Web Series of the Week: Tired Old Queen at the Movies
This week my favorite film critic, the fabulous Steve Hayes, reviews the 1962 musical, Gypsy, starring Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. For more TOQ, subscribe to his YouTube Channel or become a fan on Facebook.
If you're in NYC next weekend, you can see Tired Old Queen at the Movies LIVE! in "Movie Stars Sing at Last!" as part of the 20th Annual Dixon Place HOT! Festival on Saturday, August 6, at 7:30 pm. Steve will be interviewing filmmaker and movie musical addict Mark Milano about famous stars who were dubbed in classic movie musicals, and they will present and discuss film clips featuring the restored vocal recordings of the original performers. For tickets and further information, click here.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning today you can vote for your favorite Dish this week in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Chris R photographed by Rick Day.
#697 won last week's contest with 31.9% of the 113 votes cast. #696 came in second with 22.1%, followed by #698 (20.4%), #699 (15.0%) and #700 (10.6%).
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Benjamin Godfre photographed by Jon Seneca.
Each week I feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 51 years. You can vote for your three favorites, and the five with the most votes move on to the following week when five new songs will be added to the list. This week everyone who votes AND leaves a comment, listing their three favorite songs (as well as their name and email address), will be entered into today's Groovy Gay Giveaway to win a pair of tickets to the Camp Midnight screening of the 1962 film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, at Chicago's Music Box Theatre on Sunday, August 7 (click here for more information).
The Carpenters' 1970 hit, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", received the most votes last week (24 out of the 105 cast), knocking Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" into second place. Now here is this week's Top 10 Tuesday, and you can vote for your favorites in the poll below.
Every Tuesday I post five trivia questions relating to television, film, theatre or famous actors/directors, and the first person who sends me the correct answers wins the highly coveted Auntie Mame Award. This week everyone who answers all the questions correctly will be entered into today's Groovy Gay Giveaway to win a pair of tickets to the Camp Midnight screening of the 1962 film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, at Chicago's Music Box Theatre on Sunday, August 7 (click here for more information).
Please send your answers for this week's questions to deepdishdrama@aol.com or via a private Facebook message (DO NOT post your answers on here where everyone can see them or they will be deleted).
This week's theme is, of course, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?:
1) What is the last name of sisters Baby Jane and Blanche?
2) What decade is most of the movie set in?
3) Complete the following quote: "But you are, _______! You are in that _____!"
4) Whose daughter played the role of Liza Bates, the neighbor's daughter?
5) Complete the title of Baby Jane's signature song: "I’ve Written a Letter to _____"
Today's Groovy Gay Giveaway is two pairs of tickets to the Camp Midnight screening of the 1962 Bette Davis/Joan Crawford film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, at Chicago's Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave) on Sunday, August 7. In honor of National Sisters Day, this special event begins at 2 pm with a pre-show hosted by the delightful Dick O'Day and featuring David Cerda, Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions, and it will include a matching sister outfit costume parade (with prizes!) and a sing-a-long at the Music Box organ. Then the movie will be screened, complete with an interactive audience guide and hilarious running commentary from O’Day and Cerda. For further information on the screening, go to www.musicboxtheatre.com.
To enter to win this Groovy Gay Giveaway, you can either answer the questions correctly in today's Tuesday Trivia contest (via a private Facebook message or email) OR vote and leave a comment on today's Top 10 Tuesday post, listing your three favorite songs (if you leave a comment, please remember to include your name and email address). Entries close at midnight on Wednesday (CST). If you cannot be in Chicago to attend the screening, your winning entry is transferable to the person of your choice.
If you would like to give away something groovy and/or gay (DVDs, CDs, books, theater/movie tickets) here on Deep Dish, please email me at deepdishdrama@aol.com.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll.
I just learned today that Milly Boyd, the last surviving Del Rubio Triplet, died on July 21 at age 89. To celebrate the music of her and her sisters, Eadie and Elena, below are a few videos of them performing together. Also, here are some interesting facts about the ladies - they were the great nieces of First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson, and their stage name came from the color they dyed their hair ("rubio" means "blond" in Spanish).
Last month I asked readers to vote for the LGBT films that they deemed worthy of being inducted into The Groovy Gay Movie Hall of Fame (click here for the complete list of eligible movies). And after 1,161 votes, here are the first 25 inductees (in order of votes received):
Today's music is "Can't Get the Girl (Without the Good Stuff, Baby)" by Chloe F. Orwell and Brad Elvis of the Chicago-based indie rock band, The Handcuffs. This groovy tune is from their 2006 debut album, Model for a Revolution, and their third CD, Waiting for the Robot, will be released on September 6. For more information about The Handcuffs, check out their website at thehandcuffs.com.
