Show Tune Showdown #7: 1960-61 Broadway Season

In the sixth Show Tune Showdown, Hair won the most showdowns - and the following songs will be moving on to a second round in 2012:

Hair's "Hair", "Aquarius", "Where Do I Go?", "Good Morning Starshine", "Black Boys/White Boys", "Frank Mills" and "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)"

Promises, Promises' "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Half as Big as Life", "Knowing When to Leave" and "Wanting Things"

Dear World's "Kiss Her Now", "And I Was Beautiful" and "I Don't Want to Know"

Zorba's "Life Is"

PLEASE NOTE: The next Show Tune Showdown will be on Friday, December 16.

Now on to our seventh Show Tune Showdown, which takes us back to the 1960-61 Broadway season when the following seven musicals opened:

Deep Dish Dinner Party #7: Kathy Griffin is One of the Boys

The rules are quite simple - each week I will feature 10 past/present celebrities and you get to invite (vote for) your three favorites to the Deep Dish Dinner Party. The five folks who receive the most votes will get to stay, and the following week five new people (whose birthdays are during that week) will be added to the guest list. So enjoy the party - and please feel free to leave a comment and share your selections.

1) Ryan Gosling
Last Week #1, Week 4, received 28 invites out of 149

2) Ryan Reynolds
LW #2, W7, 25 invites

3) Kathy Griffin
LW #3, W5, 19 invites

Dish of the Day #793: More Dishes to Be Thankful For

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 Kieran Kaine Hayler.

Groovy Giveaway: Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise (a biography by Sam Irvin)

“The greatest gift my parents ever gave me was my godmother, Kay Thompson. No one was as brilliant or as funny, and Sam Irvin's book manages to capture that lightning in a bottle. Hang onto your hair!” – Liza Minnelli

This week I'm giving away a copy of Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise, a biography by Sam Irvin that tells the larger-than-life story of the showbiz legend, who was the best friend and mentor of Judy Garland and the vocal coach for Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne. She also went to school with Tennessee Williams, got her first big break from Bing Crosby, trained Marilyn Monroe, rejected Andy Warhol, got fired by Howard Hughes, and directed John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Gala. In the 1950s, Thompson became the highest paid nightclub entertainer in the world and the bestselling author of the Eloise series of children's books as well as appearing with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire in the 1957 movie musical, Funny Face (you can watch her sing "Think Pink!" in the video below). Go to www.kaythompsonwebsite.com to learn more about the fabulous Kay Thompson and Irvin's wonderful book.

To enter to win this Groovy Giveaway, all you have to do is email your name and address to deepdishdrama@aol.com. Winners must have a US or Canadian mailing address, and entries close at midnight on Thursday (CST).

If you would like to give away something groovy (DVDs, CDs, books, theatre/concert tickets) here on Deep Dish, please email me at deepdishdrama@aol.com.

Top 10 Tuesday of Groovy Tunes: The Carpenters are on "Top of the World"

Each week I feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 50+ 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.

Cher's "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" and Barbra & Donna's "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" were in a tie at the top last week, each receiving 22 votes out of the 145 cast. Lulu and KC and the Sunshine Band also tied for fifth place, allowing them both to remain on the list. Meanwhile, the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" celebrated its 20th week in the Top 10, but now they will have to face their toughest competition yet - themselves (with their 1973 hit, "Top of the World"). You can vote for your favorites in the poll below.

Dish of the Day #792: More Dishes to Be Thankful For

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.

The Groove Tube #10: Teddy Sears has a very nice ass (but he's no Rubber Man)

Welcome to The Groove Tube, a weekly recap of the highlights (and lowlights) of some of the scripted TV shows I'm watching (in order of preference).

Remembering Ken Russell and His Films

Wild. Weird. Sensual. Passionate. Twisted. Unique.

Those are just a few adjectives that come to mind when I think of the films of director Ken Russell, who died Sunday at age 84. And to celebrate his life and career, here are trailers and scenes from 10 of his most memorable movies (he and actress Kathleen Turner are in the above pic):

Dish of the Day #791: More Dishes to Be Thankful For

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 Thomas Newhard.

Dish of the Day #790: Vote for your Favorite

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 Sean M. photographed by Tom Cullis.



#783 was last week's winner with 24.8% of the 121 votes cast. A close second was #781 with 24.0%, followed by #784 (20.7%), #782 (17.4%) and #785 (13.2%).

Dish of the Day #789: Dishes to Be Thankful For

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.

