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Legendary Broadway Photographer Martha Swope Passes Away at 88

Martha Swope Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

While many fans of musical theater and Broadway may not know it, uber-talented photographer Martha Swope played an immense part in how we viewed Broadway theater and NYC ballet before we ever got to experience it.

I am sad tonight at her passing. As a young, teenage artist, her images filled my head with ideas and wonder I dreamed of growing up in Texas.

From the New York Times:

Martha Swope, whose crisp, compelling photographs of dancers and actors at work recorded nearly half a century of stage history, died on Thursday in New York. She was 88.

The cause was Parkinson’s disease, said Jeanne Fuchs, her longtime friend and executor.

From 1957, when Ms. Swope was invited by Jerome Robbins to shoot rehearsals of “West Side Story,” to 1994, when she shut down her Times Square studio and sold her archive, Ms. Swope produced hundreds of thousands of images of performers in action, capturing Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov in full flight, the cast of “La Cage Aux Folles” in full drag and John Travolta in full Saturday night fever.

Those photographs made their way into newspapers (the arts pages of The New York Times frequently featured her work), magazines and books. They decorated sales brochures, posters and programs.

BroadwayWorld adds:

Ms. Swope chronicled over 800 productions throughout her storied career, including rehearsal photos personally commissioned by Jerome Robbins of the original production of West Side Story in 1957, the original casts of La Cage Aux Folles, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Company, Chicago, and A Chorus Line, as well as her wealth of work within the dance world featuring artists such as Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Her work was frequently featured in The New York Times and Variety called her “the go-to photog” for the New York theatre community. Ms. Swope was awarded a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater in 2004 and a lifetime achievement award from the League of Professional Theater Women in 2007.

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Joe Biden Surprised With Medal Of Freedom By President Obama

The Medal of Freedom is our country’s highest honor given to civilians.

Truly moving when you know that most presidents and vice-presidents don’t end their runs this close.

I really encourage to you watch the entire video. We don’t get to enjoy the upside of politics very often, it seems. And I find this truly uplifting to celebrate a long, outstanding life in service to our country.

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HUD Nominee Dr. Ben Carson: LGBTs Shouldn’t Get “Extra Rights”

Concerning, but not surprising language, from Housing and Urban Development Secretary nominee Dr. Ben Carson on the rights of LGBT people today during his confirmation hearing.

Dr. Ben Carson gets questions about LGBT Equality at his HUD Secretary Nomination Hearing by Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Via The Hill:

Trump Cabinet pick Ben Carson reiterated his belief Thursday that LGBT Americans don’t deserve “extra rights.” During Carson’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) pressed the Housing and Urban Development nominee about whether he would enforce LGBT protections in the public housing sector.

“Of course, I would enforce all the laws of the land,” Carson responded. “Of course, I think all Americans should be protected by the law.” “What I have said before is I don’t think anyone should get ‘extra rights,’” he added.

Carson’s remarks mirror those from his 2014 CPAC speech: “Of course gay people should have the same rights as everyone else, but they don’t get extra rights,” Carson said at the time. “They don’t get to redefine marriage.”

I have no idea what “extra rights” he’s talking about. Somehow he seems to conflate my right to marry my husband as an “extra right?”

I guess not surprising when you consider, as JoeMyGod reminds us, that this is the same guy who says prison makes people gay, and asking bakers to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding could result in poison in the cake.

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Out Film: Indie Favorite RETAKE Now Available

After a successful journey on the film festival circuit, LGBT indie film RETAKE is now available on DVD and Video On Demand streaming.

The film, one of my Top 5 LGBT films of 2016, is a suspenseful drama following two broken souls on a wayward journey to The Grand Canyon. Written and directed by Nick Corporon, RETAKE stars Tuc Watkins (Desperate Housewives) and Devon Graye (Dexter).

“Jonathan,” played by Watkins,  is desperately trying to remember his past, and Graye is the prostitute who hopes to leave his behind.

Synopsis:

Jonathan (Tuc Watkins) — a handsome businessman — flies into San Francisco and hires a young hustler (Devon Graye) to accompany him on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, with a catch: he must role-play as someone named “Brandon.”

On the road, “Brandon” comes to realize he’s playing a vital role in the recreation of Jonathan’s lovelorn past.

As the hustler digs for clues, Jonathan insists that he stick to the role he was hired for. Eager to leave his own past behind and feeling a strange connection with his unique client, he sheds his own identity and plays the part.

An amorous game of obsession and manipulation commences, as these two broken souls get closer to their destination.

