Running errands over the weekend, Steve Winwood’s 1986 classic “Back in the High Life” came on the music system and it immediately took me back to the heyday of the 80s.
With themes of reflection, redemption and reinvention, the song (written by Winwood and Will Jennings) marches forward clear-eyed and focused.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t feature my favorite rendition of the song by Broadway and TV star Nell Carter.
Filmed for a TV special – In a New Light: A Call to Action in the War Against AIDS – broadcast July 11, 1992, Carter is a force of nature ripping through the anthem.
In the clip, Carter (who self-identified as bisexual) shares for the first time that her brother, Bernard, had actually died from AIDS in 1989.
I actually attended the dress rehearsal for the TV special in Los Angeles and was thunderstruck by her power onstage.
Watch as she builds and builds through the bridge to a gorgeous release at the 2:40 mark.
And then that growl at 2:52 gives me life!
I’ve literally played this clip hundreds of times.
Tony Award winner Billy Porter on ‘Live with Kelly & Ryan’
Billy Porter, Tony Award winner (Kinky Boots) and star of the new FX series Pose, recently dropped by Live with Kelly & Ryan to dish on the new series and how he ‘found’ show business.
It all has to do with The Wiz, Dreamgirls and thirsting for Jordache jeans.
Billy shares that theater first came into his life when his grandmother took him to see a national touring company of the Broadway musical, The Wiz, on his birthday in Pittsburgh, PA.
“I just fell in love,” says Porter. “And I thought, ‘Oh, I can actually do this for a living?’”
That revelation led to a job performing at a theme park the summer he turned 15 years-old. It was a grueling schedule of six shows a day, but Porter had his eyes on a prize.
“I stayed in a motel, I was fifteen, my mom had to give me permission to work cause I needed my Jordache jeans,” says the future Broadway star. “Oh, she said ‘You got champagne taste on a beer budget – you gonna have to find a job!’”
It wasn’t all glamour though.
“I had to wash out my costumes in the bathtub and hang them to drip dry for the next day,” shared Porter. “But what it did was it taught me discipline; it taught me how to show up for work every day because we work six days a week.”
“I was 15 years old working six days a week but I made that money honey – I got them jeans Jordache jeans.”
Pivoting to Pose, Kelly gushed, “This speaks to me – I almost feel like this TV show was written for me.”
Porter describes the series, about the LGBT ball culture in the go-go 1980s in New York City, as being about “family:”
“That culture is a space where this group of people, often rejected by their family, rejected by society, they’ve come together to create their own family unit. They take care of each other; the choice to live; the choice to choose life; the choice to celebrate life in the middle of the most horrific of tragedies is what this is about. It’s about empowerment, its about self-love, its about family, its about community. And it is the greatest job of my life.”
“We come to these balls which is, essentially, the family reunion, the family gathering. And there are ‘houses’ that are like ‘gay gangs’ and they come together in one space for these balls to walk categories; to walk the aspirational categories that they can’t quite actually achieve in life. And I’m sort of the godfather of the community.”
Billy Porter
And speaking of ‘walking,’ when Kelly asks for a lesson in vogueing Porter doesn’t hesitate to step to the floor for pose class.
“It’s posing on the rhythm,” he says. But there’s subtext, you see.
“It’s literally about making sure that you believe in yourself. So, the way you believe in yourself and how you present yourself is how you stand – so believe in yourself.”
Noting Ryan Seacrest’s rather frumpy body posture, Porter paused to query, “Do you believe in yourself?”
“Present yourself fully to the world,” says the actor as he reached for the sky as the music kicked in. “And rhythm, uh uh; and here, uh uh; and love the people!”
Its really a fab segment. Everyone in show biz is not necessarily great at being interviewed. The clock ticks quick in TV time and you have to be able to get your points across about the project you’re there to share, but also be open and accessible.
Porter is so comfortable in his skin and living life so loud its impossible to not succumb to his charms. Watch below.
Pose airs Sundays at 9PM on FX.
For more of the life and sass that is Billy Porter, click the play button below for my interview with the talented actor and singer about his latest album, and a few other topics in our no-holds-barred chat.
A possible second life for ABC’s hit sitcom Roseanne is looking more and more likely according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Roseanne Barr has agreed in principle to walk away from the characters she helped create in order to allow Roseanne’s cast and crew to pursue a spinoff in the wake of the show’s May cancellation due to her racist tweets.
ABC and producer Carsey-Werner are insisting that Barr not participate financially or creatively in the proposed spinoff, which is said to revolve around the character played by Sara Gilbert. Other Roseanne writer-producers and castmembers, including John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, are said to be tentatively on board (they would receive the same fees as previously negotiated for the second season of the Roseanne revival, which was ABC’s top-rated program this season).
But since Barr would be entitled to substantial fees and backend on any spinoff of Roseanne (the original series was created by Matt Williams, but it is also credited as being “based upon a character created by Barr”), she must waive those rights before any such show could proceed.
According to THR Roseanne is tentatively negotiating a one-time “go-away-money” payout.
Behind the scenes Barr is said to be contrite over how her racist tweet about former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett torpedoed the newly-rebooted show which became the #1 sitcom on ABC this past season.
