LGBTQ news and entertainment
Zach Wahls is headed out on a tour around Iowa sponsored by LBGT rights group One Iowa to talk to Iowans about why marriage matters.
According to One Iowa “Zach will be joining us in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Mason City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Davenport. He will be speaking at churches, town halls and house parties across the state.”
The Smith Center’s offering of the national touring company of “La Cage Aux Folles” is definitely a must-see theater event for Las Vegas.
Starring George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber with a superb score by master Broadway composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, the opening night audience was treated to a terrific evening that ranged from touching to comic hysteria.
Georges, played by Hamilton, runs a slightly tattered St. Tropez nightclub that’s a showcase for female impersonators. The ‘star’ of the showcase is his husband, Albin, the local star ‘Zaza.’
Their domestic life is upset when Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, arranges a meet-the-family dinner with his new fiancee and her parents, who are conservative, politically powerful and disapproving.
Hoping to re-write history and avoid embarrassment, Jean-Michel invites his long-absent biological mother to take the place of Albin who raised him, and ask that Albin demote to the role of “Uncle Albert.” When Jean-Michel’s mother fails to show at the last minute, Albin appears in female garb in an attempt to save the day for all. From there, hilarity and chaos becomes the order of the day.
George Hamilton performs the role of “Georges” with dignity and quiet strength as he tries to maintain balance in his family – his love for his son and his husband. His rendition of “Look Over There” is especially effective as he points out to Jean-Michel the sacrifices Albin has made over the years for his adopted son. While his primary skill may not be as a singer, he handles his songs with confidence and grace.
However, the evening belongs to Christopher Sieber, whose “Albin/Zaza” is a star-turn that keeps the entire evening spinning. His command of comedy is masterful, and his voice is powerhouse. He knows when to use all these strengths, and when to pull them back. During “The Best Of Times” he subtly but clearly communicates a message of living life “in the now.” But it’s his powerful and moving “I Am What I Am” that brings the house down at the end of Act One. Vocally and emotionally, he triumphantly makes a statement for himself and a community.
Praise must also be given to the fantastic men of the ensemble – “The Cagelles” – who deliver at every turn.
Director Terry Johnson and choreographer Lynne Page do an excellent job of bringing Harvey Fierstein’s award-winning libretto to life.
It also bears mentioning that Jerry Herman’s score is still as winning as the day it won the Tony Award in 1984. “La Cage” remains one of his best. On top of the artful story-telling he brings to the score, his songs leave a message true to a continuous thread of Herman’s work: that life is meant to be lived. From “Before The Parade Passes By” from HELLO, DOLLY! to “It’s Today” from MAME to “The Best Of Times” from LA CAGE, you leave the theater with a smile and a sense of looking forward.
And the show’s message of love and “non-traditional family” resonates even moreso today, in this time of marriage equality acceptance, than it did in the early 1980s.
I give this show 4 stars (out of 4). Go see this show.
The production runs through Sunday night, August 19th at The Smith Center. Click here for more info.
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| Christopher Sieber as “Zaza” |
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| George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber – photo by Paul Kolnic |
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| The Cagelles – photo by Paul Kolnik |
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| backstage with Christopher Sieber (“Albin/Zaza”) and Christophe Caballero (production dance captain) |
The former TAKE THAT band member tweeted this pic recently. Click on the pic for larger view.
Looking very good Mr. Williams. How about those arms? Wow.
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| Two year old named “Chessie” who survived train incident – Mark Duncan/AP Photo |
ABC News is reporting that three dogs were seen being tied to train tracks in Cleveland. Two of the dogs apparently were killed but one survived. A railroad employee has been quoted as having seen someone taking pictures or video as train went by.
“It’s got everyone upset over here that someone would do that. It’s awful that someone did that to torture animals, and might be filming it,” Lt. Mark Ketterer, who is leading the investigation for the Cleveland Police Department, told the Plain Dealer newspaper. The surviving dog, which is believed to be a mixed-breed Manchester terrier and is much smaller than the others, managed to avoid the train by crouching, said Leslie DeSouza, kennel manager at the Cuyahoga Animal Shelter, which is caring for the dog.
PETA is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who did this unthinkable act.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it. Now, as voters react, Romney responds by lying about the President’s record on Medicare.
The Obama campaign hits back against the lies that Romney is trying to spread saying the Affordable Healthcare Act “cuts $700 billion from the Medicare Trust Fund,” which isn’t true.
The $700 billion isn’t cut from seniors, it’s cut from inefficiencies and payments to hospitals. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Obama’s plan cuts a reduction in the expected rate of growth, not cutting budgets to the elderly. Benefits will be improved. Money is NOT being taken from seniors benefits.
Check out Soledad O’Brien calling out Romney surrogate John Sununu for repeating the same GOP talking points over and over, as if by repetition he could make his assertions true.
