Quote of The Day

"I am gay in real life, so I definitely get it.  But it's not my story -- I wasn't closeted for any amount of time.  I never had a girlfriend who I had that experience with."

--Andrew Rannells on his character in his new TV series Girls.  Like Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, and Ricky Martin, it's not exactly a shock to learn that Rannells is gay.  He's a musical comedy star who took his boyfriend to the Tonys, after all.  But, it's significant that he's yet another handsome, rising young star who sees no reason to hide in the closet.

Penney's Is My Favorite Store!

Check out the new JC Penney ad:

Two loving gay dads and their adorable children.  Macy's?  Dillards?  Never heard of 'em.  I'm all about Penney's.

Marriage and the City

Cynthia Nixon and Christine Marinoni were married Sunday in New York.  Cynthia looks lovely in a pale green Carolina Herrera gown with a bouquet of white peonies.  Christine looks quite nice in a dark suit with complementary tie.  I wish the happy couple many years of happiness, raising their son Max as a legally married family.    

What Saved Texas During the Housing Crisis? Government Regulation

This is something you didn't hear from Gov. Perry during his Presidential run when he was touting how well Texas has fared during the recession.  Texas never had a housing bust because it never had a housing bubble like we saw in Nevada, California, Florida, Georgia and other places.  The reason?  Good, old fashioned government regulation, a legacy of the days when Democrats ran state government.  In short, our banking sector is more highly regulated than it is in many other states and that has allowed many Texans to hang on to their homes during the bad times.  For example, it is quite hard to get a home equity loan here.  Until 1997, home equity loans were illegal in Texas.  That year, voters approved a measure allowing them but with restrictions.  You cannot take out a home equity loan or refinance your mortgage with less than 20% equity in your home. Plus, you may not refinance more than once a year.  There have been plenty of other creative loan practices in Texas, and in areas where they have been widespread, foreclosure rates have been high.  But overall, banking in Texas is more conservative than in many other places and that has saved us.  Remember that next time a Republican tells you the government needs to get out of the way of business and we need less government regulation, not more.  This recession was caused in large part because bankers got greedy and greed does not self-regulate.  Smart regulation can help build a strong economy.  You can read a good piece on this in the New York Times here.

It's Time for Exxon To Join the Rainbow Revolution

So says, of all newspapers, The Dallas Morning News.  In a strong editorial, the paper encourages Exxon-Mobile to extend benefits to gay employees, like most of the Fortune 500 companies do.  The company tried to get SEC permission to omit a resolution on sexual orientation from Wednesday's shareholder meeting.  The SEC declined to do so.  The resolution was submitted by New York state comptroller Joseph DiNapoli who is a trustee of the $147.2 billion New York state pension fund.  DiNapoli has convinced 27 companies to adopt new nondiscrimination policies in the past three years.  He has done it with the sound argument that doing so increases a company's competitive advantage.  Let's hope he's successful, finally, with Exxon-Mobile.

The Unprecedented Gay Victory

Salon has an excerpt from an interesting new book (perhaps prematurely?) called Victory:  The Triumphant Gay Revolution by Linda Hirshman.  The book explores the amazingly fast accomplishments of the gay rights movement that she believes have surpassed the racial civil rights and feminist movements.  An excerpt:

"Fueled by its moral ambition, the gay movement is the model of a new era.  It is ironic, yet fitting, that the only counterpart to the morally driven gay revolution is its contemporary and fiercest opponent, the morally driven religious right.  Indeed, it is the moral certainty of the gay revolution that explains why, unlike the racial and feminist movements, it has been able to stand up to that powerful counterforce and, slowly but surely, prevail."  

Read it all here.  

The Sisterhood of Judys

LC NY Bureau Chief Doug turned me on to this terrific article about the meeting of three Judys:  Tracie Bennett who is nominated for a Tony for her searing portrayal of late-life Judy in The End of the Rainbow, Tammy Blanchard who won an Emmy for playing young Judy in Life With Judy Garland:  Me and My Shadows, and Isabel Keating who earned a Tony nomination for playing the middle-aged Judy opposite Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz.  It's a can't-miss article for Judy queens.  Read it here.

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day has become a day for sales, barbecues and trips to the beach, but it's appropriate to take time to remember the real meaning of this day.

Big Bang Outing

Emmy winning actor Jim Parsons came out in an article in yesterday's New York Times.  I thought he was already out, but I guess he's really, truly out now.  The actor, who is about to appear in Harvey on Broadway, was asked about his experience acting in The Normal Heart last year.  An excerpt:

"The Normal Heart resonated with him on a few levels:  Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year relationship, and working with an ensemble onstage again was like nourishment, he said."  

Parsons joins a growing list of successful young actors who no longer feel the need to be closeted.  Just some of the more recent ones include Matt Bomer, Ricky Martin, Zachary Quinto, Wanda Sykes, Chris Colfer, and the list goes on and on.

h/t LC NY Bureau Doug.