Gilbert, Goodman and Metcalf would receive their contractual $300,000 per episode salaries.
Although cut out of future royalties for new episodes, Roseanne would still receive royalties for the first ten episodes of the show.
That’s right, honey! A decade after their unforgettable eight-season run from 1998 to 2006, comedy’s most fabulous foursome returned to their infamous Will & Grace roles as Will, Grace, Jack and Karen in this TV season’s biggest reboot.
With the legendary James Burrows at the helm (directed every original Will & Grace episode), the show’s stars (Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally) were once again delivering razor-sharp jabs and dirty martinis.
During an interview with Jon Karl on ABC News’ This Week, former Trump campaign and White House adviser Steve Bannon declared President Trump has never lied to his knowledge.
Umm, ok. And I’m Justin Timberlake.
Karl had played clips of Trump promising to never lie to the American public during the 2016 campaign. As Karl points out that was a promise the Trumpster “obviously broke. He has not always told the truth.”
“I don’t know that,” replied Bannon. “From what I’ve seen, he has.” Karl asked him again, “you think the President has never lied?” “Not to my knowledge, no,” Bannon said again. Then he joked “except when he called me ‘Sloppy Steve.’”
Bannon went on to say that Trump simply speaks in a “special vernacular” that resonates with the American people.
I don’t think Bannon knows what “vernacular” means.
Watch the exchange below.
.@jonkarl: “You say the president has never lied?”
Steve Bannon: “Not to my knowledge, no… I think he speaks in a particular vernacular that connects to people in this country.” pic.twitter.com/RuWsmkICuW
Kiev Pride Parade (image via Instagram/Yura Dvizhhon)
Prior to the start of Kiev’s Pride Parade today, Ukrainian police swarmed, tear-gassed and arrested 56 anti-LGBT protesters who had attempted to block a portion of the parade route.
Ukrainian police said they had detained 56 members of far-right radical groups in Kiev on Sunday after scuffles before the capital’s gay pride march. Early in the morning, more than 150 far-right protesters had sought to block off the route of the march through central Kiev.
Small clashes broke out when police in riot gear moved to clear the street. “Several men who resisted and used gas canisters against law enforcement officers were detained,” the police said in a statement.
Far-right group C14 said police had surrounded its protesters, attacking them with batons and tear gas. “Look at how they protect ‘sexual minorities’ and violate the rights of regular Kiev citizens,” it said in a post on Facebook. More people were detained in a subsequent altercation near the Opera House, police said.
Fortunately, the parade then went off without any further incident. According to organizers, there were over 6,000 participants in the Pride vent.
Check out the first video below shot from a drone. No sound, but its amazing to get a clear view of how many riot police were there and how they surround and then move the protesters.
The second video shows the celebrants at the parade.
Harry Styles (photo: Hélène Pambrun – Photographe)
British singer/songwriter Harry Styles is currently on tour in the U.S. and giving us many Pride Month moments to savor throughout the tour.
In Philadelphia on last night, handsome Harry saw a Pride flag being carried by fan Karla Balcazar in the audience and asked her to hand it to him. Harry took the flag, which read “Make America Gay Again,” and held it up for the audience to see.
— Harry Styles Daily (@harrystylsdaily) June 16, 2018
The longtime LGBTQ ally has been dedicating songs to male fans, performing wrapped in a Pride flag and rocking out during guitar solos with rainbow flags:
And then there’s the moment when the 24-year-old pop star pointed to a male fan mid-concert and asked him what he was drinking.
When the fan said, “vodka,” Harry responded, “Straight?” The fan said, “No, I’m gay!” Harry then laughed and said, “No, I meant straight vodka, not ‘Are you straight?’” “It’s vodka! Straight? No, gay!” “Is it straight vodka? Ok, glad we cleared that up!”
How can you not love this guy?
Styles’ LGBTQ support has been evident throughout the tour, even been selling tour t-shirts with the phrase “Treat People With Kindness” in rainbow print.
All proceeds from the shirts go to GLSEN, an education organization that works to ensure that LGBTQ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment.
Donald Trump took to Twitter, his favorite sandbox, to lavish praise on his followers this morning calling them the “smartest, strongest, most hard working and most loyal” in the history of the United States.
“My supporters are the smartest, strongest, most hard working and most loyal that we have seen in our countries history. It is a beautiful thing to watch as we win elections and gather support from all over the country. As we get stronger, so does our country. Best numbers ever!” he tweeted.
My supporters are the smartest, strongest, most hard working and most loyal that we have seen in our countries history. It is a beautiful thing to watch as we win elections and gather support from all over the country. As we get stronger, so does our country. Best numbers ever!
Not really sure what “numbers” the Trumpster is looking at.
FiveThirtyEight took a look at Morning Consult’s monthly round up of approval polls from every state in the county.
The simple math shows Trump’s net approval has declined in all 50 states since he took office.
He’s lost the most ground in New Mexico and Illinois – both show 31 point drops since inauguration day.
Trump has lost the least support in Louisiana and Alabama – only 6 point declines, but still, declines.
FiveThirtyEight also points out that Trump’s approval is basically steady at
Plus, the generic ballot asking which party would voters like to see win in the mid-term elections shows Democrats with an 8 point advantage, up two points from last month.
