In the most moving moment for the LGBT community in the history of America's Got Talent, a young gay youth who appeared last night absolutely had America fall in love with him. The young sweet man was kicked out of his home in Tennessee for being gay. His parents kicked him out of his house on his 18th birthday. Be prepared to be inspired, proud and moved with this Susan Boyle moment!
First of all, can Neil Patrick Harris get any better? The opening was astounding and he was charming, funny and fantastic all night long.
Second, my night was made when Judith Light accepted her second Tony Award to put on the mantle with her two Emmy Awards. She has done three plays on Broadway and won two awards....that is called legendary! Light is one of Broadway's greatest actresses.
Third, Billy Porter finally gets his award for his extraordinary performance in 'Kinky Boots' which, thank God, took home the Tony for 'Best Muscial'!
Fourth, how moving was Cyndi Lauper's speech. She was the first women in the history of the Tony's to win solo for 'Best Score'.
Two women, Diane Paulus (Pippin) and Pam MacKinnon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf) took 'Best Director' for the first time in Tony history.
Finally, four of the eight winners for performance were won by African-Americans.
This was one of the best staged award shows ever. The producers of the Oscars should study it carefully!
The new rage in reality talent shows is the use of the old technique of 'the shadow'. The focus, for the most part, has been creating images that make people go 'wow'. The Shadow Theater Group in Britain took it to another entire level on Britain's Got Talent. They actually told a moving and beautiful love story.
Watch it here and enjoy.
Billy Magnussen nominated for "Vanya and Sonia...."
If the voting by readers in the Playbill.com, Broadway.com and Timeout.com are any indication, this could be the closest race in years for some of the categories for the Tony Awards. The 'Best Musical' race is neck and neck between Kinky Boots and Matilda with some momentum for Kinky Boots.
Some of the races for the famed Tony are virtually decided and voters would be shocked if the frontrunner's didn't win. They include:
Best Actor in a Musical: Billy Porter (Kinky Boots)
Best Actress in a Musical: Patina Miller (Pippin)
Best Score: Cyndi Lauper (Kinky Boots)
Best Play: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Best Revival of a Musical: Pippin
Judith Light nominated for The Assembled Parties
For 'Best Featured Actress in a Play', Judith Light (The Assembled Parties)has won in all three readers polls by wide margins and has built some momentum for her second Tony in two years. She still has to look over her shoulder for Shalita Grant (Vanya and Sonia...) and Carrie Coon (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf).
This year in particular the Tony Awards has some very close races. Beside the race for 'Best Musical', the tight races include:
-The tight race for 'Best Actress in a play between Cicely Tyson (The Trip to Bountiful) and Kristine Nielsen (Vanya and Sonia...).
-A three race for 'Best Actor in a Play' between Tom Hanks (Lucky Guy), Nathan Lane (The Nance) and Tracy Letts (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf).
-The race for "Best Book in a Musical' between Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots) and Dennis Kelly (Matilda)
-The race between two hot men for 'Best Featured Actor in a Play' between Danny Burstein (Golden Boy) and Billy Magnussen (Vanya and Sonia...).
-Then there is another three person race for 'Best Choreography' between Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), Chet Walker (Matilda) and Peter Darling (Pippin).
Kinky Boots nominated for Best Musical
The official trailer for the documentary Born This Way has been released. This documentary is a 'must see' by every LGBT American and their allies. The story is one of raw courage of African LGBT citizens living in Cameroon. That African nation has arrested more people for being an LGBT person than any other country.
Watch this and renew your own courage. When the documentary is released take your family and friends to see it. Support it with all your heart.
Dave Koz can get ready to add a ninth Grammy nomination to distinguished career in the entertainment industry. His new album Summer Horns is simply spectacular. Along with Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair and Richard Ellitot, the Koz has created a CD that knocks it out of the ballpark!
Imagine four sax players jamming with excellent music and having the time of their lives and you have the excitement of this new album. Hands down I love Got To Have You In My Life where the four really let lose and have a ball. Their version of Take Five is classic smooth jazz at its best as is their version of I Got You. Then there is God Bless the Child which is just beautiful and perfect. The vocal on 'Child' is haunting.
The four hit the road this week to start their summer tour. Check out the tour schedule here.
If the CD is any indication, the tour will be a night of fun, laughter, reflection and damn good music. Don't miss it.
The prestigious Writer's Guild has picked the '101 Best Written Television Series". Sure to provoke a lot of debate and even more hits to their site, the Writers Guild of America dip their toe into the water and bravely picked the best written television series in history.
While they didn't make the Top Ten, I would have moved up the list these gems: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Twin Peaks, Carol Burnett Show, Downton Abby, The Golden Girls and Oz
Here are their top ten.
1. The Sopranos
2. Seinfeld
3. The Twilight Zone
4. All In The Family
5. MASH
6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7. Mad Men
8. Cheers
9. The Wire
10. The West Wing
Men by Maya Angelou
When I was young, I used to
Watch behind the curtains
As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.
Young men sharp as mustard.
See them. Men are always
Going somewhere.
They knew I was there. Fifteen
Years old and starving for them.
Under my window, they would pauses,
Their shoulders high like the
Breasts of a young girl,
Jacket tails slapping over
Those behinds,
Men.
One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,
Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.
It is your juice
That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.
When the earth rights itself again,
And taste tries to return to the tongue,
Your body has slammed shut. Forever.
No keys exist.
Then the window draws full upon
Your mind. There, just beyond
The sway of curtains, men walk.
Knowing something.
Going someplace.
But this time, I will simply
Stand and watch.
Maybe.