Monday's Man: Matthew Wilkas

This week's Man combines two of my favorite things:  Broadway and beefcake.  Matthew Wilkas is currently appearing in Spider-Man:  Turn Off the Dark as Flash Thompson and understudy for Peter Parker.  

He makes my Spidey Sense tingle.  

Matthew is also starring in a new movie called Gayby and here's a preview:

I Broke My Blog Break Again, This Time for Andrew Sullivan and Fiddy Cent

Here's another quote of the day:

"Maybe it's true that homophobia is the fear that other men will treat you like you treat women."

--Andrew Sullivan on comments made by big, muscular Fifty Cent indicating that he is afraid of a man touching his butt in an elevator.  Fiddy came out for marriage equality but apparently still has issues with teh gays.

Andrew always gets to the heart of the matter.    

OK, So I Broke My Blog Break for Levi Johnston, Sue Me

Wait a minute, what's my name again?  Oh yeah, there it is.  

Here's a quote of the day for you:

"Levi is confused about his life."

--An unnamed Palin family "insider," about Levi Johnston.  Reportedly Levi earned $1million from various reality shows and butt-baring photo shoots and has blown it all on "guns, boats, and four-wheelers."  He is now broke and living with his mom.  He's expecting a baby with girlfriend Sunny Oglesby and they are planning on naming her Breeze Baretta, after the gun.  Of course they are.

Actually, I doubt the $1million figure particularly after various lawyers, agents, financial advisors and hangers-on got their cuts.  Speaking of cut, maybe he needs to call Playgirl and offer to show the world if he is or not.  

Is it time for Levi to drop the towel?

Brief Blog Break

I've got family visiting from out-of-state for the holiday weekend so blogging will be light to nonexistent.  Enjoy the beginning of summer!

Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatspy

It's either going to be glorious or a glorious mess:


Leo is no Redford.

Via Towleroad

The Queen Comes Out...I Think

Queen Latifah performed at Long Beach Pride over the weekend and seemed to come out.  She said she was happy to be among her people and "I've been waiting to do this for a long time."  I think that means it, don't you?  Here's a report on it:

Trans Canada

Jenna Talackova, the transgender woman from Vancouver who competed in the Miss Universe Canada pageant this weekend didn't win the crown., although she did well.  She finished in the top 12 and tied with two other contestants for Miss Congeniality.  It was a solid job and a barrier broken.

Have Gay Republicans Lost Their Last Excuse?

I've always had a hard time understanding how gay men and women can identify as Republicans.  After all, the party has gone out of its way to treat us like trash.  I can understand being a gay person with conservative views, although I'm not one, but calling yourself a gay Republican has long seemed bizarre.  One tried and true excuse has been that there's no difference between the Democratic Party's position on marriage equality and the Republican Party's.  That was never really true, but it had a certain facile truthiness to it.  Now that President Obama has come out for marriage equality (although letting the states decide is problematic), the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties has never been more stark for gays.  The Huffington Post has published a piece about Dallas gay Republican Bill Jones and his struggle to remain loyal to the GOP:

"Bill Jones, the Texan conservative, has spent his entire adult life trying to balance his gay identity with his Republican politics. In college, he was an active member of the gay and lesbian student association while serving as vice president of the Young Republicans. He kept his dual participation totally secret from both groups.  'I used to be very good at compartmentalizing,' Jones said. 'But it does make a difference now that Obama has said what he's said. I can't just pretend it didn't happen.'"

Read the whole thing here.

H/T LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.

Mitt Romney and the New Immorality

Nathaniel Frank has written an excellent piece about something that conservatives find terrifying - gay equality becoming the generally accepted moral position and opposition to our rights being seen as immoral.  It's coming and it's coming fast.  An excerpt:

"After Obama's announcement, Mitt Romney suddenly seemed a figure from the dark ages, just how the Obama campaign has sought to cast him in its latest video, entitled, "Romney: Backwards on Equality."And Romney has played right into their hands. Placing himself to the right even of George W. Bush on an issue around which attitudes have changed drastically just since his presidency, Romney reacted to Obama's evolution by digging in his heels. He said that states are free to bar a gay man from entering a hospital to sit by the bed of his dying partner of 50 years. However disappointing Obama's own states'-rights position remains, his reluctance was always about the word "marriage" and was never so extreme as to allow this sort of rank cruelty -- the height of immorality

Read the whole thing here.

Monday's Man: Nick Jonas

People, I tried to resist, I really did.  I tried to tell myself that Nick Jonas was just a tween idol and I didn't find a kid like that attractive.  But then I saw this picture:

I give in.  Nick Jonas is adorable.  He's even more delicious than a Frappuchino.  

