And speaking of ‘business,’ check out some of the adult entertainer’s Instagram account below.
Paul Middleton releases his new cover of “We Found Love” International recording artist Paul Middleton drops his new video and chill remix cover of Rihanna and Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love” today to raise awareness of mental health in the community. Middleton candidly shares that he’s had his own demons to battle. “I had really bad days. Some days, I would be on social media and it just made me question who I was. If I didn’t look a certain way, then I didn’t belong in the LGBTQ community, or I had to be sexually ‘loud’ with pictures, which is not me.” Middleton says the lyrics ‘We found love in a hopeless place’ to be a reminder that self-acceptance combined with a love for oneself allows for receiving love from outside.
“We are not doing enough to tackle mental health. We need more promotion of self-love in a healthy way and stop using social media to project an unrealistic way of life.”
The music video for “We Found Love” is a celebration of exploring self-love with his new love with his partner, filmed in Sardinia, Italy.
“We Found Love” is out now on iTunes, Spotify, Apple and taken from ‘Remixes’, an EP due for release in February 2020. The track has already been added to the ‘New Look, Old Hook’ playlist on Spotify putting him alongside artists like Kygo, Whitney Houston and Jonas Blue. The singer, who’s toured the world with his music, has already had two #1 hits on the LGBTQ Music Chart in the UK with his covers of “Careless Whisper” and “Vincent.” Follow Paul on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie and Judy Kuhn (screen capture) I’m been meaning to post this for a Throwback Thursday post for months, but the Thursdays roll by and…well, I used to be blond. In any case, many times I get to the end of the day and I don’t want to pay attention to an hour-long story on TV. So, I fire up the YouTube app on my Apple TV and chill watching videos I’ve ‘favorited’ in the past. This performance is easily one of my ‘go-to’ videos. Recorded live at the My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies concert on September 28, 1998, at Carnegie Hall, this trio of world-class Broadway actresses come together beautifully in a mashup of three Andrew Lloyd Webber love songs. Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, and Tony Award nominees Marin Mazzie (who we lost last year to a long cancer battle) & Judy Kuhn, separately perform “Love Changes Everything,” “Unexpected Song” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” respectively, to stunning effect, Go ahead and hit play first, then I’ll share a few things.
Awesome, right? Now, I wanted to explain why this lands with me so well. First, what I hear: all three singers have terrific musicianship. When I listen to this, I hear voices singing to the ends of the phrases. They never kind of ‘peter out.’ They sing – with energy – to the ends of the phrases and cut off with purpose. Sometimes you’ll hear singers be a bit lazy and hold a note too long. The problem can be the note they hold might clash with the chord structure of the next phrase. Second, notice how all three actresses stay focused on the stories they’re telling. Look at their eyes – even when not singing, they never leave the narrative they’re in. Even when they all move downstage at the 5:52 mark, they don’t glance at the other two singers. They are IN it. And finally, huge props to the arranger (I believe it was David Loud?) who wove these songs into such a gorgeous tapestry. Bonus points for making sure the ladies’ lyrics for backup phrases all still make sense in each of their stories. No one ever sings a word that doesn’t logically fit into their ‘scene.’ The entire concert is well worth watching (the DVD is available on Amazon). The production features a veritable whos-who of Broadway leading ladies including the aforementioned as well as Bebe Neuwirth, Karen Ziemba, Andrea McArdle, Linda Eder, Jennifer Holiday, Priscilla Lopez, Nell Carter, Dorothy Loudon, Rebecca Luker, and Elaine Stritch.
The stars of the new Dekkoo series, The ThirdThe Third is a provocative, sexy new original series created for the gay-centric streaming platform Dekkoo. The series follows Jason (Sean McBride), a young man who enters into a passionate three-way relationship with an established gay Palm Springs couple – Carl (Corey Page) and David (Ryland Shelton). But he quickly learns that “adding a third” could bring a whole new set of skepticism, jealousy, and secrets. In this episode, I chat with show creator Matthew Lynn, who fashioned some of the series after his own real-life experiences in a ‘triad’ or ‘thruple.’ Producer/filmmaker Matthew Lynn Lynn was inspired to make the series to show the world there are different kinds of relationships that can work, none are wrong or right and all take some work. The Third will be available for streaming on Dekkoo beginning October 24. Click the play button to listen to my chat with Matthew Lynn.