On July 9, one of the greatest jazz kings of all time - Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong was buried in New York City. The famous jazz trumpeter and singer was one of the greats. 'Satchmo' was one of the first African-Americans to cross over into the white charts. Even today his gravelly voice and trumpet playing is immediately recognized by jazz fans.
Armstrong grandparents were slaves and he was born into a very poor family in New Orleans. His first gigs outside the jut joints of New Orleans was playing on the riverboats on the Mississippi. He joined Joe 'King' Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.
Over time he became a favorite of Bing Crosby who seriously aided his career. Johnny Carson was also a huge fan of his playing. He version of Hello Dolly was one of his biggest hits. But he is also known for such hits as It's A Wonderful World, When The Saints Go Marching In, Dream A Little Dream of Me, Mack the Knife and Rambling Rose.
'Satchmo' was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of TIME Magazine. He won a Grammy Award for his Hello Dolly and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Armstrong died of a heart attack on July 6, 1971. Peggy Lee sang The Lords Prayer at his funeral. Al Hibbler sang Nobody Knows The Troubles I Have Seen.
The honorary pallbearers were Governor Rockefeller, Mayor Lindsay, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett and Bobby Hackett.
When you think of movies from the 1980's you would be hard put to make a list of successful films and not include War Games, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire and Short Circuit. These were the films of the the 1980's young 'Brat Pack' which included Rob Lowe, Sean Penn, Emilio Estevez , Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Anthony Hall, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.
The young actress Ally Sheedy shot to fame starring in these movies and was much in demand. The 'Brat Pack' became part of Director John Hughes ensemble. Together they were a critical part of that decade. Sheedy was the center of the group and served as their resident intellectual. She is bright, charismatic and intelligent. Ally added grace and class to a rebellious and fun seeking collection of actors.
She received the Independent Spirit Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and the National Society for Film Critics Award for Best Actress for her astounding performance in High Art about drug addiction, powerful women and a lesbian relationship. (Trailer below)
In the 1990's, Sheedy appeared in numerous television films and shows until she took an eight year break to raise her daughter Rebecca.
Ally Sheedy was born and raised in New York City. Her mother was a feminist and civil rights activist.
Sheedy dated Bon Jovi's guitarist Richie Sambora and struggle with her own drug addiction. She spent time recovering from the addiction in a treatment center. She has been married once to David Lansbury (nephew of Angela) for over fifteen year. They have a daughter Rebecca.
Rebecca, at age eleven came out to her mother Ally . Since then, Sheedy has been actively involved in the struggle for LGBT rights. She works especially hard for the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth. The actress is also an animal and wildlife activist. Currently she is shooting her first film in almost a decade and returning to the stage.
"FIVE QUESTIONS FOR .....ALLY SHEEDY"
1. You enjoyed a great deal of success with your early films did that create unreal expectations for you?
I was particularly fortunate that Bad Boys with Sean Penn was my first film. I learned a great deal from watching him-a focus and a way of working that I have kept since. War Games was the second film. I auditioned for four months and the original director, Marty Brest, kept calling me back in and pairing me with different possible actors for “David Lightman”. I think that I was lucky they were set on Matthew Broderick. We went to high school just a few blocks from each other in NY and I actually saw him in Midsummer’s Night Dream when we were seniors. There was a familiarity and a comfort there in our screen test.
Breakfast Club was just a blessing. John Hughes saw something in me that was a different from the “girl next door” role. I loved him.
I don’t know that there were unrealistic expectations of me. I think the feeling out in Hollywood was that I had the potential to be a moneymaking star. It had nothing to do with my talent or with what I actually might want to do with my career. But the expectation was that I could be commercial. Those expectations are not unrealistic for a young actor who has been in successful films. But they had very little to do with what I wanted for myself.
2. You most acclaimed role was for 'High Art' which won you numerous awards and nominations. You say it was the story closest to your life? How?
My character in High Art, Lucy Berliner, is the closest to me I have ever played. I’m not a photographer or a heroin addict, but her emotional life and her way of thinking feel so right and so authentic to me…it’s a way of looking at the world and the specific environment around me at any time and the cast of characters that sometimes show up…I have been where she lives. I did not make the choice to overdose. But I know that darkness. It’s simple
3. You have an open lesbian daughter. How was the coming out process between her and you?
My beautiful queer daughter is the love of my life. She has changed everything for me: my priorities and the way in which I relate to the world. Rebecca started discussing her gender and sexual orientation with me when she was about 11. There were no surprises. It has been an ongoing conversation. She is making sense of things for herself and I am blessed that she has chosen to include me in her exploration. There is nothing I would not do for her. She is the person I have always wanted to be.
4. After raising your daughter, you are once again (much to the joy of many) performing and writing. How different is it from the 1980's time period for you?
I became a full time single Mom about 8 years ago. At that point, I restructured my life and my career around my life with Rebecca. I needed to be there through middle school and high school and to be her home base and her anchor. Now that she is in college, I’m able to work out of town and perhaps in theatre (working at night and weekends) and this is a huge transition. So I’m out and about-auditioning and meeting with casting people and directors and just generally reintroducing myself. I’m in a new place now and am ready for different kinds of roles and projects. I’m figuring this out as I go along. It’s an exciting time.
5. What is the most embarrassing moment to happen to you in show biz?
My most embarrassing moment in show biz! Oh so so many….
I worked with F. Murray Abraham in Russia. I was so nervous to meet him. He’s brilliant and did insane genius work in Amadeus. But can you believe that when I was introduced to him on the set (in Russia) that I said “Oh! I loved you in Schindler’s List!” ?????
THAT WAS BEN KINGSLEY!!!
Can you believe? There’s no recovery from that- except for Murray’s great good humor and sweetness. He was classy and lovely. I still cringe when I think about it.
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