Here he is on Broadway in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying which closed yesterday!  I'm a sucker for a song-and-dance man.   Did I mention that I saw him in person in front of the Hirshfeld Theater when I was in New York in April?  I did NOT squeal and scream with all the girls at the stage door.  That was NOT ME!   

As if I needed another excuse to crush on him, here he is at yesterday's AIDS Walk in New York.  Answer my text, Nick!

Here he is showing Michael Urie the latest hanky code.  

Here is Nick in Hawaii last year, completely unaware of the paps on the beach.

It takes a real man to rock a murse and pedal pushers.  

Finally, we have Nick showing off his guns in a wet tee-shirt.  

AIDS Walk pics from Joe.My.God

Robin Gibb Dead at 62

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees has died after a battle with colorectal cancer.  He will be remembered for the music he made with his brothers, especially the legendary Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that was the sound of an era.  When I read about his death, I immediately though of my friends Philip and Tommy who were absolutely insane for "Tragedy." I remember late nights driving around Charleston in my Bicentennial edition Mustang with that song cranked to the max, the windows down, the speakers rattling, and the three of us singing out like nobody could hear.

The Board of Directors of the NAACP has voted to officially support marriage equality:

“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure political, social and economic equality of all people,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAACP. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

“Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP. “The well-funded right wing organizations who are attempting to split our communities are no friend to civil rights, and they will not succeed.”

This is a historic step and continues the NAACP's mission of fighting for equality for all Americans.  It is also another blow to the so-called National Organization for Marriage and their apologetically racist strategy that seeks to target "Democratic constituencies" and pit them against each other over our civil rights.  Since President Obama came out for marriage equality, support for his position among African Americans has risen significantly.  If I were Bryan Brown or Maggie Gallagher, I would be looking for an alternate strategy to replace race-baiting.    

Broadway Divas Send in the Clowns

LC NY Bureau Chief Doug sent me this fun clip of different Broadway legends singing "Send in the Clowns," all performed by Carly Sakolove.  Her Catherine Zeta Jones is killer.

Joe the Plumber For Congress!

Today in painfully bad political commercials:


Is Joe the Plumber pro-tax?  Did he not get the Tea Party memo?    

"He's a dumbass.  You can quote me."

--Meghan McCain on Joe the Plumber.

Happy Mothers Day to Kelly From Her Loving Husband John Travolta!

Apparently this is real:


He really is the boy in the bubble.

Happy Anniversary Massachusetts Marriage Equality!

Eight years ago today, marriage equality came to Massachusetts.  I'm still waiting for the plague of locusts.

Quote of the Day

"I, like the president, have evolved to a point of marriage equality.  I have not always been there.  I grew up in a parsonage, a fundamentalist Christian parsonage, and I grew up with that indoctrination.  And I have grown to the point that I believe that we have evolved to marriage equality.  If we consider this to be a civil right - and I do - I don't think civil rights ought to be left up to a state-by-state approach."

--Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

Donna Summer Dead

Donna Summer has died at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer.  A tragic loss.  She was taken too soon.  Here she is performing one of her many hits, Last Dance:

Fox News Poll: Majority Opposed to Federal Anti-Gay Amendment

A Fox News poll has found that only 38% if Americans support a Federal Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.  Mitt Romney has signed a pledge vowing to work for such an amendment.  52% of Americans are opposed to an amendment which would enshrine second class citizenship for us in the U.S. Constitution.  This is a big change from 2004 when a Fox poll found 52% of Americans supported an amendment.

The latest Fox Poll also found that 37% believe gays should have the right to get married, 33% support civil unions, and 25% support no legal recognition.  These results are quite different from a number of other polls over the past year which have found majority support for marriage equality.  However, it is clear that a strong majority of Americans support legal recognition of gay relationships. 

Anything Goes Makes You Beautiful

Just try to watch this video from the cast of Broadway's Anything Goes and not smile:


via Towleroad

SmashCaps: Wait, She's Playing Marilyn???

It's the Smash season finale!  What will I write about now?  Actually it was a pretty good episode.  I won't go as far as some and say the show finally lived up to its promise, but it had its moments.

Let's Start!

The episode opens as people are showing up for the preview performance in Boston and Julia and Tom are dashing backstage with the latest song, which they've just finished.  The stage manager is calling "15 minutes" and the camera follows an actress walking to her place on stage with everybody telling her to break a leg.  Who is it?  Who will play Marilyn?  We can't see her face.

"Twelve Hours Earlier."  ARRRGGHHH! Flashbacks!

Tom, Julia, Derek, and Eileen are on stage yelling at each other about what a crapfest this show has become now that Movie Star Rebecca has left.  Ellis the conniving - but straight!- assistant hands Eileen the phone with Michael Reidel from the Post on the line.  Eileen turns all sweet and stuff.  "No, Michael, we're not ready to release the name of the new Marilyn just yet, but you'll be the first to know."  As soon as they figure it out.

