Born in a trunk, in search of a hunk

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: *** out of ****

Just over a week ago, I was able to catch The Nance, a unique show that blends musical performances with affecting drama in a way Smash can only dream of. The Nance isn't perfect, but it has a lot to recommend it, starting with an unsurprisingly pitch-perfect performance by Nathan Lane in the title role.

Lane & Stadlen: Brokeback B.C.

In the '20s and '30s, a "pansy craze" gripped entertainment; male comics flounced and flirted in sketched, brazenly imitating gay stereotypes in a way that flouted common decency...doesn't it sound great??? It was, and the best of these nances were the ones who weren't acting, but who were instead acting up, flaunting their then-illegal sexualities and getting paid for it.

From the flip sides of a couple of large, vinyl ads here in NYC. Would look great blown up to wall size.

What Ryan Lochte will do...

Preview of What Would Ryan Lochte Do? for Sunday, 10PM on E!

CREAM OF THE CROP: An LGBT series watchlist not to be missed.

Marlon Texeira continues to be sex on legs.

Bradley Manning not SF Pride grand marshal after all.

Will New York ban gay-conversion therapy?

GULP!: 95-year-old woman: "I was Hitler's food-taster."

Lola goes green.

Marina Diamandis on Madonna: "She's a really diverse artist."

The final days of Bleecker Bob's.

L.A.'s Gibson Amphitheatre's a goner, too.

Gay-wedding flash mob.

Celine Dion's son walks a mile an inch in her heels.

Chelsea Handler as a teenager.

It's Jerry Seinfeld's birthday on Monday.

Hot One Life to Live star Tuc Watkins on being a gay dad.

Tuc yeah!

 

A gallery of Bette/Sue

As you know, I loved I'll Eat You Last, starring Bette Midler. She's since gotten rave reviews like the one in the Times, and I've been told that the only tickets left are premium. (Worth it.)

Below, check out a snippet from the show in which Midler, as the late superagent Sue Mengers, discusses Gene Hackman. (Gotta love a show that relies on Gene Hackman, Julie Harris and Ali McGraw!)

Keep reading for the clip...

The Shore thing

The UK's Jersey Shore guys are ogle-worthy.

Hands up if you think the bombers' mom was in on it.

Where Republicans and terrorists overlap.

Chicane's "One Thousand Suns."

NYC's Showgirls!: The Musical.

Might some Republican senators support ENDA?

Now Justin & Selena are just jerkin' your chain.

Could Armie Hammer's Lone Ranger be...good?

Justice Joslin covers Man of the World.

Man, oh, Man of the World

Dan Savage's love

Dan Savage's hunk husband speaks.

Wedding bells for Dawn French!

An al-Qaeda terror attack is thwarted in Canada.

Paraguay's new prez has troglodytic views on gays.

Amazing Keith Haring video.

SATELLITE DISH: Gossip from MTV's earliest days.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged for using WMD by feds.

White House sticking to Constitution.

Gun Owners of America honcho: Liberals "pleased" with bombing.

Bette Midler "adored" the "terrifying" Sue Mengers.

Angelyne has a not-so-nice trip.

Who would Jesus abort?

Only 3 known SF earthquake (1906!) survivors.

Barbra regrets not doing Cabaret, Klute and Julia.

Michael Michaud dishes on the late Sal Mineo.

Sofia Vergara's "great time" as a transsexual.

Meet the Imam into gays and marriage equality.

Janice Dickinson broke? 

Brenda Dickson broke and homeless?

Roberto Bolle coming to NYC.

How to find sex...offline?

Folsom Street East is off.

Phyllis Diller's final TV gig: Dukes of Melrose.

Teamsters vs. Westboro: Guess who won?

Pop Tarts: Portraits of Women up for grabs.

CRAZY FOR IT: 'Mazing Madonna megamix.

Madonna's homeless brother injured during arrest.

How Mack Sennett created Studio City.

Pop-up exhibit of Madonna's iconic wardrobe at Macy's in L.A.

Dress her up

Nancy boy mysteries

Douglas Carter Beane's history of nances.

Self-publishing isn't just for vain no-talents anymore.

Sometimes, it really does take a village.

Two more meningitis deaths IDed in the L.A. area.

"Guns have changed. Shouldn't our gun laws?" (Yes.)

Downey "doesn't care" about he Oscar he knows he'll win.

Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka + their twins. Awww.

No autographs, please!

This should be in the MOMA, but instead it's a window display on 11th Avenue. Bizarre! I love how filthy the lady in the tub is in spite of the "suds."

In his supposed-to-be-funny piece for HuffingtonPost, Mark Brennan Rosenberg writes of the "10 Reasons NYC Isn't as Great as You Think It Is."

I don't know Mark and am not fishing for a Twitter war; I am just trying to find the humor in his piece. It's remarkably bitter, as with this item:

"There are too many gay people."

This is an actual point from his list. The reasoning:

"Hundreds of thousands of sex-crazed men who are more interested in going out and partying than a relationship."

I think it's pretty bizarre for a gay man to joke that there are too many gay people anywhere, and I would suggest Rosenberg change up his social circle if "gay man" is synonymous with "sex-crazed" and anti-relationship. But then again, I'm not sure how serious he is about finding sex-crazed gay men a negative considering his Facebook profile pic is shirtless and he ends the piece with:

"Yeah, New York sucks. But it's kind of like crystal meth. Once you get a taste of it, however bad it is for you, you never want to live without it."

I love dark humor. And I can take a joke. But read his article and let me know if it doesn't come off as really, really raw and, as my blogger pal noted, "persistently unfunny."

Still, I'll have to give Rosenberg's Kindle book a try.

Liza Minnelli & another fan get first dibs on I'll Eat You Last

BOY CULTURE RATING: **** out of ****

The first thing I ever blogged was a take-down of Bette Midler.

It's not that I totally detest Bette Midler; the elusive gay gene disallows that. But she was not the fierce (snap!) advocate I felt she should be back then. Then there is the little matter of her frequent, often well-placed (the worst kind!) barbs about that other Divine Miss M, the one who is currently fulfilling her destiny as the wind beneath Malawi's wings.

But when I heard Bette Midler was going to play the very-recently-late Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers in I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, a one-woman show on Broadway directed by Joe Mantello, I was on board. What a perfect marriage of personalities, made all the more perfect artistically because the two women, while outspoken and lewd, are not clones so much as each possesses a "je ne sais fuck you" vibe that makes the casting so fun you don't even have to see the play to get your first delighted chuckle.

But now that I've seen the very first preview, I can say: You do have to see this play, because this is not just a great idea, it's also a great execution.