Glenn Close in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (photo: Joan Marcus)
The film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard, will star Glenn Close re-creating her Tony-winning performance.
Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Millie) will make his feature film directorial debut with the movie musical, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
Close starred in the original 1994 Broadway production of Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, earning a Tony for her work as faded silent-screen star Norma Desmond, as well as the acclaimed 2017 revival. The prospective project was first reported in January 2016, prior to Close taking on the Hollywood star once more at the London Coliseum before a Broadway bow at the Palace Theatre. At the time, co-lyricist and book writer Christopher Hampton hoped shooting would begin while Close was still in London.
It had been over 20 years since Close opened the original Broadway production, but the seven-time Oscar nominee used the years away from Norma Desmond to find a new window into the character.
“I’m not saying I’m getting better, but I am saying that I do have more experience,” Close told Playbill as she discussed returning to the role first seen in the 1950 Wilder film. “With more knowledge of myself and experiences I’ve had and heartbreaks I’ve had and enduring as I have—theoretically, an actor should only get better because our bodies and our minds and hearts are the material with which we build characters.”
Filming is expected to begin in Fall 2019. No other casting has been reported.
Emmy/Grammy/Tony Award winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) releases “Grow As We Go” today, the third track from his upcoming debut solo album, Sing to Me Instead.
The music video for the song completes a trilogy begun in his first two music videos, “Bad Habit” and “Ease My Mind,” which featured out actor Charlie Carver (Teen Wolf, The Boys in the Band) as Platt’s love interest.
Platt officially came out with the release of the second video telling PEOPLE, “If I was going to write about people I loved, I wasn’t going to pretend they weren’t men just because I hadn’t talked about that before.”
“I only wanted to take this leap if I was going to present every part of myself,” added the Pitch Perfect star.
Platt has previously shared that the album will chart the course of a romantic relationship from beginning to end, and represent an amalgamation of past loves.
The poignant, acoustic guitar-driven “Grow As We Go” reins in Platt’s signature power vocals to a calm, comforting promise of support. Instead of building to a big, dramatic climax, Platt does the opposite, pulling the listener in with an emotional sotto voce release.
You don’t ever have to leave If to change is what you need You can change right next to me When you’re high I’ll take the lows You can ebb and I can flow And we’ll take it slow And grow as we go
The video, directed by Nick Lieberman, features gorgeous performances by dancers Rudy Abreu and Effie Tutko who live out the highs and lows of connection, often trying to resist their intense attraction only to be drawn back together.
As a whole, the video delivers on an undeniably emotional, affecting level.
Sing to Me Instead drops March 29 with a 12-city tour beginning in Chicago May 3, and winding up in Los Angeles May 24.
Former go-go dancer turned social media influencer, hunky Matthew Camp covers the new issue of Attitude Magazine.
Camp first found his spotlight at the age of 21 in the New York City club scene as a go-go dancer.
From there he landed roles in indie movies like Getting Go: The Go Doc Project (loosely based on his life) and the experimental Sock Job which sent him into a new orbit.
Today, the 34-year-old social media star is utilizing his 550,000+ followers on Instagram to fuel his creative endeavors like designing his own fashion and fragrance line as well as pump up the volume about his OnlyFans account where he can share his own sexually-based content with fans for a monthly fee.
In December, Camp told me he was preparing a new video project that delves into a person’s sexual personality by exploring formative sexual experiences from their past.
The format will be a hybrid of documentary/experimental art film.
In the new issue of Attitude Magazine, Camp explains his own vision for how, what and where he shares himself to fans.
A post shared by Matthew Camp (@matthewcamp) on Feb 28, 2019 at 12:45am PST
“I’d wanted to shoot sex videos for a while because I feel there’s this divide between art and sex,” he tells Attitude. “I don’t see them as different. They’re both an emotional expression.”
“I like the OnlyFans aspect because you can curate your own, and share them with people,” he adds.
“It’s important to document sex because there’s nothing wrong with it, there’s nothing shameful about it and there’s nothing crazy about it,” says the sex-positive advocate. “You should be able to watch sex as entertainment.”
The internet sensation also points out that, “Everyone’s body is a commodity – whether they realise it or not.”
“To me, there’s no difference between somebody standing behind a cash register for 10 hours a day and another person who has sex for 10 or 20 grand a month,” explains the California-born influencer. “Who’s having more fun?”
