Many of Vilanch’s vivid anecdotes are almost surreal, and he acknowledges that most of the shows would have been forgotten had they not been granted new life on YouTube. Along with his stinging wit, Vilanch is a tremendous raconteur. His new memoir is essential reading for any retro TV enthusiast.
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LIKE MANY OF US of a certain age, my life as a young gay man was transformed when I went to Broadway for the first time (at age 21) to see playwright Martin Sherman’s world-changing play Bent. My Jewish boyfriend Peter’s aunt took us to the New Apollo Theater in 1980 to see Richard Gere in Bent as it uncovered the hidden history of the Nazi genocide against gay people and both the oppressive and liberatory meaning of the pink triangle.
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Earlier this year, I conducted a Zoom interview with Judy Grahn on the occasion of the republication of her 1984 classic The Highest Apple. This interview was originally aired on May 7, 2024, on the Vermont-based cable-access show All Things LGBTQ. The following is a short excerpt.
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Interview with poet, Gavin Geoffrey Dillard.
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Interview with writer Patrick E. Horrigan.
MoreALLEN FRAME is an artist whose interests and curiosity motivate him to create psychologically driven photographic narratives. His photos are images that not only contain clues about his subject’s inner lives but are also reflections of his associations with these images. Similarly, the viewer is asked to free-associate with the presented imagery. His technique encourages us to question what lies beneath the surface image.
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LEGENDARY DRAG PERFORMER and playwright Charles Busch lets it all hang out in his candid new memoir Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy (Smart Pop Books). It’s an intensive look back at his life encompassing early memories of yearning to be on stage as a boy and success with his own plays (among them The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom) and various celebrity encounters with people ranging from Milton Berle to Audra McDonald.
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An interview with author, Marshall Moore.
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ANGELO MADSEN MINAX creates audacious experimental films of trans embodiment by discordantly juxtaposing present-day footage with Super 8 home movies, animation, staged rituals, and ethereal voice-overs. Chaos and anarchy are embedded in his hybrid cinema of survival, acceptance, and transcendence.
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I FIRST SAW José Villalobos’ work in Houston at a performance art festival, Experimental Action. His performance, in which he stained a solid white, western-style suit with the vibrant magenta juice of prickly pear cactus fruit, was spellbinding. I continue to be fascinated by his exploration of Southwestern culture, queerness, and masculinity.
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