The Muppet Show: My Top 10 Favorite Episodes

Since I'm in a Muppets kind of mood today because of their brand new film, I thought it would be fun to feature my 10 favorite episodes of their syndicated TV series, The Muppet Show, which ran for 120 episodes from 1976 to 1981. So here are my selections (in chronological order):

Groovy Music: OK Go's "Muppet Show Theme Song"

To celebrate the new film, The Muppets, which opens in theaters today, here is a groovy video of the "Muppet Show Theme Song" performed by the rock band, OK Go. It's from The Green Album, a compilation that was released in August and features contemporary rock and alternative artists putting their own original spin on such Muppet classics as "Rainbow Connection" and "Bein' Green".

The Green Album is available on Amazon and iTunes, and for more information on OK Go, visit www.okgo.net.

Deep Dish Dinner Party #6: Between a Rock and a Hard Ryan

The rules are quite simple - each week I will feature 10 past/present celebrities and you get to invite (vote for) your three favorites to the Deep Dish Dinner Party. The five folks who receive the most votes will get to stay, and the following week five new people (whose birthdays are during that week) will be added to the guest list. So enjoy the party - and please feel free to leave a comment and share your selections.

1) Ryan Gosling
Last Week #2, Week 3, received 26 invites out of 146

Dish of the Day #788: Dishes to Be Thankful For

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 Steven Tavarez.

Top 10 Tuesday of Groovy Tunes: "No More Tears" for Donna & Barbra

Each week I feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 50+ 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.

Cher reclaimed the top spot last week with her 1971 hit, "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", receiving 17 votes out of the 122 cast. However, this week her #1 status will be challenged by Elvis, KC and Barbra & Donna's 1979 duet, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". You can vote for your favorites in the poll below.

Dish of the Day #787: Dishes to Be Thankful For

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 Tom Hislop.

The Groove Tube #9: Suburgatory needs more Parker Young (shirtless)

Welcome to The Groove Tube, a weekly recap of the highlights (and lowlights) of some of the scripted TV shows I'm watching (in order of preference).

TV Series of the Week: American Horror Story

"Open House" (Episode 7/November 16, 2011)

Most Disturbing Opening Scene of the Week: Larry suffocating Constance's deformed son, Beau, with a pillow.

Character That Reminded Me of the 1985 Cher film, Mask: I don't think Beau was suffering from the same rare disorder that Cher's son had in the movie, but it's the first thought that popped into my head.

Most Disturbing Deaths of the Week: Larry killing Beau was disturbing, but his wife setting herself and their two daughters on fire was even worse.

Worst Couple of the Week Runner-Up: Larry and Constance (he loves her, but his feelings aren't mutual).

Worst Couple of the Week: It has to be original house owners Charles Montgomery and his wife Nora, who shot him in the head and then killed herself after he turned their baby into a monster.

Best Couple of the Week: Constance and Moira are a delightful deadly duo. They put aside their past differences (Constance killing Moira) to get rid of the creep who was going to destroy the house in order to build condos.

Dish of the Day #786: Dishes to Be Thankful For

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 Matt Mendrun photographed by James Franklin.

Web Series Worth Watching: Sebastian La Cause is Hustling

Web Series of the Week: Hustling
Now here's a provocative new dramedy created by and starring a sexy Sebastian La Cause - and after watching just the pilot episode, I'm already hooked. The series is about Ryan Crosby (La Cause) who finds it difficult to move on from his 19 years as a porn star/escort named Rod Driver. The cast also includes Daphne Rubin-Vega as Ryan's landlord, Rosa, and guest star Gregory Gunter is amusing as one of Rod's devoted fans.

Dish of the Day #785: Vote for your Favorite

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 Scott Herman photographed by George Starr.



#780 was last week's winner with 28.0% of the 118 votes cast. He was followed by #779 (23.7%), #776 (20.3%), #777 (18.6%) and #778 (9.3%).

Dish of the Day #784: Forever in Blue Jeans Week

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 Tommy Tucker.

Deep Dish Dinner Party #5: The Ryans Reign Supreme

The rules are quite simple - each week I will feature 10 past/present celebrities and you get to invite (vote for) your three favorites to the Deep Dish Dinner Party. The five folks who receive the most votes will get to stay, and the following week five new people (whose birthdays are during that week) will be added to the guest list. So enjoy the party - and please feel free to leave a comment and share your selections.

