Coming Out Support Newsweekly: 1/04/10

Coming Out Support (COS) Newsweekly
Volume 13 No. 1 January 4, 2010
Newsletter Editor: OnQYB@aol.com

The Fine Print

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The Gay Agenda: Datebook: January 4-10, 2010

WED-SUN: 1/06-1/10: Park City, UT: Utah Gay & Lesbian Ski Week. www.gayskiing.org

THU-SUN: 1/07-1/10: New York, NY: New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend. A series of events celebrating the arts in New York with Alan Cumming, Natalie Portman, Carrie Fisher, Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Eric Ripert and more. www.artsandleisureweekend.com.

Newsworthy:

California: The Federal Challenge to Proposition 8 could be televised, which has Prop 8 supporters livid. The trial begins on 1/11/10. Towleroad reports: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/12/will-the-olsonboies-federal-challenge-to-prop-8-be-televised.html

The Buzz (People Making News)

Sharon Lubinski has been appointed America's first out Federal Marshall. Towleroad reports: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/12/sharon-lubinski-first-openly-gay-us-marshal-confirmed.html

The Sanctity of Marriage: Karl Rove divorces. Chicago Pride reports: http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/9096001

Features

Coming Out: Coming Out (Onstage) in Ireland. True stories of older Irish men willing to flout tradition by frankly discussing their homosexuality form the spine of "Silver Stars," produced by Dublin company Brokentalkers. The New York Times reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/theater/27broken.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=theater&adxnnlx=1261839689-rNBA5/sMm+Qc95WsHaX1xw

Larry Kramer. His boundless outrage changed the face of AIDS. He's now at work on a still-unfinished epic history of gay America. New York Magazine reports: http://nymag.com/news/features/62887/

Cheyennetology Explained. The New York Daily News recaps the Cheyenne Jackson appeal. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/12/27/2009-12-27_all_the_worlds_a_stage_for_hot_new_yorker_cheyenne_jackson.html

Opportunities

Scholarships Opportunity: Point Foundation Scholarships. The Point Foundation is the nation’s largest, publicity-supported organization granting scholarships to LGBT students of merit. Point provides support through multi-year scholarships, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT students who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Application deadline is: 2/12/10. www.pointfoundation.org

In Performance: Onstage:Theatre/Music/Dance

New York City (and Broadway)

***A Little Night Music. Sondheim's all-waltz musical stars Catherine Zeta-Jones (singing "Send in the Clowns") and Angela Lansbury.
***At Home At The Carlyle: Elaine Stritch Singin' Sondheim One Song At a Time. The Broadway legend (and frequent laughmaker on "30 Rock" sings music of the Broadway legend. to 1/30/10. www.thecarlyle.com.
***Ernest in Love, a musical based on gay Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest". to 1/31/10. www.irishrep.org.
***Finian's Rainbow. An old show with good tunes and Cheyenne Jackson starring as Woody for the swoon quotient.
***Hair, Tony-winning revival of the first major rock musical. www.publictheater.org.
***Jewdy! Jewdy! Jewdy!, Judy Gold's new lesbian jewish stand-up act. to 1/25/10. www.JudyGold.com
***Present Laughter. Gay Noel Coward's gay comedy. Victor Garber stars as an aging star. to 3/21/10. www.roundabouttheatre.org

Elsewhere...

On National Tour

***Dixie's Tupperware Party, bringing Tupperware-mania to a theatre near you. Dixie Longate stars. through 4/25/10. www.DixiesTupperwareParty.com
***Xanadu, the camp roller-disco musical, described by one character as "children's theatre for 40 year old gay men". www.xanaduonbroadway.com


***Fiddler on The Roof. Harvey Fierstein, Broadway's classic Mom in "Hairspray" plays a classic father of five. to 1/10/10. Toronto, ON. www.mirvish.com or visit fiddlerontour.com.
***F*cking Men. A new play, conceived as a riff on Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde, observes the sex lives of modern urban gay America. to 2/14/10, Los Angeles, CA. www.celebrationtheatre.com
***High Spirits. Georgia Engel stars in the musical version of gay Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit". to 1/17/10. Naples, FL. www.theatrezone-florida.com.
***The Threshing Floor. James Ijames's one-actor profile of gay writer James Baldwin (starring Ijames), presented by the LGBT-friendly Mauckingbird Theatre Company. to 1/31/10. Philadelphia, PA. www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org
***Tru. Jay Presson Allen's one-actor profile of gay writer Truman Capote, presented by the LGBT-friendly Mauckingbird Theatre Company. to 1/31/10. Philadelphia, PA.
www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org

On Screen (and Video & DVD)

Out on Screen...