Derek is backstage having another of his wacky visions of Karen as Marilyn.  Even in a vision, she sucks.  Folks, I like Katharine McPhee well enough.  She's very pretty and has a very nice voice, but she's no Marilyn Monroe.  Her on-screen effect is mostly flat and dull.  Megan Hilty, on the other hand...

Back to the episode.

After his vision of Karen as Marilyn, Derek goes on stage and says "Where's Karen Cartwright?"  Karen looks up and almost emotes.  "You're going on as Marilyn tonight."  Surely she isn't really since they wouldn't give away the climax this early in the episode, would they?  Would they?

Ellis and Eileen are in the theater lobby and he's all "I'm a producer.  I'm a big shot because I blew Rebecca's agent and I'm not even gay."  Or words to that effect.  Eileen's not having it and says "Why don't you go out for a Starbucks run or something."  Snap!  Ellis gets pissy and admits to putting peanuts in Rebecca's smoothie.  He apparently thinks this is a positive. Eileen FINALLY fires his ass.  Let's hope his character is written out of the show next season.  Seriously.

Julia and Leading Man Michael have a totally contrived moment on stage.  Julia actually says "I'm not running away from you. I'm running away from myself."  Debra Messing should get another Emmy for not laughing her way through that ridiculous line.  Naturally, husband Frank walks into the theater at just the wrong moment, sees everything and stalks off.  Has he finally grown a pair?  Will he finally tell Julia to fuck off?  She dashes out to him and for a moment it looks like he'll be a man for once. Sullen son walks up after acing his Sean Cody audition and presents his parents with a bag of tacos or something.  Frank is overcome by the family warmth of a shared fast food meal and all is forgiven with Julia.  What a pussy.

Ivy asks Derek why he chose Karen over her since she knows the show and Karen is learning an entire Broadway musical in an afternoon.  "She just has something you don't."  What?  What does Karen have that Ivy doesn't?  It's not the voice or the dancing ability or the acting ability or the sex appeal or the boobs or anything any real world director might look for in a Marilyn.  Ivy beats her in all those categories.  He had a vision.  Give me a break.  

Derek telling Ivy that Karen is the girl with something extra.

Ivy lets the audience know that she really does have Dev's engagement ring that he dropped in her hotel room when he hooked up with her.  Did I call it last week or what?

Eileen is getting a little freaked out at Karen playing Marilyn instead of Ivy.   She barks "She can't do it" to Derek and Karen overhears.  Karen goes to her dressing room to sulk.  Ivy is there and chooses this exact moment to reveal to Karen that she has the engagement ring.  Karen dashes out to the theater where Dev's been watching rehearsal.  She dumps Dev then whips off her wig and runs away.  Nobody knows where she is.  Will this be Ivy's turn?

You know, even though they're trying to write Ivy as a total bitch, I still love her.  She's not bad, she's just written that way.

Nice lips.

It's Nick Jonas!  Cue the screaming tweens!  He's back for another cameo so he can return Eileen's Degas or whatever it was.  He does it cutely.

Derek finds Karen somewhere backstage, hiding in her underwear.  He's totally cool with her disappearing a few hours before her debut as the star of a big Broadway musical that she's never rehearsed. He had a vision.

Derek comforting Karen in her bra and half-slip.

While Karen was missing, Eileen had Ivy put on the wig and costume to prepare to go on as Marilyn.  Suddenly, Karen's been found and Ivy's dreams are dashed again.  Momma Bernadette Peters appears backstage with champagne to toast Ivy's big starring moment.  Oops.  "They didn't pick me." 

It's showtime!   Julia and Tom are again dashing backstage with the song they've just written for the new ending and the stage manager is calling 15 minutes.  We see the back of the head of the actress walking onstage and it's Ivy!  Will Ivy play Marilyn?  No!  She's just one of the other Marilyns in the opening number.  Karen goes on as Marilyn.  Naturally, the entire show goes off without a hitch even though Karen never rehearsed the show until today.

The end of the show comes with Karen as Marilyn dying on stage just like Rebecca did last week. Weren't they writing a new ending?  Wait a minute, the show's not over.  Joe DiMaggio comes onstage to sing something angsty while Karen changes into a tight gold gown (miraculously, all the costumes have been altered to fit skinny Karen after they were tailored for tall, buxom Rebecca.  In one day). Karen comes out in the gold gown to sing the brand new number that she laid eyes on for the first time 15 minutes before the show.  She has never rehearsed it.  The orchestra has never rehearsed it.  It has never been sung before.  You know what happens, don't you?  Karen knocks it out of the park!  The performance is perfection!  Of course it is.

Backstage, Ivy is about to take a handful of pills.  Don't do it, girl!

The end.  This episode was called Bombshell, but it should have been called What is Sam Going to Write About Now?