For those not familiar – Dekkoo is a streaming entertainment platform much like Hulu or Netflix, but its focus is on LGBTQ-themed content. For $9.99 a month you can stream gay-centric movies, TV series, short films; genres include mysteries, dramas, comedies, romance, sci-fi – the whole gamut of pop culture entertainment. In fact, many of the movies you’ve heard me discuss here on The Randy Report are currently available on Dekkoo. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial to see if it’s your thing, and for a limited time, when you sign up you can get 33% off your first 3 months by entering the promo code TheThird. (p.s. I get nothing whether you sign up or not – this isn’t a sponsored segment) Click here – www.dekkoo.com – for more info. You can check out the trailer for Season 1 of The Third below.
Checking in with some of my favorite InstaHunks on this fine Hump Day. Philip Evelyn II (Modello9) is up first with more than enough gym-spiration to get your heart pumping a bit faster (above). Next up, Garrett Magee went ‘glamping’ in the desert. Check out the rest of the guys below 🙂
Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein in his new play, Bella BellaBy Lawrence Pfeil, Jr. Before AOC, before Nancy Pelosi, there was Bella, Bella Abzug. Known as “Battling Bella,” she was a graduate of Columbia Law School who became a civil rights attorney, social activist, leader of the women’s movement, member of the House of Representatives, and famously wore hats because “as a young lawyer it helped me to establish my professional identity. Before that, whenever I was at a meeting, someone would ask me to get coffee.” Bella Abzug Bella Abzug’s brilliant, often biting words and crusading work are the genesis of Harvey Fierstein’s enthralling, tour de force, new play Bella Bella which opened last night at Manhattan Theatre Club’s City Center Stage I. Awaiting the fateful results of the 1976 New York Democratic Senatorial primary, Bella holds up in the bathroom of her campaign suite reflecting on her life’s work; and for 90 minutes Mr. Fierstein holds an audience captive with her hilarious, heroic, and often heartbreaking story as few other performers could. Billed as “written and performed by Harvey Fierstein from the words and works of Bella Abzug” it’s difficult to know where Abzug stops and Fierstein begins without being her scholar. But Bella Abzug knew how to make her point in no uncertain terms and Harvey Fierstein knows how to weave a story for maximum impact. Together, Bella Bella is a stunningly relevant and eye-opening call to action for a country that doesn’t seem to have progressed much beyond the America outside the window of her john in 1976. Harvey Fierstein in Bella Bella (photo: Jeremy Daniel) Bella’s opening diatribe on equality, sexist elections, and how women, who are a 2% differential in the electorate yet 1% of the House, (still only 30%) vote against themselves, is immediately passionate and gripping. Ringing so familiar, one wonders whether she’s been transported to the present or if we’ve been taken back to her, and so it is throughout Bella Bella. Her fight for civil rights and equality fifty years ago mirrors the very challenges still facing America today. Most widely known for her leadership of the women’s movement and the ERA, Abzug was also a pioneer of Federal Gay Rights. Representing the Lower East Side of Manhattan and Greenwich Village, she embraced her LGBT constituency, even campaigning at the Continental Baths. In 1974 she introduced in Congress the first Gay civil rights bill, the “Equality Act” which would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. It failed to pass but succeeded in getting Gay rights into the national conversation. In 1970 when Bella Abzug was elected to Congress, Harvey Fierstein was in Brooklyn already writing and performing in drag. Fifty years and four Tony Awards later he has brought them together on one stage in what can only be described as the perfect pairing of subject and performer. With her words, he has written a smart, insightful, and impassioned portrait of a woman, a Jewish woman, who recognized the discrimination in her path; but walked it anyway because she believed in equality and had the hutzpah to fight for it. With his command of the stage, he creates a Bella that is anything but a drag. Harvey Fierstein in Bella Bella (photo: Jeremy Daniel) Fierstein gives a vibrant, passionate, and powerful performance with no want of makeup or an Abzug ensemble, apart from her iconic hat. In plain black rehearsal clothes, Fierstein is at the top of his prowess as the fierce firebrand wisecracking one minute, outraged the next, inspiring throughout. Some works