***A Single Man. Tom Ford's debut film, an adaptation of a Christopher Isherwood novel, about a day in the life of a gay man, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.
***Dare, a trio of high school students who become unlikely friends at the end of their senior year. starring Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Sandra Bernhard and Emmy Rossum.
***Nine, the Rob Marshall movie based on the Broadway musical. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the conflicted film maker. The women in his life: Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench and Fergie.
***Oy Vey. My Son is Gay. A coming out film with Carmen Electra, Lainie Kazan, Bruce Vilanch, Jai Rodriguez. One assumes it's a comedy.
***Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. A stunning drama from out director Lee Daniels about an overweight, illiterate Harlem teen, pregnant with her second child, who is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

Out On Video & DVD

***An Evening with John Barrowman. Concert DVD with the out star of Torchwood. ilmed before a live audience. www.amazon.co.uk.
***Every Little Step: The Journey of "A Chorus Line".
***The Fall of '55. The documentary about the gay sex sting in Boise, Idaho in 1955.
***Glee: Volume 1: Road to Sectionals. the first DVD of the hot new TV series.
***Hope Along The Wind: The Life of Harry Hay. the 2002 documentary about the gay rights pioneer.
***Hump Day. Two straight dudes contemplate going gay to enter and win Humpfest, Seattle's amateur porn contest.
***Law of Desire. A young Antonio Banderas stars as an obsessed fan of a film director in this 1987 Almodovar classic film.
***Margaret Cho: Beautiful.
***Pageant. The documentary about the Miss Gay America Pageant.
***Taking Woodstock. Ang Lee's new film about the rock festival based on Elliot Tiber's memoir. Demetri Martin stars as the gay Tiber. Liev Schriber plays a transvestite; Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays a closeted married guy who has an affair with Tiber.


On TV Of Note: All times listed are ET. Check local listings for times in your area.

Resource:TV Gayed, GLAAD's Weekly Guide to What's LGBT on TV: Updated every Friday. www.glaad.org/tvgayed

***Ongoing: The Wanda Sykes Show. The out comic's late night talk show. 11PM Saturdays. FOX.
***January: In the Life. LGBT news magazine. PBS. Check local listings. http://www.itl.tv/inthelife/episodes/
***WED: 1/06: People's Choice Awards. Live. CBS.Check local listings.
8PM. Live. CBS. www.TonyAwards.com

Conferences, Seminars, Benefits, and Special Events

1/11/10: New York, NY: True Colors Cabaret. Karen Olivo and sRufus Wainwright co-star to benefit Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Fund and Broadway Impact. The True Colors Fund seeks to inspire and engage everyone, particularly the straight community, to become active participants in the advancement of LGBT equality. Broadway Impact is a grassroots coalition of the Broadway community and its fans, mobilizing in support of marriage equality. www.FeinsteinsatLoewsRegency.

1/15/10-1/17/10: Los Angeles, CA: Annual National Union of Jewish LGBTQQI Students Conference. Workshops, services, community building, and social time. NUJLS is a fiscally managed project of Keshet, an organization that works for the full inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life. http://www.nujlsonline.org/confereinceinfo.html

1/16/10: East Haddam, CT: Musical Theatre Symposium with historian John Pike, author Ted Chapin, and "The Creation of Next to Normal". For showtune people. Goodspeed Opera House. www.goodspeed.org.

1/17/10-1/24/10: Aspen, CO: Aspen Gay Ski Week. www.gayskiweek.com

1/20/10-1/24/10: Stowe, VT: Winter Rendezvous. gay skiing & winter sports. www.winterrendezvous.com

1/21/10-1/31/10: Park City, UT: Sundance Film Festival. Among the screenings: James Franco as beat poet Allen Ginsburg in "Howl", the story of the poet's obscenity trial, which also stars Jon Hamm and Mary-Louise Parker and a documentary: "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work". www.sundance.org

1/28/10: White Plains, NY: OUT Professionals Westchester Networking Event, co-sponsored by the LOFT, a non-profit community-based group serving the LGBT community in lower Hudson Valley. www.outprofessionals.org.