It looks like everyone loves Harry Potter as Daniel Radcliffe received the most votes out of the 180 cast in the last Celebrity Birthday Dinner Party. Here are the final results:
Daniel Radcliffe 27
Natalie Wood 24
Kristin Chenoweth 24
Ruth Buzzi 16
Diana Rigg 15
Robin Williams 14
Matt LeBlanc 10
Lynda Carter 10
Philip Seymour Hoffman 9
Estelle Getty 7
Barbara Harris 7
Anna Paquin 7
Rufus Wainwright 5
James Brolin 5
And now here are the Top 10 most popular guests from all 50 CBDP contests.
After five rounds of voting, only one man was left standing out of the original 32 Playgirl hunks - Leighton Stultz (June 2007), who beat Terrence Dineen (April 1993) 55% to 44% to claim the Battle of the Beefcake crown. Thanks to everyone who voted!
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Todd Sanfield.
Movieline's Louis Virtel is a funny guy. In the first episode of his Verbal Vogueing, he discusses Target and Ke$ha and shares a list of #NaughtyPlayTitles.
I think this Funny or Die spoof of the TV series, Hoarders, is a hoot. It stars Tori Spelling, her husband Dean McDermott, Sally Kirkland and - well, you'll have to watch it yourself to see who else shows up.
I can listen to Amy Winehouse's "Me & Mr Jones" over and over again. This fabulous song from her 2006 album, Back to Black, is featured below in honor of the singer/songwriter who died today at age 27. I've also included two other favorite tunes by her - "Valerie" from Mark Ronson's 2007 album, Version, and the title track from Back to Black (the music video features a funeral procession, which is especially sad to watch now, but it's still a great song).
Here is the latest news about the new Dark Shadows feature film that is currently being shot in London by director Tim Burton:
Actor Jonny Lee Miller has been cast as Roger Collins, the brother of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). Miller has appeared in such films as Trainspotting (1996), Afterglow (1997) and Mansfield Park (1999), and he played the title role in the 2008-09 TV series, Eli Stone.
Finding Mr. Wright
If you're looking for a gay romantic comedy, I recommend that you check out Finding Mr. Wright, which will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30. Directed by Nancy Criss, the film stars Matthew Montgomery (Role/Play, Back Soon) as Clark Townsend, a work-obsessed celebrity manager who meets Pearce Wright (The Lair's David Moretti), a life coach who is immediately smitten with him. They soon end up going away together when Pearce offers to help Clark's party girl client, actress Eddy Malone (Eating Out's Rebekah Kochan), by taking her and her friends on a wilderness therapy retreat.
The question of whether Clark will finally realize that he has found his Mr. "Wright" is a familiar one for anyone who's a fan of romantic comedies, but the talented cast is able to add some original spark to the story. Montgomery and Moretti make a cute couple, and Evan Miller provides some nice shirtless beefcake as a personal trainer/porn star. Of course, Kochan is her usual amusing self, but two minor characters get their share of laughs - Keye Chen as Clark's sassy cross-dressing assistant and Rasool J'Han as Eddy's angry black lesbian publicist who eventually does lighten up. I found Finding Mr. Wright to be a light and enjoyable movie - and quite sexy whenever Mr. Moretti wears his groovy glasses.
And then there were two. You have until this Sunday (July 24) at midnight to vote for your favorite Playgirl hunk in this final round of Battle of the Beefcake.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Derek Atlas.
The television drama, Friday Night Lights, came to an end last week after five seasons and 76 episodes. It was never a popular high-rated show, and I think most people - including myself initially - assumed it was all about football, which didn't entice me to tune in for its first two seasons. But I finally gave the series a chance at the beginning of its third season - and I quickly fell in love with the small town of Dillon, Texas, and its many engaging residents. FNL was about people dealing with their everyday lives, and the game of football served as a connective backdrop for all of them. However, it was the ever-changing romantic entanglements of the characters that kept me glued to my TV set for three years. I love a good soap opera - and FNL was a great one. I will miss spending time with Eric and Tami and the rest of the Dillon gang. They were like family whom I welcomed into my home every Friday night. So a big THANK YOU must go out to executive producers Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins who adapted the series from the 2004 film that Berg directed and the 1990 non-fiction book by H.G. Bissinger (Berg's cousin). They created one of the best shows in the history of television.
Below is a list of my 10 favorite FNL characters with a few random comments about the series finale:
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll.