are a labor of love, done for the joy, not the reward. Still, there are a few others, like Mr. Fierstein’s triumphant Bella Bella which are even more. To those lucky enough to hear what she “thinks about in the bathroom,” this is clearly his labor of passion, created and performed because it had to be done and done now, much like work of Bella Abzug herself. Bella Bella Written and Performed by Harvey Fierstein From the words and works of Bella Abzug 90 minutes No intermission Now through December 1st Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center Stage I More Information and Tickets HERE https://bellabellaplay.com/Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.,is a freelance writer/playwright who has reviewed film and theatre, both on and off-Broadway, for media outlets including The Randy Report, the New York Blade, and Edge Publications
I came across this cover image for The Rifleman comic book series (issue #10 released January 1, 1962) and was amazed to find it’s real, not a made-up internet meme. The Rifleman was a Western-themed television series following the lives of Lucas McCain (Chuck Connor) and his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford) living out on a ranch in the New Mexico territory. The series ran from 1958 to 1963, and was the first primetime television depiction of a single parent raising a child. Of course, I’m commenting on the rather curious placement of the ‘wood’ Mark McCain is carrying and the expressions on their faces. Looking back, some TV historian folks have noted the subtle homo-leaning touches the show had including the opening credits which featured Connors ‘firing multiple rounds’ from his rifle at crotch level.
(screen capture via Instagram) This past Saturday, a Facebook user shared a clip of this silver-haired daddy throwing down some serious moves. Accompanying the video was the simple question, “Who’s father is this? I’m trynna make him my daddy.” The post has been viewed 2.7 million times on Facebook and shared more than 51,000 times. Well, you know someone was going to come up with the pertinent details 🙂 Turns out his name is Gianluca Vacchi, 52, and the video is from his own Instagram where he has 14 million followers. Vacchi posted the clip six days ago, and so far has racked up over 4.4 million views. Take a look and you’ll see why we’re having Daddy Gianluca:
Vacchi has been described as an “entrepreneur,” “a multi-millionaire,” even a “hedonism-loving playboy” according to GQ Magazine UK. The Evening Standard named Vacchi as the 4th most influential fashion Instagram celeb, and he reported commands over $16k for a single post. Back in 2014, Vacchi was discovered dancing with hottie Zac Efron in some Instagram posts shared from Italy.
Popstar MIKA releases a new video, “Dear Jealousy” today. The video follows the release of his critically acclaimed fifth studio album, My Name Is Michael Holbrook. “This album has been a rich and intense journey,” writes MIKA about the new collection. “Inspired by life in all its glory and all its dark challenges. It’s also inspired by love.” “My intention was to write about life as it happened. A sort of album made in ‘real-time,’” added the artist. “It’s an explosion of joy, color and emotion even though it was born in one of the most challenging periods for my family and I.” “Writing and recording this album was a form of medicine for me and my family. It is so deeply personal but also universal. I have come to realize that the only things that matters in life are the people we love and the stories we tell.” MIKA dedicates the new album to “those people I love and to the notion that although we all hopefully grow with age, we should do so without losing our colors, our warmth or whimsy. I hope my ‘Tiny Love’ stories somehow touch you or transport you, even just for an instant.” Hit the play button below.
I came across this cover image for The Rifleman comic book series (issue #10 released January 1, 1962) and was amazed to find it’s real, not a made-up internet meme. The Rifleman was a Western-themed television series following the lives of Lucas McCain (Chuck Connor) and his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford) living out on a ranch in the New Mexico territory. The series ran from 1958 to 1963, and was the first primetime television depiction of a single parent raising a child. Of course, I’m commenting on the rather curious placement of the ‘wood’ Mark McCain is carrying and the expressions on their faces. Looking back, some TV historian folks have noted the subtle homo-leaning touches the show had including the opening credits which featured Connors ‘firing multiple rounds’ from his rifle at crotch level. 
