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#TBT: 19-Year-Old Celine Dion Amazing Take On ‘Memory’

19-year-old Celine Dion sings a spectacular "Memory"
19-year-old Celine Dion sings a spectacular "Memory"
Celine Dion then and now (images via Instagram/screen capture)

For a little #ThrowbackThursday action, check out teenage Celine Dion singing “Memory” from the mega-musical CATS in 1987.

Even though she was just 19-years-old at the time, the voice and vocal bravura were clearly already in bloom.

Performed on the popular Canadian TV show, ‘L’autobus du Show Business,’ La Dion shows up in full Grizabella regalia and throws down a powerful rendition.

Regular readers may recall my first big acting gig after moving to New York City in 1985 was in a new national touring company of CATS as the ‘Magical Mr. Mistoffelees.’

After doing my big number in Act Two, our Grizabella (a spectacular Leslie Ellis, who would go on to earn a Grammy singing on Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”) would come out and sing “Memory.”

My part in that moment was to sit on the enormous tire upstage of Leslie and stare at the back of her head as she knocked it out of the park. #TheGlamourOfShowBiz

Happy Thursday, everyone!

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News Round-Up: August 4, 2020

Me and Snoopy (photo: Denise Truscello)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Snoop Watch:  Just a quick check-in to say Snoopy (the short one above) is doing great settling in with Michael and me. For those interested in #BeagleLife, most of my posts about Snoopy will be on Instagram here. Thanks to Denise Truscello for the pic and to everyone for all the messages of support about our new 14-year-old addition 🙂

• Instinct Magazine: The Lifetime TV channel has announced that it will release its first-ever holiday film with a same-sex romance as the central storyline. The upcoming tv movie is titled The Christmas Set-Up and follows two former high school friends who get (surprise!) ‘set-up’ by one’s mother during holidays at home.

• Out Music: Acclaimed singer and songwriter VINCINT recently released “Hard 2 Forget,” the eagerly awaited follow-up to his acclaimed debut EP, The Feeling.

The out artist has received raves from the media like this from Eonline: “VINCINT has kept us captivated with his sumptuous synth-pop sound and his outrageous vocals. As masterful with a full-throated belt as he is slipping into a soft falsetto, his is a voice.”

• WOW: Former Grey’s Anatomy actor Isaiah Washington (who was fired from the show for using a homophobic slur) came out to FoxNews as a Trump supporter. In April, the actor tweeted he had left the Democratic party.

• Sunday Times: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on why the now-infamous CATS movie turned out the way it did – “The problem with the film was that [director] Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show. The whole thing was ridiculous.”

• CNN: After repeatedly seeking to discredit mail-in voting, Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Florida’s election system is “safe and secure” and encouraged Floridians to vote by mail.

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Colton Haynes Is The Daddy We Always Knew He’d Be

Colton Haynes shares in a new YouTube video that he’s finally a daddy!

Ok, not that kind of ‘daddy,’ and it’s complicated…

It seems the time had finally come for Colton to bring a cat into his life: “Hey y’all…meet my son…Timothee Chalameow!”

But our hero may have had unrealistic expectations about cuddling and playing with Timothee right off the bat. Cut to Colton trying to coax his new buddy out from under the furniture.

“This is my life now, folks – trying to win the affection of a cat,” muses Colton as Timothee stares from the relative safety under the couch. “I’m so excited! I was born to be a cat dad.”

“Come here,…come cuddle with me,” pleads Colton to an aloof Timothee. “I just want your love and affection.”

L-R Colton Haynes, Timothee Chalameow

Colton swears to the camera that Timothee cuddles with him, but the new cat of the house doesn’t seem as drawn to the camera as his cat dad.

Is it possible Colton had a dog in mind and got confused?

And then, there’s the inevitable ‘incident.’

“Man, this whole fairy tale of getting a cat…Whoo! Not all it’s cracked up to be,” Colton shares. Apparently, there was a knock at the door, a deliveryman and a freak out involved, although Colton does see a silver lining of sorts.

Showing off his new scar, Colton shares that Timothee did attack him, but in a ‘super chic way.’  “It looks like a sexy vampire bite, so now I have that.”

I don’t want to give away the whole story, but all in all, it’s a pretty cute diversion from the outside world.

Hit the play button below to see if/how/when Colton and Timothee ever find common ground.

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NYC Pet Shelters See Surge In Dog/Cat Adoption Rates

Bloomberg News reports animal shelters in New York City have suddenly seen a surge in adoption rates during the coronavirus threat.

That’s right, in the New York City area, the epicenter of the disease, there is suddenly a run on pets. At least of the adopted or fostered kind. Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society are reporting shelters they work with are either all out of or almost out of cats and dogs after a surge in applications of as much as 10-fold in the past two weeks.

Ordered to shelter in place at home, and both a little bored and a lot anxious, New Yorkers apparently see the four-legged friends as way to calm frayed nerves.

“For the moment we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match” with foster volunteers, said Anna Lai, the marketing director at Muddy Paws. “Which is a great problem to have.”

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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News Round-Up: December 23, 2019

Alex Abramov (image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Alex Abramov (above) offers this quickie #instagay take on getting ready for the holidays: remove shirt, add Russian fur hat and lights, shoot.

• OUT: The mother of a child who committed suicide due to excessive bullying has sued the school on the basis of neglect and creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ students.

• Instinct: The streaming giant teased its upcoming true crime documentary based on the real-life story of bisexual pro football player turned murderer, Aaron Hernandez.

• Christianity Today: The president of the evangelical magazine supported his editor in chief’s recent op-ed calling for the removal of Donald Trump. “The global Body of Christ — and the community of evangelicals — is vastly larger than our domestic political squabbles. But partly on behalf of that global body, we can no longer stay silent. We write for a readership of One. God is our Tower. Let the whirlwind come.”

• The Verge: Theaters are receiving a new version of Cats with “some improved visual effects,” just days after it premiered to dismal reviews. Last-minute tweaks apparently left room for mistakes like Judy Dench’s human hand slipping through unnoticed.

• AP News: After Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused Mayor Pete Buttigieg of holding fundraising events in “wine caves” serving $900 bottles of wine, the owners of the venue that hosted the event pushed back. They say wine caves are common at wineries in Napa Valley because they’re good for storing wine at cool temperatures.; no $900 bottle of wine were served; and no one attended thinking they would become besties with Mayor Pete.

• Advocate: Schitt’s Creek creator and star Dan Levy called out UK television channel 4Music for editing out same-sex moments from the series.

• Will & Grace: Sean Hayes tweets a photo of the fab four taking a final bow as the last episode of Will & Grace was shot, and the unexpected revival of the hit sitcom comes to a close.

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Donald Trump “Embarrassed” Mike Pence Has Pets, Calls Them “Low Class”

Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Donald Trump (R)

Just one more horrible thing to learn about Donald Trump.

Last week, folks were quoting an article at The Atlantic by Mckay Coppins wherein Donald Trump was quoted as saying Vice President Mike Pence wants to “hang” all the gays.

But what didn’t get hardly any attention was the next paragraph where a White House adviser shared that Trump was embarrassed that Pence brought his family pets with him to Washington, D.C.

Apparently, Donald Trump thinks having pets is “low class.”

When it was reported last January that the Pences would be moving some of their family pets—which include two cats, a rabbit, and a snake—into the Naval Observatory, Trump ridiculed the menagerie to his secretary, according to a longtime adviser. “He was embarrassed by it; he thought it was so low class,” says the adviser. “He thinks the Pences are yokels.”