1) Ryan Reynolds
Last Week #1, Week 5, received 37 invites out of 189

2) Ryan Gosling
W2, 34 invites

Dish of the Day #783: Forever in Blue Jeans Week

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 Billy Kiraly photographed by David Vance.

Groovy Giveaway #2: Tickets to a A Very 'Carrie' Christmas featuring a Q&A with Piper Laurie

This week I'm featuring two Groovy Giveaways (click here to win a 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of West Side Story). I'm giving away a pair of tickets to A Very 'Carrie' Christmas, the Camp Midnight screening of the 1976 horror film at Chicago's Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave) on Sunday, December 4. To kick off the holiday season, this event begins at 2 pm with a pre-show hosted by Dick O'Day and featuring David Cerda (Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions), Ed Jones and Alex Grelle. It will include a "scary Carrie" costume parade (with "horrifyingly" good 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 commentary from O’Day and Cerda. It will be followed by a Q&A with Carrie star Piper Laurie, who will also autograph her new book, Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir.

For further information on the screening, go to www.musicboxtheatre.com.

To enter to win this Groovy Giveaway, all you have to do is email your name to deepdishdrama@aol.com. Entries close at midnight on Thursday (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 (DVDs, CDs, books, theatre or concert tickets) here on Deep Dish, please email me at deepdishdrama@aol.com.

Groovy Giveaway #1: West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

This week I'm featuring two Groovy Giveaways (click here to win tickets to A Very 'Carrie' Christmas). Courtesy of The Karpel Group and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , I'm giving away three 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-rays of the 1961 Academy Award-winning musical, West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Richard Beymer. The 3-disc set includes newly-recorded song specific commentary by lyricist Stephen Sondheim, the documentary, A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy, and a DVD of the digitally restored film.

To enter to win this Groovy Giveaway, all you have to do is email your name and address to deepdishdrama@aol.com. Winners must have a US or Canadian mailing address, and entries close at midnight on Thursday (CST).

If you would like to give away something groovy (DVDs, CDs, books, concert tickets) here on Deep Dish, please email me at deepdishdrama@aol.com.

Below is the trailer for West Side Story as well as a video of DanceOn's recent flash mob in Times Square to celebrate the golden anniversary of the film.

Groovy Music: "Mame" for Michael

Twenty years ago tonight I first met my partner, Michael, at the Blue Mesa Mexican restaurant on Halsted Street in Chicago. A mutual friend introduced us, and I was immediately smitten with this handsome show tune enthusiast. So today's groovy tune is the title song from one of his favorite Broadway musicals, Mame, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.

Happy Anniversary, Michael, I still think you're just sensational!

Top 10 Tuesday of Groovy Tunes: I Think I Love The Partridge Family

Each week I feature 10 groovy tunes that reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart during the last 50+ 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.

Donna Summer's 1978 hit, "MacArthur Park", claimed the top spot last week in its debut, receiving 29 votes out of the 137 cast. However, this week her #1 status will be challenged by Wham!, Olivia Newton-John and The Partridge Family's 1971 tune, "I Think I Love You". You can vote for your favorites in the poll below.

Dish of the Day #782: Forever in Blue Jeans Week

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.

Live from Chicago, it's Jeff Dean (and Judy, Liza & Ethel) on November 17 and 20

Judy Garland. Liza Minnelli. Ethel Gumm.

Two mothers. Two daughters. And three very complicated, interconnected personalities who have been examined, re-examined, reported on, gossiped about and psychologically probed. Now singer Jeff Dean (with musical director Beckie Menzie) takes his turn at exploring the myth and the madness while crooning a few tunes in his new cabaret show, Exploited Again: Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli & Ethel Gumm. He will be singing an eclectic mix of songs, including "By Myself", "Sing Happy", "Mein Herr", and his own original spin on "Rose's Turn" from the musical, Gypsy.

Exploited Again plays Thursday, November 17, at 8 pm and Sunday, November 20, at 7 pm at Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret (1383 N. Milwaukee Ave in Chicago). The cover charge is $15 with a two-drink minimum. For reservations, call (773) 278-1830 or visit davenportspianobar.com.

The Groove Tube #8: Glee's Darren Criss Is Sex on a Stick

Welcome to The Groove Tube, a weekly recap of the highlights (and lowlights) of some of the scripted TV shows I'm watching (in order of preference).

Dish of the Day #781: Forever in Blue Jeans Week

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.

