Woofy singer/songwriter Matt Zarley recently dropped his latest music video, “Your Song.”
Zarley says he was drawn to cover the Rita Ora tune the first time he heard it. “It’s one of those songs that doesn’t leave your brain – a true worm,” says the award-winning recording artist. “I just loved the way it made me feel and I love the lyrics.”
He decided to record the song as he was putting together a new two-man show with frequent partner in crime, Jeb Havens, called Works of Heart.
“I knew it would fit perfectly in the thematic structure of the show,” he shares. “This song will also be on our album that’s coming out in a few months.”
The hunky singer (People Magazine‘s first out ‘sexiest bachelor’) takes a stripped-down, acoustic approach for the upbeat track which pairs well with his buoyant power pop vocals.
Being a do-it-yourself kinda guy, Zarley not only produced and recorded the song, but he came up with the concept for the video and edited it as well.
And speaking of editing, it doesn’t take long to figure out Zarley’s ‘band members’ in the music video all look a bit … familiar.
“I have always loved the “cloning” effect on film, and I didn’t want to make this particular video narrative heavy and overly sentimental,” says Zarley. “So I opted for this idea instead.”
But it turns out capturing the ‘all-Matt’ band proved a bit challenging.
“It was really tricky, to be honest,” shares Zarley. “All of the shots of each character in the band had to be done with similar sunlight. Since we shot it outside, that made things it a little temperamental and unpredictable.”
“By the time we got all of the band shots, our plan was to get solo shots of each band member,” he explains. “But, the sun was starting to move, so I could only do one take of each band member. It was a little tricky, and a bit hectic, but we got it done.”
This isn’t Zarley’s first experience behind the camera.
In 2015, he wrote, produced and starred in a long-form music video titled Hopeful Romantic, which co-starred everyone’s favorite gay uncle, George Takei. The short was featured at dozens of film festivals winning several awards along the way.
Looking ahead, Zarley shares he’d like to tackle another short film. “I just have to write it first,” he says with a smile.
Instinct previously covered Zarley’s stunning cover of the Sara Bareilles hit, “Gravity,” here.
Check out the music video for “Your Song” below. Find more of Zarley’s music on YouTube here, and you can follow him on Instagram here.
Anti-LGBT forces sought to write a permanent same-sex marriage ban into the country’s constitution, but failed on an epic level when only 20% of registered voters turned out.
The referendum needed at least 30% participation in order to be considered valid.
Opponents had encouraged voters to boycott the referendum.
Even though the Romanian Orthodox Church supported the constitutional revision, the church failed to mobilize its followers.
The Romanian Constitutional Court ruled last month that gay couples should have the same rights as all families.
In June 2018, the European Union’s high court ruled that member nations must grant residency rights to LGBT couples legally married in other EU countries after a Romanian national sued to bring his American husband to Romania.
Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 14 of the 28 EU member nations.
It appears that Romania’s voter referendum to ban marriage equality will fail because voters boycotted it. 30% of all voters had to show up at the polls to make the referendum legitimate. AP: https://t.co/ijqNJF49Dfhttps://t.co/j71NEWdjdU
Using a homophobic vote as a distraction from corruption & attacks on justice system ended up in massive failure for Romania’s ruling party: barely 20% showed up for an anti-LGBT referendum. It is 2018. Queer people are not your political scarecrow, anymore. Don’t mess with us pic.twitter.com/rdB60OEULM
I didn’t realize it had been a nearly a year since I’d visited New York City until I planned a recent trip back east.
My bestie for life, Carlye, was being installed as the new Episcopal Bishop for the Diocese of Newark. So I made sure I built in a day to catch up on some Broadway 🙂
And man, am I glad I did.
It took me a year to get to Circle in the Square on Broadway to see the Tony Award winning revival of Once On This Island, but it was definitely worth the wait.
Wow.
It would be easy to run out of superlatives that describe this gorgeous, delightful and supremely creative masterpiece running strong nearly a year after opening on Broadway.
But it’s also just as easy to pick one word to describe this theatrical experience: Joy.
In a world that seems turned upside-down at times, director Michael Arden’s grounded new staging of this musical fable about a boy and girl named Daniel and Ti Moune set in the French Antilles is a testament to the belief that that which lifts us up can conquer darkness.
In that this is theater-in-the-round, the entire show is an environmental experience from the moment you enter the space.
The show begins with the citizens of this island intermittently entering the sandy beach to begin their day. Along the way, there’s trash to pick up (guess where the cast’s props come from?), greetings to make, and goats (live ones) to walk.
But then, a storm frightens a small girl and the denizens of the island take on different roles to tell the story of Ti Moune, sharing the lesson that love can “withstand the storm, and cross the earth, and survive, even in the face of death.”
The winning score by musical theater veterans Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Anatasia) is easily one of the most melodic currently on Broadway. Kudos to music supervisor Chris Fenwick for the undeniably artful singing throughout the show. From lead vocals to the sung sounds of birds and frogs, this is high-end musicality.
And speaking of leads, the casting here is perfection as each actor steps forward to take their turn in the spotlight.