Raising the ‘pleasure principal,’ (if you will) Camp says, “It’s about life choices, and people being indoctrinated with guilt about enjoying their life.”
Check out Matthew’s full photo shoot and interview in the Attitude Body Issue, out now.
I interviewed Camp for my podcast not long ago where shared his thoughts on blurring the lines between sex and art. I found him to be a great interview.
Riverdale star Luke Perry has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, according to TMZ.
The 52-year-old actor was rushed to a hospital Wednesday morning after paramedics arrived at his Sherman Oaks home.
A spokesman for the actor said, “Mr. Perry is currently under observation at the hospital.”
No other info about his condition is known at this time.
On the same day of his hospitalization, a reboot of his 1990s show, Beverly Hills, 90210 was announced.
According to TVLine, the kind-of reboot/revival of 90210 will air on Fox this summer.
Calling it a six-episode “event series,” six of the original cast members (Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling) will return with the actors playing “heightened versions of themselves inspired by their real lives and relationships.”
The official logline reads:
“Having gone their separate ways since the original series ended 19 years ago, Jason, Jennie, Ian, Gabrielle, Brian and Tori reunite when one of them suggests it’s time to get a Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot up and running. But getting it going may make for an even more delicious soap than the reboot itself. What will happen when first loves, old romances, friends and frenemies come back together, as this iconic cast – whom the whole world watched grow up together – attempts to continue from where they left off?”
A post shared by Ian Ziering (@ianziering) on Feb 27, 2019 at 10:02am PST
While he initially found fame playing ‘Dylan McKay’ on the ‘90s hit series, Perry was not announced for the revival.
His Beverly Hills 90210 co-stars Ian Ziering & Shannen Doherty sent best wishes to Perry this morning on social media after hearing the news of his stroke.
One of THE highlights of the Academy Awards this past Sunday was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s stunning performance of the (now) Oscar-winning song, “Shallow.”
While Cooper had announced in advance that he would not be singing as his character from A Star is Born, “Jackson Maine,” there was still some intense romantical connection between the two stars during the performance.
So much so, that social media began to wonder if the duo were becoming an item?
I should note that while Gaga recently called off her engagement with longtime beau, Christian Carino, Cooper is in a relationship with model Irina Shayk.
In case you missed it, here’s the performance:
During an appearance Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, Kimmel asked about the sparks that flew during the song.
“You had such a connection with Bradley that, instantly – and I guess this is a compliment – people started saying, ‘Oh, they must be in love,’” said Kimmel.
Will a roll of her eyes, Gaga shot down the rumors.
“First of all, social media, quite frankly, is the toilet of the Internet,” said the newly-minted Oscar winner. “And what it has done to pop culture is abysmal.”
“People saw love, and guess what, that’s what we wanted you to see,” she added in a triumphant note.
“This is a love song, ‘Shallow,’ the movie A Star Is Born is a love movie,” explained Gaga. “We worked so hard all week on that performance.”
The pop diva credited Cooper with coming up with the concept and staging of the Oscar performance from their entrance from the audience to lighting the audience during the song to the intimacy they projected.
Gaga added that she’s had a lot of experience with love songs.
“Look, I’ve had my arms wrapped around Tony Bennett for three years touring the world,” said the ‘Bad Romance’ singer. “When you’re singing love songs, that’s what you want people to feel.”
“I’m an artist,and I guess we did a good job,” she added. “Fooled ya!”
During a press conference in Vietnam, Donald Trump responded to the testimony of his former attorney, Michael Cohen, before Congress yesterday.
In the same breath, Trump accused Cohen of lying “a lot,” but telling the truth about Trump’s alleged collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 election.
Trump also criticized the House Oversight Committee for having the hearing while he was abroad. What he doesn’t mention is the Trumpster scheduled his trip AFTER the committee appearance with Cohen was announced.
Trump, at the exact same time, tries to slam Michael Cohen for being a liar and praise him for saying he has no proof of Russian collusion.
“He lied a lot, but it was very interesting, because he didn’t lie about one thing: He said no collusion.” Via ABC pic.twitter.com/2pSB1l3bxp
In other news, the man who claims he wrote “The Art of the Deal” couldn’t close the deal in Vietnam where he met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
According to CNN, the summit ended abruptly with no joint agreement after Kim insisted all US sanctions be lifted on his country.
“Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said during a news conference following the conclusion of the summit, which broke up earlier than planned. “This was just one of those times.”
NBC News shares that the breakdown in talks “is sure to come as a relief to many North Korea experts — including some Democratic and Republican lawmakers — who worried Trump was ready to make concessions to Kim without securing a firm and verifiable disarmament commitment from the dictator.”
At the press event, Trump also declared he believed the known-dictator’s claims that he knew nothing about the treatment of American student Otto Warmbier, who was held as a political prisoner by North Korea.
When he was finally returned to the United States, he died a few days later due to harsh and brutal treatment in North Korea.
Trump said, “I don’t believe Kim would have allowed that to happen to” Otto Warmbier. “He tells me that he didn’t know about it, and I will take him at his word.”
FFS, of course he knew about it.
Trump says Kim Jong Un ‘felt badly’ about Otto Warmbier, but that he doesn’t believe the North Korean leader knew about the American college student’s torture.
Walking away from the summit was better than making a bad deal. It’s also the result of a poorly planned strategy.
But accepting Kim’s denial of involvement in Warmbier’s death? Detestable, and harkens back to Trump’s duplicitous acceptances of denials from other dictators. https://t.co/JvidU3AJYO— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 28, 2019
Imagine if Obama praised Kim Jong Un, defended him and took him at his word that he had nothing to do with the death of Otto Warmbier, and walked away from Hanoi with nothing. What would Republicans say? Just indulge this exercise for a moment. #HanoiSummit— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) February 28, 2019
Trump took Vladimir Putin at his word on Russian election interference.
He took MBS at his word over the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
And today in Hanoi he took Kim Jong Un at his word over the death of Otto Warmbier.https://t.co/VNnJezJa0L
Truly remarkable: Trump runs cover for Kim on Otto Warmbier: “I don’t believe he would have allowed that…he felt very badly about it…he tells me that he didn’t know about it and I will take him at his word”.
• It’s the one year mark since Bruno the wonder dog crossed over the rainbow bridge. I’m celebrating his life today. My remembrance of The Brun here. He was the best dog I’ve ever worked for.
• The United Methodist Church on Tuesday voted to strengthen its ban on gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages stating that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
• “Call Me Maybe” singer Carly Rae Jepsen proves she’s soooo not a one-hit-wonder dropping two new tracks today: “Now That I Found You” and “No Drug Like Me.”
Check out the totally banging dance track “Now That I Found You” below, and click here for “No Drug Like Me.”
Walmart has a new video up on Facebook featuring two gay men on a blind date at the mega-store.
Titled, “Love is in the Aisle,” the short clip is one in a series by the retailer touting all the fun things to explore at Walmart.
Pat and Andy definitely have their own favorite items at the store.
Andy loves oatmeal cakes (Pat’s never had one), and Pat insists that a gay man can’t live without a cast iron skillet.
Ok, he’s pretty much on point there.
There’s also Andy’s skepticism that shampoo/conditioner/body washes actually have all those ingredients in there. “How do we know?”
Of course, haters gonna hate…
The anti-LGBTQ organization, One Million Moms, are horrified. They dispatched an email to their followers complaining about “the video ad normalizing the LGBT lifestyle” and urging them write to Walmart asking them to remove the video.
Tim Wildmon, president of the virulently anti-LGBTQ American Family Association, urged his fellow-haters to sign a petition about the spot. “I honestly never thought Walmart would join the cultural revolution and reject the beliefs of its customer base,” wrote Wildmon in an email blast.
Whatever…
Check out the cute vid below to see if the blind date is a ‘love connection.’
Marc Short, incoming Chief of Staff for Vice President Mike Pence
It’s common knowledge that Vice President Mike Pence has been no friend to the gay community.
A short list of attacks against LGBTQ folks while in Congress includes voting against marriage equality, opposing transgender rights, and opposing the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
While governor of Indiana, he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law making it possible for businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, suggested shifting federal funds meant for AIDS research to programs that would “provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior” and more.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Pence’s incoming chief of staff, Marc Short, penned an op-ed while in college that called homosexuals “perverted” and “repugnant.”
As the saying goes, ‘birds of a feather flock together.’