Latest Pew Polling

This chart shows the latest polling on the public's response to President Obama's support of marriage equality.  That 25% who view him less favorably would be the hard core Republican base who wouldn't vote for him if Jesus Christ was his running mate.  I'd say there was no downside to the President's announcement.

Via Andrew Sullivan where you can read more detailed analysis of the polling data.

Kathleen Parker Doesn't Think Straights Knew About Gays in 1965

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker felt compelled to write a column denying Mitt Romney's teenage gay bashing.  An excerpt:

"Briefly, as told by a handful of boarding-school classmates, Romney led a group of boys who tackles and held down John Lauber and cut his longish, blond hair.  Romney allegedly didn't like Lauber's look and decided to fix it.  The subtext is that Lauber may have been gay and that, therefore, Romney is a not-so-closeted gay hater.  For those to the premises more recently arrived, a quick primer on 1965 when this occurred.  NObody knew who was or wasn't yet in popular circulation as a noun and generally meant "merry."  Homosexuality wans't high on most high school kids' radar, period.  If anything, Romney may not have liked Lauber's 'hippie' locks, which is the more likely case given the era."

Obviously, Kathleen was one of the pretty blond girls who turned her head and pretended that such unpleasantness didn't exist.  Like me, Kathleen grew up in South Carolina, and I can guarantee her that homosexuality was very much on the minds of high school boys.  They may not have known the word gay, but they had other words for boys like me:  faggot, sissy, queer.  I heard these every day from those boys Kathleen claims had no idea of homosexuality. I hope she's proud of herself for enabling the bullies and bashers.  She's no better than they are.    

Monday's Man: Scott Bakula

I was watching the series finale of Desperate Housewives even though I haven't watched the show in years, and discovered that this season features the still-hot Scott Bakula.  He was the subject of many a fantasy through the Quantum Leap and Murphy Brown years.  He has always been craggy and hairy, just the way I like it.  Here he is in his 1995 Playgirl spread:

 

Happy Mother's Day!

Presenting the Next Coal Miner's Daughter

Loretta Lynn has hand-picked Zooey Deschanel to play her in the upcoming Broadway production of Coal Miner's Daughter, the role that brought Sissy Spacek an Oscar.  Here is the Legend herself introducing Deschenel at the Ryman Auditorium:


  
What do you think?  My first impression is that Zooey is too cutesy-cute to play the gutsy, down-to-earth Loretta Lynn.  Does she have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Spacek's indelible performance?  I'm also a little surprised it took this long to bring Coal Miner's Daughter to Broadway.

Via Joe.My.God

Top GOP Pollster: Stop Being Anti-Gay

Prominent Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen, who polled for George W. Bush and many other movers and shakers within the party, has circulated the following amazing memo within party circles.  It cites the fast-growing acceptance of gay equality "across all partisan groups," and notes that it's not just attributable to young people replacing the older generation, but older people are rethinking their positions also.  The memo gives Republicans talking points to emphasize that marriage equality as a conservative position, which I have long believed.  Read the whole thing:

  Via Andrew Sullivan.

I Am John Lauber

It has been reported that Mitt Romney was one of those pathetic jerks who bullied sissy boys in high school.  A boy named John Lauber who went to high school with Romney committed the sins of being effeminate and bleaching his hair.   That was too much for the butch Mitt who led a group of lemur-like boys to tackle the young man.  Once Mitt pinned him down, he attacked Lauber with scissors, hacking away at the offending blonde hair.  It must have been terrifying.  Lauber died in 2004.  Naturally, Romney suffered no discipline for putting the little fag in his place.  I have no doubt that he was quite proud of himself.

This wasn't the only incident.  Whenever another fem boy spoke up in class, Romney called out "Atta girl."

Romney apologized when the stories hit the papers.  He also claims no memory of these incidents.  So, what is he apologizing for?

I don't have to wonder how humiliating it is to have a rich, popular boy call you a girl in front of the entire class.  I don't have to wonder what it's like to be called sissy when you raise your hand with the right answer in class, and see the teacher suppress a laugh.  I don't have to wonder how it feels to receive death threats as a teenager at a private Christian Academy simply because you're different and to have absolutely no one on Earth to turn to.  No one.  I don't have to wonder how it feels to be pushed around, have things stolen, called fag, sissy, queer.  I know what it feels like and I know how deep the wounds are.  The young assholes who abuse gay kids don't grow up to be decent men.  They grow up to be old assholes.        

If This Royal Thing Doesn't Work Out...

Prince Charles can always be a weatherman:

President Evolves/Romney Regresses

He Did It!

President Barak Obama has become the first President to support Marriage Equality.  He completed his evolution in an interview with Robin Roberts today.  Watch the historic moment:

Amendment One Passes

Anti-gay amendment one has passed in North Carolina by a wide margin.  The voters have now sent a message to gay citizens of that state that they are second class citizens and they had better remember their place.  It's a dark day in the history of the Tarheel State.  