In order to make Deep Dish even more gay, I thought it would be fun to have another contest featuring 32 Playgirl models in a hot competition of quality beefcake. The first three rounds narrowed down the list to the final four guys. You have until this Thursday (July 21) at midnight to vote in this round.
Each week I feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 51 years. You can vote for your three favorites, and the five with the most votes move on to the following week when five new songs will be added to the list. Also, beginning this week everyone who votes AND leaves a comment, listing their three favorite songs (as well as their name and email address), will be entered into the first Groovy Gay Giveaway to win a Role/Play DVD/soundtrack CD bundle (click here for more information).
Captain & Tennille's 1975 hit, "Love Will Keep Us Together", received the most votes last week (28 out of the 172 cast), followed by The Human League's 1982 tune, "Don't You Want Me", with 26 votes. Now here is this week's Top 10 Tuesday, and you can vote for your favorites in the poll below.
Every Tuesday I post five trivia questions relating to television, film or theatre, and the first person who sends me the correct answers wins the highly coveted Auntie Mame Award. Also, beginning this week everyone who answers all the questions correctly will be entered into the first Groovy Gay Giveaway to win a Role/Play DVD/soundtrack CD bundle (click here for more information).
Please send your answers for this week's questions to deepdishdrama@aol.com or via a private Facebook message (DO NOT post your answers on here where everyone can see them or they will be deleted).
This week's theme is the 1999 gay-themed romantic comedy, Trick:
1) Who plays Gabriel's aspiring actress friend Katherine? And on what 1990-2000 TV series did she appear?
2) What is Mark's occupation?
3) What drag queen corners Gabriel in the restroom?
4) Who do Gabriel, Mark and Perry run into on their way to Perry's apartment?
5) Complete the title of the song Gabriel writes for his Broadway workshop class: "_____ You"
It's always nice to win a prize, isn't it? So beginning today Deep Dish will be featuring a Groovy Gay Giveaway every Tuesday (some items may be more gay than others, but I like the title).
Courtesy of Guest House Films, the first giveaway is two DVD/soundtrack CD bundles of their recent film, Role/Play, a steamy romantic drama written and directed by Rob Williams and starring Steve Callahan and Matthew Montgomery (check out the film's trailer below).
To enter to win this Groovy Gay Giveaway, you can either answer the questions correctly in today's If It's Tuesday trivia contest (via a private Facebook message or email) OR vote and leave a comment on today's Top 10 Tuesday post, listing your three favorite songs (if you leave a comment, please remember to include your name and email address). Entries close at midnight on Wednesday (CST).
If you would like to give away something groovy and/or gay (DVDs, CDs, books, theater/movie tickets) here on Deep Dish, please email me at deepdishdrama@aol.com.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is opening its 25th Anniversary Season with a production of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 musical, Follies, which begins a limited five-week engagement on October 4. It will be directed by CST Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin, whose credits include the Tony Award-nominated The Color Purple (2005) and The Apple Tree (2006) as well as a 2001 CST production of Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, which later transferred to the West End and received the 2004 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.
To purchase tickets, call the CST box office at 312-595-5600 or order online at www.chicagoshakes.com.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll.
After a year of Celebrity Birthday Dinner Party, I've decided that it's time for the party to end. It's been fun - and I thank everyone who has voted for their favorite guests each week.
Glee's Jane Lynch received the most votes out of the 212 cast in last week's contest. Here are the final results:
Jane Lynch 38
Robert Gant 33
Phyllis Diller 26
Tab Hunter 25
Barbara Stanwyck 23
Brett Somers 14
Harrison Ford 13
Lucie Arnaz 11
Diahann Carroll 10
Ginger Rogers 8
Jan-Michael Vincent 6
Linda Ronstadt 5
And now here are the final contenders. So which three of these past/present celebrities (whose birthdays are this week) would you invite to your dinner party? You can vote for your favorites below.
Today's groovy music is the new pro-gay marriage video for Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" featuring actor/producer Jason O'Ffill (who came up with the concept) and actor/model Joel Harrison (who appeared in the 2008 film, 3-Day Weekend). This video seems to be on everyone's blog today, so I decided to join the party. Enjoy!
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll.
TLA Releasing - the LGBT film distribution company - is giving away a free trip to the Bahamas for two in celebration of the award-winning movie, Children of God, which was recently released on DVD (click here to read my review). The winner will receive two roundtrip tickets to the Bahamas courtesy of Bahamas Air and enjoy a relaxing stay at the Sky Beach Club Resort on Eleuthera Island, where Children of God was filmed. Go to www.tlareleasing.com to enter the contest, which will close this Wednesday (July 20).