1/28/10-1/30/10: Bloomington, IN: Pride Film Festival. www.pridefilmfestival.org

2/08/10: San Francisco, CA: All You Need Is Love 2, the Help is On The Way benefit concert for STOP AIDS PROJECTand Aguilas. Produced by The Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation. www.helpisontheway.org

2/12/10-2/15/10: Hudson Valley, NY: Winter Explosion. LGBT African-American winter event. www.winterexplosion.com

2/12/10-3/13/10: Los Angeles, CA: Fusion. Los Angeles’ LGBT people of color film festival. www.outfest.org/fusion.html

2/16/10-2/21/10: New York, NY: CineKink NYC. mixed gay/straight film festival exploring a wide variety of sexualities through documentary, comedy, drama & more. www.cinekink.com

2/19/10-2/21/10: San Luis Obispo, CA: Western Regional LGBTQIA College Conference, sponsored by California Polytechnic State University. www.comeoutwest.org

Last Week’s Trivia Quiz: January Milestones

1. Question: Name this musician, author and activist, who was the first person to come out on television on January 18, 1973. His family was the subject of a reality series documentary on PBS. Answer: Lance Loud, on “An American Family”.

2. Question: Name this playwright and activist. On January 12, 1982, a group of gay men met at his apartment to form the GMHC, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, a non-profit organization to provide programs and services to people with HIV. Today, the GMHC is one of the nation’s laregest AIDS service organizations, and the playwright is best known for his activism. Answer: Larry Kramer, who wrote “The Normal Heart” and later founded ACT-UP.

3. Question: Name this out award-winning actor and activist. His gay and lesbian theatre and film colleagues, among them Alec McGowen, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Cameron Macintosh, and Martin Sherman, came out publicly in the UK’s Guardian to support his knighthood on January 9, 1991. Answer: Sir Ian McKellan.

4. Question: Name this popular icon who was outed in January, 2005. He joined Tinky Winky and Bert & Ernie as gay icons. Answer: SpongeBob Squarepants.

5. Question: Name this bisexual American actress, born January 31, 1902. She was best known for her portrayals of Southern belles, although she had a mouth that could frighten sailors. Answer: Tallulah Bankhead, star of “Lifeboat”, “The Little Foxes” who said “i’m as pure as the fresh-driven slush”.

This Week’s Trivia Quiz: Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival (this year’s runs Janunary 21-31) is the largest independent cinema festival in the USA. Founded with the support of Robert Redford, the festival has showcased numerous LGBT films in hits history. Its Queer Lounge is a gathering point for LGBT film makers and those interested in LGBT-themed films (www.queerlounge.org). For information on this year’s festival: festival.sundance.org.

1. Question: Name this Sundance Film Festival winner. It was based upon an off-Broaday musical about a transgender East German rock singer. It won the same year that a film "Southern Comfort" won in the documentary category for its chronicle of the final year of a FTM TG person with fatal cervical cancer.

2. Question: Name this person, who was the focus of a documentary that won an award in 1985, the Festival's first year. The person was the focus of an Oscar-winning film, an award-winning book, an opera, and a second film (a non-documentary big-budget Hollywood effort).

3. Question: Name this 1990 Sundance winner, the first mainstream film to compassionately show the human side of the AIDS epidemic (premiering years before "Philadelphia" on PBS). It featured many theatre actors, and one of its best performances came from the artistic director of a major American regional theatre.

4. Question: Name this 1996 Sundance winner, a documentary based upon a book that chronicled the portrayal of LGBT people in American cinema, and the closets of Hollywood. Its author was an authority on gay cinema who unfortunately died early in the AIDS epidemic.

5. Question: Sundance has awarded documentary films that showcased gay artists ("Paul Monette: The Brink of Summers End"); the drag ball culture of New York ("Paris is Burning") and the story of a couple impacted by HIV/AIDS ("Silverlake: The View from Here"). What Sundance winner (1986) became commercial cinema's first mainstream hit with a lesbian theme ?

The first person to submit the correct answers gets their name in print right here. Email your answers to: OnQYB@aol.com. If you do not want your email address to appear in the blog format of this newsletter, please indicate that. http://cosnewsweekly.blogspot.com/