SmashCaps: Dev Gets Naked!

Excuse me while I take a moment.  

How many times have I said the producers of Smash need to maximize Raza Jaffrey's skin time?  Finally, they took my notes seriously and got him undressed.  

The episode opens with sunlight streaming in a hotel window, bathing Dev's taught skin as he slowly awakens.  He rolls over, nudges me and realizes that he's in bed with Ivy!  He knows that Ivy is a thousand times more exciting than Karen and begins a hot romance with her.  OK, that didn't happen but it would have if I wrote for this show.  Actually, he's freaked out that he screwed another girl and he and Ivy immediately vow not to tell anyone else what happened.  They're acting like they know each other, otherwise why be so nervous about anyone finding out?  A cell phone rings, OMG they have identical Blackberries and Dev almost picks up Ivy's!  The call is coming from Karen's phone!  Ivy realizes the mix-up at the last minute and answers the phone.  It's not Karen, it's somebody named Jessica borrowing Karen's phone in an overly-complicated bit.  People are always borrowing each other's phones and making calls at dramatic moments on this show.

Apparently, Karen calling on Ivy's phone doesn't tip Dev off that he's doing someone he shoudln't.  

Now that Dev's gotten naked, do you really care what else happened?  Well, OK, here goes.  Julia, the wasted Brian d'Arcy James as her cuckold husband Frank, and their sullen son arrive in Boston for previews.  Who should show up at the hotel at that exact moment but leading man Michael.  Frank is a real pussy to take this humiliation from Julia.  I wouldn't. Bitch would be on her own in Boston.  I speak from experience.  

It's the first preview performance and the theater is packed.  Rough Trade arrives unexpectedly and Eileen takes him to her box.  I mean her box in the theater, people.  Get your minds out of the gutter.

The show's on and there's a number with all the chorus boys in towels dancing with Darryl Zanuck.  This is my new favorite number. Watch Sam the straight acting Gay get smacked with a towel:

This is from the show, not my dreams.

Another new number features Ivy and Karen taking turns trying to seduce Mr. Zanuck.  Once again, Karen is no competition for Ivy.  She's a bombshell, to coin a phrase.

An on-stage death hasn't bombed this badly since Carrie and her mom.  

The first preview performance ends with a totally depressing scene of Marilyn dying on stage.  The audience sits in stunned silence at the steaming pile before them.  Applause is muted at best.

Dev comes to the theater and Karen is surprised because he said he was going back to New York.  He got delayed by Ivy's charms, but he doesn't tell her this.  Naturally, Ivy happens by and Karen innocently introduces Ivy to Dev even though his man scent still lingers on her body.  Ivy and Dev are shocked because they really didn't know each other last night in the hotel.  But why were they so intent on not telling anyone about their tryst if they didn't know each other?  I'm confused but it's not the first time I've been confused by this show, so I keep moving.

Angelica Houston sings!  She doesn't have a great voice, but she makes up for it with tons of style, depth, and sex appeal.  She's so in love with Rough Trade!  Can't blame her.  He's just about perfect.  So what's going to happen to ruin it?

Karen says to Dev "Let's get married!"  He stammers something about leaving the ring in New York.  Actually, he left it in Ivy's room.  Oops.

Dev meets Ivy outside the hotel and tells her he left the ring in her room.  She agrees to look for it.  Later, in a bar, she shakes her head at Dev to indicate she didn't find it.  I think she found it and will whip it out at a dramatic moment next week.

Somebody put peanuts in Movie Star Rebecca's smoothie!  OMG!  I didn't see that one coming when Rebecca mentioned her peanut allergy like 50 times two weeks ago.  She's rushed to the hospital.  Totally cute Tony Nominee Sean Dugan tells Eileen that it was intentional.  The plot thickens.

Will Movie Star Rebecca be OK?  What if she's not??? Karen's the understudy but she doesn't know the show!  Then why is she the understudy?  Wait, Ivy knows the show!  Drama!

Julia is totally freaked that Leading Man Michael is back in the show and she has a big, dramatic break-up with Tom.  She blames Tom for all of this even though she's the one who whored around.

Let's all go to church for a big gospel number!  Sam the straight acting gay invites Tom to church with him and suddenly the whole gang comes along.  The African-American preacher chews on the pews, delivering a barn-burner of a sermon and the white people over-react to show the black people how down they are with this whole religion thing.  Then, Sam and Karen sing a song with the gospel choir.  Let's just say gospel is not Katharine McPhee's thing, K?  Julia is so moved by the Holy Spirit that she makes up with Tom.