Corporon’s script and direction achieve a delicate balance of suspense and wistful sadness as both the audience and Dexter slowly come to understand the need for Jonathan’s journey. The production is sparse, and I mean that in a good way. We never veer from the chemistry of the two talented and quietly affecting lead actors. Watkins and Graye both deliver impressively compelling performances as two lost lonely souls who battle a romantic tension that’s palpable.

“Carving out some distinctive new territory in the world of queer cinema…Captures the simultaneous threat and allure of sex between strangers, as well as the unbridled pleasure that can result from giving yourself so trustingly to someone you don’t know.” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Beautifully acted and directed with great sensitivity.” – Huffington Post

“Palpable and heartbreaking.” – SF Bay Times

I highly recommend the film. Indie filmmaking of this level is rare, especially in the LGBT genre. The dramatic tension, tight screenplay and undeniable chemistry of the lead actors makes for quality viewing.

On Amazon, you can find the DVD  here, and available for streaming here. Also available on iTunes here.

Devon Gary (L) and Tuc Watkins (R)

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Randy Rainbow Parodies Trump Vs. Streep “Tweets, Tweets, & Nothing But Tweets”

Randy Rainbow casts a mighty musical spell (via Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods) in his response to Donald Trump’s Twitter rant against Meryl Streep.

And the moral of the fable? Don’t come for Streep, especially when she’s got supporters armed with very clever parody lyrics.

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Trump Had Paid Staffers Stand And Cheer At Press Conference

In case you missed it, here’s the full video of President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference since the election.

Watching the event, I thought it was odd to hearing cheering (and jeering) during a couple of moments. It turns out Trump had paid staffers stand at the back of the room as a sort of “greek chorus” to provide moral and vocal support. #odd

It also appears that the only media outlet to receive a reserved seat was the white nationalist website, Breitbart, which close Trump advisor Steve Bannon ran for many years.

And then, of course, there was the very uncomfortable back and forth that occurred with CNN’s Jim Acosta which included Trump yelling, “I’m not going to give you a question. You’re fake news.”

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Anderson Cooper’s Fiery Interview With Trump Advisor Kellyanne Conway

Don’t let the length of the clip fool you. This was quite riveting to watch.

Good on Anderson that he doesn’t back down. Make sure you watch to the end when he CONFIRMS that CNN never linked to the document dump or to Buzzfeed.

Conway is wrong, spinning for the Trumpers, and never acknowledges she’s wrong.

What’s clear is Team Trump has a huge chip on it’s shoulder that folks didn’t think he would win.

Near the end Conway asks why 8 years ago at this time CNN was reporting that President Obama was headed to Oslo to pick up a Nobel Peace Prize, but no one’s reporting that about Trump today.

Umm, maybe because Trump hasn’t won a Nobel Peace Prize???

From CNN:

In a fiery exchange, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and Anderson Cooper clash over CNN’s reporting of the classified documents presented to President Obama and President-elect Donald J. Trump http://cnn.it/2jG0Mom

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Fox News Defends CNN: No Journalists Should Be ‘Belittled’ By A President

Fox News’ Shepard Smith

In a bit of surprise, Fox News’ Shep Smith issued a statement today on behalf of Fox News defending CNN for the report it posted last night regarding a collection of what appeared to be “opposition ammo” meant to possibly attack Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. The main point being that CNN’s reporting was “distinctly different” from BuzzFeed’s which drew Trump’s ire.

CNN’s story, unlike Buzzfeed’s, specifically did not include the unedited dossier of unverified allegations made about Trump’s ties to Russia. Nor did CNN include any “details” of the items from the report. Smith added that no journalists should be treated in the way Trump treated CNN’s Jim Acosta, who got into a brief contretemps with Trump today at the president-elect’s first press conference since last summer.

Trump refused to take any questions from Acosta today despite continued requests, and Acosta later shared that Trump’s press secretary threatened to have him thrown out of future press events if he continued to press the president-elect.

Here’s part of Smith’s statement today:

“President-elect Trump today told CNN’s Jim Acosta that his organization amounts to fake news. CNN’s exclusive reporting on the Russian matter was separate and distinctly different from the document dump executed by an online news property.

“Though we at FOX News cannot confirm CNN’s report, it is our observation that its correspondents followed journalistic standards and that neither they nor any other journalists should be subjected to belittling and delegitimizing by the President-elect of the United States.”

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Donald Trump: Obamacare Will Be Repealed & Replaced “Essentially Simultaneously”

So now we know – President-elect Trump said at his press conference this morning that the repeal and replacement of Obamacare will be “essentially simultaneously.”

Rumors had been swirling that the “repeal” aspect would happen very soon after Trump’s swearing in as president, but there’s currently no plan that Congress agrees on for the “replacement” component.

Trump suggested today that the repeal and replacement could possibly take place within the “same hour.”