LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items you might have missed: • Outsports: If the out LGBTQ athletes at the Tokyo Olympics were a country, they’d currently be ranked 11th. Outsports is tracking what they call ‘Team LGBTQ’ throughout the Olympiad. Continue reading “News Round-Up: July 31, 2021”
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| Jennifer Hudson as ‘Grizabella’ in CATS |
The trailer for the upcoming live-action movie of CATS the musical has landed.
I think it has some amazing visuals going on, although the anthropomorphic/naked cat look will take a bit of getting used to.
Along the way, there looks to be some fantastic casting with Rebel Wilson as ‘Jennyanydots,’ Sir Ian McKellen as ‘Gus the theater cat,’ Dame Judi Dench as ‘Deuteronomy,’ and James Corden as ‘Bustopher Jones.’
Oh, and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson belts out the show’s hit tune, “Memory,” throughout.
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| Judi Dench in CATS |
In theaters this Christmas. Take a look below.
Longtime readers of The Randy Report may recall being cast in the national touring company of CATS back in the mid-80s was my first big gig after moving to New York City.
Ah yes, ‘the magical Mr. Mistoffelees’…
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| Adam Lambert (image via Flickr/Tatianka1986) |
The Oscars are promising a virtual homo-goulash of LGBTQ music artists and favorites when the 91st annual Academy Awards take place on Sunday, February 24.
This morning, the Academy announced that iconic rock band Queen, fronted by out singer Adam Lambert, will stage to the stage at the 2019 Oscars.
The Academy paired the lyric, “Is this real life? Is this just fantasy?,” with video footage of Lambert and Queen performing “We Will Rock You” in a post on Twitter Monday morning.
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
We welcome @QueenWillRock and @adamlambert to this year’s #Oscars!https://t.co/7uDf42FbjJ— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 18, 2019
Lambert first met and performed with original Queen band members Roger Taylor and Brian May while competing on the talent competition American Idol in 2009. In 2012, the band invited Lambert to tour as frontman.
The appearance will clearly be a tribute to the Freddie Mercury musical biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, which is nominated in five categories on Sunday including Best Picture, Best Actor (front runner Rami Malek), Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
The rockers will join previously announced performers Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Hudson, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who will perform songs nominated for Best Original Song.
Midler , a two-time Oscar nominee (The Rose, For The Boys) tweeted her news this weekend, writing, “So, (drum roll) Ladies and Gentlemen, I will be chanteusing (that’s singing) on the Oscars on Feb 24…the nominated song from ‘Mary Poppins’…’The Place Where Lost Things Go’ …so excited!!”
So, (drum roll) Ladies and Gentlemen, I will be chanteusing (that’s singing) on the Oscars on Feb 24…the nominated song from “Mary Poppins”…”The Place Where Lost Things Go” …so excited!!— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) February 17, 2019
Gaga and Cooper will reprise the Grammy and Golden Globe-winning duet, “Shallow” from A Star is Born (a pretty sure bet to win the trophy); Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) will perform “I’ll Fight” from the documentary RBG; and nominees Rawlings & Welch will sing “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
Tune in this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT for the 91st Academy Awards on ABC.
After taping an episode of the UK’s The Voice, Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson headed over to G-A-Y at Heaven nightclub in London. And she brought some music with her – you know, just in case…
Along with several songs, she delivered a fierce, roof-raising performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls.
She is in very, very good voice here. Watch below:
Get your first look at the upcoming Hairspray Live! set to air December 7 at 8PM ET/PT featuring an all-star cast: Harvey Fierstein as “Edna Turnblad,” Jennifer Hudson as “Motormouth Mabel,” Martin Short as “Wilbur Turnblad,” Derek Hough as “Corny Collins,” Ariana Grande as “Penny Pingleton,” Andrea Martin as “Prudy Pingleton” and Kristin Chenoweth as “Velma Von Tussle.”
I know the show well and I have to say this is dream casting across the board. I can’t imagine any better than this.
In addition to being the best “Edna Turnblad” ever (Tony Award don’t you know?) Harvey Fierstein will provide a new teleplay and original Broadway choreographer Jerry Mitchell (“Kinky Boots,” “On Your Feet,” “The Full Monty,” “Legally Blonde”) will bring the moves as choreographer. I have to admit I missed Jerry’s choreography in the movie version.
Most excellent casting news for the upcoming live presentation of the Broadway smash-hit Hairspray.
Not only will Academy/Grammy/Golden Globe winner Jennifer Hudson take on the role of “Motormouth Maybelle” (and her show-stopping “I Know Where I’ve Been”), but Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein will reprise his leading role of “Edna Turnblad.”
In my opinion, there’s never been a better “Edna.”
Via press release:
“We are beyond thrilled with this incredibly talented duo of stars for ‘Hairspray Live!,’” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “Harvey Fierstein created the role of Edna Turnblad on Broadway in an indelible Tony-winning performance that demanded to be memorialized on film, and we’re happy he wanted to step into her shoes one last, unforgettable time. We’re also so grateful that the incomparable Jennifer Hudson will play Motormouth Maybelle and we know her rendition of ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ will literally stop the show.”
Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “Hairspray Live!” takes place in 1962 Baltimore. Teenager Tracy Turnblad’s dream is to dance on “The Corny Collins Show,” a local TV program. When, against all odds, Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight and meets a colorful array of characters, including the resident dreamboat, Link; the ambitious mean girl, Amber; an African-American boy she meets in detention, Seaweed; and his mother, Motormouth Maybelle, the owner of a local record store. Tracy’s mother is the indomitable Edna Turnblad, and she eventually encourages Tracy on her campaign to integrate the all-white “Corny Collins Show.”
Harvey Fierstein, who is also writing the teleplay, will play Edna Turnblad, a role he created and won a Tony Award for in the stage version of “Hairspray.” The quintessential Edna, Fierstein portrayed the character for the show’s first two years of its seven-year run at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway.
The production will air live on NBC on December 7th at 8PM ET/PT.
Oscar and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Hudson releases her new music video, “I Still Love You,” in time for Pride Month and exclusively for MTV and Logo TV.
The video tells the story of a father deciding at the last minute to attend his gay son’s interracial wedding.
From NewNowNext:
The premiere of “I Still Love You” supports Logo’s #All50 campaign, a platform for LGBT people and allies to stay up-to-date on the latest news and share personal stories in support of marriage equality leading up to the Supreme Court of the United States’ momentous decision.
Throughout June, Logo will showcase marriage equality messages on-air, debut interviews with celebrities and LGBT advocates on the #All50 site, and invite viewers to share personal stories about their support for marriage equality using #All50.
Logo will celebrate the march to marriage equality during the second annual Logo Trailblazer Honors, the largest televised Pride event, airing on Logo TV on Saturday, June 27, at at 8pm ET.
“There couldn’t be a better time to release this video from my new album,” said Jennifer Hudson. “I owe a large part of my success to the LGBT community, who has embraced and supported me from early on in my career, and music continues to prove a powerful platform to help promote LGBT equality. I hope my video inspires everyone to keep fighting for fifty.”
The video, shot at the W Hotel in West Hollywood, is launched in conjunction with HRC as part of the hotel chain’s Turn It Up For Change initiative.
Just hysterical.
James Corden and Jennifer Hudson make the most of their drive to work singing a few classic tunes, stopping at her Hollywood Walk of Fame star and ordering from a drive-thru.
Don’t miss the 4:55 mark were the fully expected “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” kicks in… 🙂