Rebecca is going to be OK, but she tells Karen that she's not going back to the show because she's scared shitless.  Karen tells her that she has to and Rebecca says "I so don't have to."  I guess she has one of those flexible contracts that allows her to walk out on the show on a moment's notice just like the no-name actor who played Joe DiMaggio who suddenly walked out last week because he got a pilot.

Who's going to play Marilyn?  Karen or Ivy!?!?  Tune in next week for the season finale.

Rebecca performing the role of Marilyn for the first and last time. 

This week's episode was called Previews, but it should have been called Dev Gets Naked.        

Miss NC Says Vote No on One

If you're a regular reader, you know how much I love my pageant girls, and none more so today than Miss North Carolina Hailey Best:



North Carolinians go to the polls today to decide if they're going to write ugly discrimination into their constitution. 

Quote of the Day

"Come on dude, I'll jerk you off!!!!" 

--A statement alleged to have been made by John Travolta in pleadings filed by "John Doe," a masseur who is suing the actor claiming Travolta tried to have sex with him.  The masseur also claims that Travolta said he got where he is by performing sexual favors during his Welcome Back Kotter days. He further alleges that Travolta said "Hollywood is controlled by homosexual Jewish men who expect favors in return for sexual activity."  Travolta flatly denies the allegations.

Vinnie Barbarino getting it on with guys?  Whoever heard of such insanity.

The President's Position on Marriage Equality Has Become Untenable

Andrea Mitchell holds an Obama campaign manager's feet to the fire and she struggles to thread the needle.


I wonder if the President is orchestrating a build-up to his endorsement of equality.

Via Talking Points Memo

Monday's Man: Sam Page

Today I present the man who makes underbites sexy, a premium member of The Sam Club, Sam Page

He seems to have been on every show on TV from Mad Men to Gossip Girl to the new soft-core skin-o-rama The  Client List.  

I love a man who doesn't shave his chest.  

Gratuitous fully clothed shot.  

Quote of the Day

"Look, I'm the Vice President of the United States of America.  The President sets the policy.  I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual-men and women marrying-are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.  And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that."

--Vice President Joe Biden speaking on this morning's Meet the Press.  Was he endorsing marriage equality?  He certainly made it clear that he has no issues with it.  Here's the video:

White House Communications Director David Axelrod clarified on Twitter:

"What the VP said-that all married couples should have exactly the same legal rights-is precisely POTUS's position." 

Maybe POTUS could make a quick trip to North Carolina and say it himself.  

Congratulations Steven and James

One of the reasons I love the Sunday New York Times is their inclusion of gay couples in the weddings section.  Today's wedding of the week is that of Steven Blier and James S. Russell.  These two accomplished men (Blier is on the faculty of Juilliard and Russell is the architecture critic for Bloomberg News) have been together in love since 1996, but I was most touched by this passage:

"Early on, Mr. Blier confided in Mr. Russell that he had not only inherited his mother's smile but also her illness, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.  As years passed, Mr. Blier's walk slowed.  He eventually took to a cane, then crutches before coming to rely on a wheelchair.  'Once I found out about the disease, you think, well OK, this has a very unpredictable trajectory,' Mr. Russell said.  'You don't really know what it means.  I think I made a mature decision to say:  I love this guy.  I think that whatever is going to be, we're going to figure it out somehow and maybe all the bad things won't happen that could happen.'"

Mr. Russell is absolutely right that "you really don't know what it means" when you find out someone you love has a debilitating disease.  But loving, committed couples somehow deal with it, day by day.

When I read about all the bile spewed by all those closet case preachers in North Carolina, hiding behind religion and unable to deal with their issues as adults, I think of men like Steven Blier and James Russell, living loving, committed lives and, in doing so, disproving the lies of the anti-gay industry.

I Heart JC Penney

Check out this ad from the Texas-based retailer:

"You'll often find Wendi, and her partner, Maggie, and daughters elbow-deep in paint, clay or mosaics. "Even as babies, the girls toddled around in diapers, covered in paint," said Wendi. They come from a long line of artists, which includes grandma Carolyn.  Visiting her art studio in Granbury, Texas is a favorite outing.  And like any grandma, this one loves to bake -- pottery, that is."

Naturally, the Million (-990,000) Moms are in a tither.  The Focus on the Family subsidiary is threatening a boycott!  Again.  The humorless ones are already outraged that Penney's hired Ellen DeGeneres to do commercials.  I think this warm Saturday is a perfect day to do a little shopping at Penney's!  

Beautiful British Marriage Equality Commercial

h/t LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.

SmashCaps: Another Openin', Another Show

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

The opening of this episode is, well, Smashing!  Newly-minted Tony nominee Christian Borle sings "Another Opening, Another Show" from Kiss Me Kate (which I saw the very day I met LC NY Bureau Chief Doug, if you'll excuse the personal moment) while the kids from Fame Glee Bombshell dash about Grand Central Station on their way to out-of-town previews in Boston!  This is great!  This is what we've been waiting for!  For once, Smash is living up to its potential as a show about the excitement of Broadway!