Below you can check out the film's trailer to see the the pink sand beaches, deep blue waters and the breathtaking views of the island that inspired director Kareem Mortimer.
Web Series of the Week: Spin the Bottle
This promising new web series is about six friends who support each other while dealing with love, marriage, divorce and their careers. The first two episodes remind me a little of TV's Sex and the City and Friends - but with a happy gay couple (played by series creator Matthew Barnard and actor/singer/model Joel Evan Tye, whose handsome hunkiness is definitely worth watching - that's him in the above pic).
I confess that I'm not a fan of Harry Potter. I read a few chapters of the first book years ago, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. And I've never seen any of the films.
I also wouldn't call myself a big fan of the Tony Award-winning musical, The Book of Mormon, which I liked - but didn't love - when I saw it last month.
However, I am now a fan of Tessa Netting, a 20-year-old Broadway actress (Billy Elliot The Musical) who recently had the brilliant idea to combine the characters of Harry Potter with "Hello!", the opening number of The Book of Mormon (and one of the best songs in the show). She has made a clever video parody that is a lot of fun for even those non-Harry/Mormon fans out there like myself.
Below is Netting's parody as well as the original "Hello!" from The Book of Mormon.
In order to make Deep Dish even more gay, I thought it would be fun to have another contest featuring 32 Playgirl models in a hot competition of quality beefcake. The first two rounds narrowed down the list to 8 guys, so now it's on to Round 3. You have until this Monday (July 18) at midnight to vote in the third round.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning today you can vote for your favorite Dish this week in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Matt Stone.
#686 won last week's contest with 42.6% of the 101 votes cast. #689 came in second with 29.7%, followed by #690 (13.9%), #688 (8.9%) and #687 (5.0%).
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air on Fox on Sunday, September 18 - with Glee's Jane Lynch as the host - and earlier today the nominations were announced. Below is a list of the major categories with my hopeful predictions in pink and, of course, I'll be sure to check back in after the telecast with a review.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Robby Fiore, and the photographer is Bell Soto.
In honor of television producer Sherwood Schwartz, who died on Tuesday at age 94, below are clips from a few of the shows that he created and/or produced, including Gilligan's Island (1964-67), The Brady Bunch (1969-74), Big John, Little John (1976) and Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981-82). I've also included a brief interview with Schwartz, in which he reveals his favorite Brady Bunch episode.
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Joseph Sayers.
Welcome to a brand new Top 10 Tuesday. Each week I will feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 51 years. You can then vote for your three favorites, and the five with the most votes will move on to the following week when five new songs will be added to the list. So I hope you enjoy some of the tunes that I select. Now go vote in the poll below!
Every Tuesday I post five trivia questions relating to television, film or theatre, and the first person who sends me the correct answers wins the highly coveted Auntie Mame Award.
Please send your answers for this week's questions to deepdishdrama@aol.com or via a private Facebook message (DO NOT post your answers on here where everyone can see them or they will be deleted).
Last week I was happy to report that TNT has ordered 10 episodes of a brand new Dallas, which will debut next summer. Below you can check out a sneak peek of the series - which looks quite promising - as well as answer a few questions about the original show.
1) What role did Morgan Fairchild originate in a 1978 episode? And who later played the character for five years?
2) Who was Mickey Trotter's cousin?
3) What daytime soap opera star played psychotic kidnapper Sheila Foley/Hilary Taylor during the show's final season? And what daytime soap does she still appear on?
4) What was the name of the store that Pam worked at with Liz Craig?
5) What was the first name of Lucy's nerdy best friend?
Every Monday through Friday a new Dish of the Day is featured, and beginning on Friday you can vote for your favorite Dish of the week. If you haven't voted for last week's Dish yet, choose your man in the sidebar poll. Today's Dish is Michael Brent.
Since readers seemed to enjoy the first Battle of the Beefcake last summer, in which I featured 32 Playgirl models in a hot competition of quality beefcake, I decided to do it again. Round 1 narrowed down the list to 16 guys, so now it's on to Round 2. You have until this Thursday (July 14) at midnight to vote in the second round.
Jennifer Saunders received the most votes out of the 176 cast in last week's contest. Here are the final results:
Jennifer Saunders 36
Kevin Bacon 22
Tom Hanks 22
Anjelica Huston 20
Katherine Helmond 16
Gale Harold 15
Edie Falco 13
Sofia Vergara 12
Janet Leigh 8
Eva Marie Saint 7
Ringo Starr 5
And now here are this week's contenders. So which three of these past/present celebrities (whose birthdays are this week) would you invite to your dinner party? You can vote for your favorites below.