According to The Daily Beast, the essay appeared in The Spectator, a conservative student newspaper for Washington & Lee University that Short co-founded.
In the article, which appeared in 1989, Short wrote that AIDS activists efforts in the 1990s were a “propaganda campaign” that was meant to “scare all heterosexuals into believing they are prime targets for contraction of the disease.”
“The campaign’s purpose,” alleged Short, was to “both lobby Congress for more federal funding of AIDS research and to destigmatize the perverted lifestyles homosexuals pursue.”
He even went so far as to claim the LGBTQ community “celebrated” the news of NBA superstar Magic Johnson’s HIV diagnosis because it “refueled the propaganda campaign ignited by gay activists and carelessly perpetuated by journalists whose intent is to scare all heterosexuals into believing they are prime targets for contraction of the disease.”
While he did say that AIDS victims deserved sympathy, Short added “that does not mean that we glorify homosexuals’ repugnant practices of frequent anal intercourse.”
When contacted by The Daily Beast about the op-ed, Short issued a statement, which read, “I regret using language as an undergraduate college student that was not reflective of the respect I try to show others today. We have all learned a lot about AIDS over the past 30 years and my heart goes out to all victims of this terrible disease.”
Legendary AIDS and gay rights activist Peter Staley wasn’t swayed by the apology.
“I wrote stuff in college too,” Staley told The Daily Beast. “And I don’t look back and say, ‘Oh, sorry, it was my college years.’ You’re either on the right side of stuff or the wrong side.”
“He was taking classic Jesse Helms-style rhetoric from the late ’80s and putting an early ’90s spin on it and sounding like the fools they all were,” added Staley. “Guys like him wanted us to die. And they had an effect.”
The article surfaces as the public debate about past behavior and statements of Washington power players while in college continues to grow, like the recent scandals regarding Democratic leadership in Virginia involving dressing up in black face.
The Daily Beast reports that Pence’s office did not issue a statement regarding the essay.
It’s awful that @VP would hire someone who has such disdain for gay people and those living with HIV and AIDS, but it’s sadly not surprising given Pence’s own record on these issues. https://t.co/E33GxKK30g
Kimberly-Clark has released two versions of its new commercial for Cottonelle toilet paper that encourages guys to get a ‘superior clean’ before meeting your significant other’s parents.
It isn’t quite clear how this specific topic of personal hygiene comes into play when you meet your boo’s parents, but we definitely know being ‘peachy clean’ is always a good thing.
These guys seem to think so as well 🙂
The pair of ad spots are practically identical except one features a straight couple and one a guy couple.
“Down there care from Cottonelle,” says the voiceover. “Down there because today you meet the parents. So before they sit you down give your bootie a confidence boost with cleaning ripples that remove more at once for a superior clean and makes you feel like the kind of guy she takes home to mother.”
The only difference in the gay version is swapping out the word ‘he’ in the final sentence: “…the kind of guy he takes home to mother.”
Watch the commercial below.
Folks on the conservative side of the social spectrum are not happy about the ad.
In fact, one Christian website declared, “We further progress down the road to destruction,” in denouncing the commercial.
Over on Twitter, some folks cheered the diversity and the inclusivity, but there were some haters who had to chime in.
It turns out the Cottonelle Twitter account can be pretty ‘fresh’ and sassy, too.
Here’s a new cottonelle commercial that talks about w guy taking his boyfriend home to meet his parents and I bout died y’all
Kudos to @cottonelle for the commercial featuring a same-gender male couple saying “the type he takes home to mother” way to go! #loveislove#cottonelle
Hi James, we know how feeling fresh and clean can provide an extra boost of confidence. Our products aim to improve the lives of our fans and the personal choices they make. Thank you.
Hi Kenny, thanks for reaching out. No matter a person’s orientation, gender, or anything else, being clean impacts everyone. Here at Cottonelle Brand, diversity is embraced in all aspects and we are proud to share a commercial that is representative of that.
Being clean impacts everyone, and it’s an important step to feeling your best. Here at Cottonelle Brand, diversity is embraced in all aspects and we are proud to share a commercial that is representative of that. Thank you for reaching out.
It’s a bummer you aren’t a fan of the peach, Olivia. We hope that even though you’re not a fan of our ad, you’ll be a fan of staying clean with our CleaningRipples. Thank you for reaching out.