Then, the soap opera continues.

Julia and the wasted Brian d'Arcy James are back together, blah, blah, blah, who cares?  

Dev in see-through tee.  Be still my beating heart.

Raza Jaffrey as Dev is talking to Karen while wearing a thin, see-through Henley T-shirt.  I have no idea what they're talking about.  

The gang is in Boston and the actor who plays Joe DiMaggio pops on stage long enough to tell Derek and Rebecca the Movie Star that he's gotten a pilot and he's not doing Bombshell any more.  Boom, he's gone. Obviously, this no-name guy has a very flexible contract that allows him to walk away from the show two days before the first preview performance with no repercussions at all.   Bye Joe, have a great life!  

OMG, Joe's gone and Rebecca's a nervous wreck!  The only answer is to hire Leading Man Michael who almost broke up Julia's marriage!  After all, he knows the show and there are only two days before the first performance!  This storyline doesn't sound at all like a contrived or lazy way to get Julia's man whore back in her life, nossir.  It's totally organic to the story.    

Anyhoo, Dev makes a couple of loving, supportive calls to Karen offering to come to Boston to see her opening.  She's kind of an unreasonable bitch and tells him basically, she's too busy and she's sharing a hotel room with another girl, and she won't have any free time, whatever, whatever, whatever.  What a fool.  Right on cue, Hot Iranian Girl shows up at Dev's apartment with a bottle of booze and a soft shoulder to cry on.  They make out for like 3 seconds and he pushes her away saying "I can't, I can't."  What a sap.  

HIG with seduction booze.

Rebecca does Happy Birthday Mr. President for Derek because it's his birthday, then they giggle and feed each other cake, as if someone who looks like Uma Thurman has eaten cake since 1977.  

Dev shows up in the theater with roses for Karen.  Karen says thanks and dashes off without even taking the flowers because, you see, they're IN TECH!  Doesn't he understand the rigors of TECH?  

Tom meets Sam's family that conveniently lives in Boston.  Sam's dad dissaproves of Sam's choice of frog-faced boyfriends gay lifestyle a career as a dancer.  That's right, the big father/son drama is over Sam's career in dance.  Don't think this is some subtle way of expressing dad's homophobia. No, the entire family is over-the-top supportive of Sam the gay.  They're just not thrilled about dancers.  Tom slightly agrees with Sam's dad that dancers have short careers and naturally Sam overhears.  This leads to a confrontation between Tom and Sam on the porch of Sam's family's picturesque Victorian. This lasts about a minute before Tom and Sam kiss and make up.  End of drama.

Sam  wonders why a guy as cute as he is doesn't have a better looking boyfriend.

Rebecca's still a nervous wreck.  Derek fucks her in her dressing room to calm her down.  I've heard of worse methods.  Ivy hears them giggling through the closed door.  Totally cute Tony nominee Sean Dugan bars her way.  She figures out what's going on.  Smart gal, that Ivy.  

Dev and Karen have a romantic dinner because there's so much free time for romantic dinners two days before the first performance when the leading man has just quit.  He proposes.  I swoon and scream "I DO!" at the TV.  Karen looks at the ring and says "I'm in tech."  No, seriously, that's what she says.    

Karen dashes back to the hotel which must be close to the romantic restaurant because it takes her like two seconds, and the Bombshell kids are having a party!  They're boozing it up and dancing because there's so much time to party two days before the first performance when the leading man just quit.  Wesley Taylor as chorus boy Bobby has some seriously sexy moves.  They really need to expand his part.  Just saying.  So, Karen joins the gang and lets them know she's depressed and Bobby suggests a sing off!  Ivy goes first and sings the shit out of a song apparently called "I'm Going Down."  Megan Hilty consistently proves that she's a real star.  Karen doesn't sing which is wise because Ivy is the shit, people!

Ivy reading my mind.

Dev shows up just as Ivy finishes her song.  Where has he been?  Parking the car?  He and Karen go for a moonlight walk along the Charles which must be just outside their hotel which also must be right next door to the romantic restaurant.  Dev tells Karen that he kissed HIG, which is really dumb.  I mean seriously, all he did was kiss her and push her away.  Karen says she doesn't want to be with a man who's cheated on her and runs away.  Dev drowns his sorrows in a seedy bar which must be close to the Charles River/Hotel/Romantic restaurant.  Who should sit on the barstool next to him but Ivy whom he has apparently never seen before.  Really?  He has no idea who she is?  She gives him a smoldering look and he buys her a vodka soda.

This episode was called Tech because they talked endlessly about how tough it is to be IN TECH!  Unless you need time for romantic dinners/hotel room sing-offs/fuck sessions with the leading lady then Tech's not so bad.