From Alex Newell’s “Asaka – goddess of the earth,” who brings down the house with an exuberant and effervescent “Mama Will Provide;” to Quentin Earl Darrington’s “Agwe – god of the ocean,” who sets the stage for Ti Moune and Daniel to meet with vocal power that’s truly a force of nature (“Rain”); Darlesia Cearcy’s “Erzulie, goddess of love” is delicious bringing the two young lovers together in “Human Heart;” and American Idol alum Tamyra Gray is stunning as “Papa Ge, god of death.”
Tamyra Gray as “Papa Ge” (all photos – Joan Marcus)
Oh yes, you’ll note Newell and Gray take on their roles through gender-blind casting, which works flawlessly.
In Michael Arden’s island world, the temperamental gods are gender fluid.
The beauty here is that once the story begins, the commitment to storytelling is such that we don’t think about gender, just the tale being told – to spectacular effect.
Alex Newell (L) as “Asaka” and Hailey Kilgore as “Ti Moune”
While gods have their power, Kenita R. Miller and Boise Holmes, who play “Mama Euralie” and “Tonton Julian” respectively, bring grounding, vulnerable humanity as the couple that adopts young Ti Moune.
Their goodbye to Ti Moune as she leaves them to journey to her destiny is a heartfelt, emotional highpoint.
Other intimate moments, like the lilting “Some Girls,” sung with charming warmth by “Daniel” (Isaac Powell), allows romantic respite from larger numbers.
And then there’s the fire and grace of Hailey Kilgore, whose Broadway debut as Ti Moune was fittingly honored with a Tony Award nomination for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” and a Theatre World Award.
Her vocal range and artistry, front and center in the joyful “Waiting for Life,” is only equaled by her earthy, ebullient passion on display in “Ti Moune’s Dance.”
And speaking of dance, choreographer Camille A. Brown (Drama Desk nomination) brings a physical vocabulary that provides a visual, human heartbeat throughout the evening in moments big and small.
You may remember the sexy, richly organic staging she brought to the Emmy Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live! earlier this year on NBC.
This isn’t “TV dance competition high kicks and spins.” From storyteller to storyteller, every movement throughout the evening is borne out of characters living in the moment.
Quentin Earl Darrington as “Agwe”
I’m not the only one who’s smitten. The critics fell over themselves when the production debuted:
“A big, bold, ravishing delight! After seeing this imaginative and dynamic musical, you may feel once is not enough!”– New York Times
“Bewitching and beautiful!” – New York Daily News
“A place where magic is possible and beauty is apparent for all to see!” – The Huffington Post
Just hours after Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by a Senate vote of 50-48, Donald Trump told his followers at a rally in Kansas that Democrats “have become too extreme and too dangerous to govern.”
He stoked that divisive rhetoric even more by tweeting the message to his social media fans saying, “You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob.”
You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law – not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!
What you label “mobs” is called freedom. Democracy. They are protests against you destroying American institutions. They are #WeThePeople raising our voices while we still have a voice. We will not stop opposing corruption and injustice.#SundayMotivation#SundayMorning#BlueWave
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court today by a vote of 50-48.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski withdrew her ‘no’ vote as a courtesy to Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who is walking his daughter down the aisle in Montana today.
Protesting right outside the front doors of the Supreme Court while Kavanaugh is being sworn-in. He can hear us, and I hope our voices today haunt his legacy.#BelieveSurvivorspic.twitter.com/Wjy8PgAamz— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) October 6, 2018
From Executive Producers JD Scalzo and Brian Emerick comes the original web series jaded.
We had $9k, 6 days, shot 5 eps, and had 1 amazing cast and crew.
Via press release:
jaded takes a look into the contemporary gay dating world particular to San Francisco, through the eyes of a man lost inside the hookup culture, while on a relentless pursuit for a way out.
He asks all the questions, he tries all the things, he falls in love in all the wrong places.
Exploring a variety of complicated relationships, through a multi-diverse array of friends and lovers, we watch him play both the victim and the culprit, traversing a world full of contradictions, over-the-top self expression, casual drug use, and the age-old idea of “free love” with all the consequences that follow.
In a place seemingly without any rules, how do you know which game to play when you don’t really want to play one to begin with?
Earlier this week, the president of the United States stood before a crowd and openly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
In a breathtaking lack of decorum or civility, Donald Trump told his followers that Ford testified that she didn’t remember hardly any details surrounding her alleged sexual assault by soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Now This put Dr. Ford’s testimony next to Trump’s crass rally display.
And speaking of remembering, Charles Ludington, Lynne Brookes and Elizabeth Swisher, who attended Yale University from 1983 to 1987 with Kavanaugh, penned an op-ed for the Washington Postdenouncing Kavanaugh’s lies during his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his drinking.
They should know – they were his drinking buddies.
We were college classmates and drinking buddies with Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. In the past week, all three of us decided separately to respond to questions from the media regarding Brett’s honesty, or lack thereof. In each of our cases, it was his public statements during a Fox News TV interview and his sworn testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that prompted us to speak out.
We each asserted that Brett lied to the Senate by stating, under oath, that he never drank to the point of forgetting what he was doing. We said, unequivocally, that each of us, on numerous occasions, had seen Brett stumbling drunk to the point that it would be impossible for him to state with any degree of certainty that he remembered everything that he did when drunk.