Reeling Film Festival: Best of the Fest

Reeling 2011: The 30th Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival ended last night after presenting many fabulous LGBT films. I was able to see quite a few of them, and I must thank Sarah Rubin, Reeling's Director of Marketing & Public Relations, for allowing me to promote the festival here on Deep Dish. I hope everyone enjoyed reading my reviews - and for my final festival post, here are my own Best of the Fest awards:

Show Tune Showdown #6: 1968-69 Broadway Season

In the fifth Show Tune Showdown, Ragtime and The Life won the most showdowns - and the following songs will be moving on to a second round in 2012:

Ragtime's "Ragtime", "Journey On", "Your Daddy's Son" and "New Music"

The Life's "My Body", "Use What You Got", "Mr. Greed" and "The Oldest Profession"

Parade's "All the Wasted Time", "It's Hard to Speak My Heart" and "This Is Not Over Yet"

Side Show's "Who Will Love Me as I Am?" and "I Will Never Leave You"

Jekyll & Hyde's "Someone Like You" and "This Is the Moment"

Titanic's "There She Is"

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown's "My New Philosophy"

Triumph of Love's "Serenity"

PLEASE NOTE: The next Show Tune Showdown will be on Wednesday, November 30.

Now on to our sixth Show Tune Showdown, which takes us back to the 1968-69 Broadway season when the following six musicals opened:

Reeling Film Festival #19: Going Down in La-La Land

Director Casper Andreas has adapted Andy Zeffer's 2006 novel, Going Down in La-La Land, into a feature film - and the result is a sexy romantic drama with some great performances.

The movie begins with Adam (Matthew Ludwinski), a cute young actor, arriving in Los Angeles to become a star. He briefly gets a job at a talent agency, where the lead receptionist Matthew (an amusingly nasty Jesse Archer) treats him like dirt. Adam then becomes an office assistant for Jet Set Men, a gay porn company, and he soon finds himself "going down" in front of the camera.

Reeling Film Festival #18: Our Lips Are Sealed

The title of the new documentary, Our Lips Are Sealed, reminds me of my freshman year in college when the band, The Go-Go's, gave a concert on campus and, of course, played their groovy tune, "Our Lips Are Sealed". Unfortunately, back in 1982 the premise of the movie - two gay college students attempting to break the world record for the longest continuous kiss - would never have happened. So we have definitely come a long way since then, and the film is a wonderful example of this important fact.

Dish of the Day #780: Vote for your Favorite

This week's Dishes are in honor of Movember, a global event that invites guys to grow moustaches for the month of November to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues. Since its inception as a charity event in 2004, Movember has become the largest fundraising campaign for prostate cancer research. For more information, visit www.movember.com

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.



#773 was last week's winner with 43.2% of the 111 votes cast. He was followed by #771 (36.9%), #774 (9.9%), #775 (7.2%) and #772 (2.7%).

Reeling Film Festival #17: Cho Dependent

If you're a Sarah Palin-loving Teapublican, I do not recommend seeing comedian Margaret Cho's film, Cho Dependent. Trust me, you won't like it. However, I seriously doubt that DEEP DISH has very many conservative readers - well, unless they're living way back in the closet and secretly enjoy ogling gorgeous guys. But let's get back to Ms. Cho's movie, which any fan of hers will thoroughly enjoy. The funny lady made this homosexual cry tears of laughter while having a gay ol' time watching it.

Reeling Film Festival #16: Leave It On The Floor

According to his official bio, when director Sheldon Larry first saw Paris Is Burning, the 1990 documentary about the ball culture community, he immediately imagined it as a musical. Now 21 years later his vision is finally here in Leave It On The Floor, an intoxicating blend of drama, gay romance and, of course, groovy music. And this is a "true" musical with characters bursting into song on rooftops, buses and bowling alleys - which is the way a musical should be in my opinion.

Dish of the Day #779: Movember Men

This week's Dishes are in honor of Movember, a global event that invites guys to grow moustaches for the month of November to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues. Since its inception as a charity event in 2004, Movember has become the largest fundraising campaign for prostate cancer research. For more information, visit www.movember.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.

Today's Dish is Tommy Defendi.

Remembering Bil Keane 1922 - 2011

One of my favorite cartoonists as a kid was Bil Keane, who died Tuesday at age 89. His popular comic strip, The Family Circus, debuted on February 29, 1960, featuring the amusing daily life of a family - parents Bil and Thel and their four children, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and PJ. It continues to be read today in nearly 1,500 newspapers with Keane's son Jeff now drawing and writing the strip. Keane won the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Syndicated Panel in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974, and he was named the Society's Cartoonist of the Year in 1982.