TheStar Tribune reports that Michael L. Leisner, the man who famously staged a fiery protest outside General Mills headquarters, died days later while running errands with his family.
Leisner’s botched protest gained national television attention after he accidentally set fire to a box of Cheerios and the surrounding law of the company’s lawn. The video was posted online and became an internet sensation, as well as cable shows like The Daily Show and E! Entertainment’s Chelsea Lately.
According to his church pastor Dwight Denyes, Leisner died while waiting in his car for his sons to finish playing tennis.
The official cause of death is unknown.
[h/t Star Tribune]
I saw this two days ago, but the video wasn’t embeddable at the time.
Clever lyrics and great voices on a parody of One Day More from “Les Miserables” in support of President Obama.
Broadway and musical theatre performers Sean Smith, David Burnham, Kim Huber, Christina Saffran Ashford, Damon Kirsche, David Engel, Jennifer Shelton, Emma Ashford, Matthew Ashford, Ali B. Olmo, Johnny Pastor, Bubba Dean Rambo, William Martinez, Flora Rubenhold, Takako Gregg, Teri Yates, Mason Keane, and Paula Keane sing from their heart with the lyrics of Don DeMesquita.
For more info and facts, go to www.OneTermMore.com
From RadarOnline: A single, beautiful photograph of a man cradling his dog in Lake Superior to help ease the pup’s arthritis has pulled at the heartstrings of all those who have seen it; here is the real story behind the heart-breaking image that went viral.
“I am so surprised at the reaction of all of this,” John Unger of Bayfield, Wisconsin told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview in response to the outpouring of support for him and his loyal canine companion.
The 49-year-old farm caretaker adopted his dog, Schoep, when he was just a puppy, but after a staggering 19 years together, the aging shepherd mix is suffering from arthritis and has trouble sleeping, so the inseparable pair head to nearby Lake Superior so he can be lulled to sleep by the water.
“I knew the water relieved the pain, but didn’t know to what extent it was helping at first. It takes all the pressure off the joints and he is just floating there and doesn’t have any body weight,” explained Unger.
“He immediately just zones out and is asleep as soon as he puts his head against my chest. I hold him with my right arm and then I will splash water on him and massage his joints – his feet, his shoulders, and his hips if I can. I have had him out there for over an hour but it is usually about 20 minutes.”
The extra mile that Unger goes to for Schoep may surprise some people, but the devoted dog owner told Radar that he owes his life to the pup who brought him back from the brink when he had dark thoughts of suicide.
“After a break-up with my then fiancee, I was going through a really bad time. I went down to the break water in Milwaukee at the marina, which is made of up of big boulders,” he confessed. “I was thinking of ending my life, I had Schoep with me and we were down there quite a while. I decided it was time to do this, I was going to head dive into the rocks.”
But one last look at his adopted pet made John rethink his fatal plan.
“When I was really at that moment to jump, he looked up at me with a look I’ve not seen since or before,” explained Unger. “It was a look of concern, his eyes were squinted and his brow was scrunched, like a human does when they try to think really hard. It was quite amazing.
“It snapped me back to realty and made me think, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this… Who was going to care for this dog if I do this?’
“I had just rescued him a year before and I was not going to abandon him again by killing myself. He snapped me out of the frame of mind I was in.”
The brush with death brought John and Schoep even closer together than before. “Everything had new and more meaning for us in every day. I made the commitment when I rescued him that I was doing it for life and to take care of him and I’m sticking to it.”
The now-iconic photo of the inseparable pair was taken by close friend and photographer Hannah Stonehouse Hudson, owner of Stonehouse Photography. “I wanted to give him something to remember Schoep by after he has gone,” she explained to Radar, and she has been blown away by the response. “This is beyond anything that I imagined. I knew he had been taking him out to the lake and I was just going out as a friend as a favor.”
As for Schoep, “He is doing great! I think he feels really good. He is not sick and he is not dying, he is just an old dog and has arthritis,” she said.
“Ape” shows off his moves as Dawn gives him a DZS (“Golden Girls” Bea Arthur) Dorothy Zbornak Stare.
You should know my dogs are subjected to much of the same at my house, albeit the view of me in my underwear isn’t as interesting.
According to TVline.com, if you are male and can gesture to a new car with a smooth, attractive flourish, you might have a shot at a job on The Price Is Right.
The longest-running game show in history, CBS’ The Price Is Right, is launching its first-ever casting call to find a male model, with portions of the process airing as a web series. At the end of the search, one lucky looker will join Amber Lancaster, Gwendolyn Osborne, Manuela Arbelaez and Rachel Reynolds in helping players navigate the likes of Plinko and best appreciate eye-widening prize showcases.
The search begins Aug. 30 with an open call in Los Angeles, where hunky hopefuls will be interviewed by TPIR producers and the four female models. There, candidates will demonstrate verbal skills as well as the ability to pose and “properly showcase a product.”