The 11 O'clock Number

A belated Tony post....Neil Patrick Harris wrapped up the awards show with a great musical riff on Sondheim's "Tonight". I thought he was a great host. And an excellent singer too! Lyrics were courtesy of the team who brought you HAIRSPRAY,Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. As a piece on the TIMES ArtsBeat blog explained, they wrote many variations of the song before the show that would account for many different outcomes. A brilliant idea and maybe one we'll see at next years Oscars, except there it would have to be The Midnight Number.

Land of The Lost Actor Comes Out

No--not Will Ferrell.  Please.  I am not even going to discuss that movie, which looks like its only relation to the TV show is the title.  I'm talking about the original 70's LOTL and the sexy, David Cassidy-esque "Will" of Marshall, Will and Holly.  On a routine expedition.  Who met the greatest earthquake ever knooooown!

The actor is Wesley Eure and he not only played Will for three seasons but he also sang that song too! He recently gave a lengthy and fascinating interview to fellow author Brent Hartinger on AfterElton with all sorts of details about his life in and out of the closet.  He talks about being a teen idol, dating Richard Chamberlain (!) and mentions his current partner, the surname-less Richard who apparently played for the NY Yankees.  A gay Yankee?  I think we need to know more about this...

National Doughnut Day is TODAY!!!!

That's right, today is National Doughnut Day...so I will use the official spelling, but only this once! When I first saw this on the Dunkin' website, I thought it was some sort of corporate promotion for their Design Your Own Donut contest, which ends today with the annoucement of the new Dunkin' Donut; "Toffee For Your Coffee". But apparently, NDD has been traditionally celebrated the first Friday of June since 1938. Who knew?! So join me in the festivities and hit up your local DD franchise for a FREE DONUT! Details are available on the DD site.

New Fest Opens Tonite in Chelsea

It took a little while but NewFest, New York's premier gay and lesbian film festival, has a homecoming of sorts tonite as the festival has its opening night (and the entire festival itself) in Chelsea. NewFest is taking over the gorgeous two-screen cinema on 23rd btw 8th and 9th that used to be Clearview Chelsea West until it was bought by the New School last year. Some notable films I'm going to try and check out are a documentary about Up With People, a thriller by directed by my friend Dave Kittredge called "Pornography", and a feature about Quentin Crisp's arrival in the East Village back in '81, "An Englishman in New York". For schedules and tix, you can go directly to the NewFest website. See you at the movies!

Judy, Judy, Judy

Until I was 23, I never got the deal with Judy Garland and the gays. I mean, sure, I liked "The Wizard of Oz" just as much as the next guy. But it wasn't until I saw "A Star Is Born" at film school, particularly her inimitable take on "The Man Who Got Away", that I truly understood the tragic fabulousness of Judy.

Recently, I was reminded of her unique talents when Michael Musto posted some lost footage of a show she did in her twilight years. It was a variety program called "The Hollywood Palace" and below are two versions of the show's opening number; one from rehearsal and one from the taping. Judy is looking a 'lil rough in both of them but there is something so utterly compelling about watching her perform...like a woman on a wire.

So check them out back to back and then, as they used to say in high school English, give me a 100 word compare and contrast essay on the importance of "Judyness".

BEFORE



AFTER

NetPix: Ghost Town

I haven't had a good NetPix in a few weeks because the discs showing up in the mail have been subpar lately. Until "Ghost Town". Wow--this movie was awesome! Now I have to put a slight disclaimer up front here in that my favorite genre of movie is screwball comedy, especially those from the classic era of the '30s and '40s. But to those who say screwball is stuck in time, there have been many fine updates in recent years from 1974's What's Up Doc, 1994's Flirting With Disaster and even 1999's Fight Club (which even David Fincher himself admitted is basically a very f'ed up romantic comedy). I guess I should also mention that my first feature, the gayish wedding caper "I Think I Do" fits in this genre. [PLUG!]

Anyway, "Ghost Town" is a wonderfully screwy comedy written and directed with grace and old school panache by David Koepp. Who knew the screenwriter of "Jurrasic Park", "War of The Worlds" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (gaaaahhh!) had such a sophsiticated sense of humor. Not to mention style. "Ghost Town" features "The Office"'s Ricky Gervais as a dentist who begins to see dead people to hilarious effect, namely Greg Kinnear who is trying in true screwball fashion to stop the pending marriage of his former wife to a Ralph Bellamy-esque do-gooder. Tea Leoni is not only the gorgeously sassy wife but also a mummy-ologist at the Met, a clever nod to Cary Grant's scientist in "Brining Up Baby" (which Koepp actually acknowledges in the extras).

There is some great ensemble work going on here, especially in the scenes with Gervais and Leone as Kinnear, unseen by his former wife, mugs and gestures and tries to offer advice as the hapless dentist works his not-so-seductive moves. There is also a lively ensemble of ghosts, including notables such as Alan Ruck (who will always be Ferris' "Cameron" to me), Dana Ivey and a friend of mine, Jeff Hiller, plays the naked guy!

I loved this movie not just once, but twice. I watched it again the day after because there is so much going on, so many brilliant little throw-aways in addition to the big laughs, that it demanded further study. I don't know how or why this movie didn't catch on last fall when it was originally released. Someone suggested to me that mainstream audiences do go for comedies about death. Maybe. Or perhaps this movie appeals to people older than 16 and a half, which is the average age of moviegoers these days. It is literate and smart and nothing explodes. And, as the summer movie season is upon up, that is a blessed relief.

A Portrait of The President By...Everyone

The popularity of President Obama is visible across the culture; on t-shirts, signs in windows, bumper stickers and even portraiture. Additionally, our President has also become a very popular subject for artists and this weekend's TIMES had an article about this growing phenomenon. In fact, there are so many people painting Obama's portrait that, of course, there have been some pretty bad works of art created too. So many that there is a website specifically for these rightfully named badpaintingsofbarackobama.com. I have featured one of these paintings here but many more await your viewing pleasure on the website...notably the one with the Mexican flag flying over the White House as scantily clad men and women cavort around him on the South Lawn as he holds of pair of someone's underwear in his right hand. I am not making this up. Really.

Free Bikes In NYC

It sounded too good to be true: free bike "rental" in Manhattan, no strings attached. Well, I am glad to report that it is true as I tried it out last weekend.

NYC along with the Downtown Alliance has teamed up to provide free bikes this summer at the South Street Seaport. You can get one for yourself, or up to four if you have guests, for 3 hours of touring around town. It's a perfect amount of time if you want to take a ride up the beautiful west side bike path. I went all the way from the Seaport to 89th Street and back with a half hour to spare.

All you have to do is register at bikearoundowntown.com and then make a reservation in advance. It is unbelievably easy and incredibly fun for zero dollars. It's the perfect weekend staycation!

Remember The Gaiety

One of my favorite blogs is Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, which catalogs the increasing speed at which the city has been changing in recent years. Yesterday, Jeremiah wrote about one of my most sorely missed New York landmarks; the Howard Johnson's building in Times Square which also housed the Gaiety Theatre on the second floor.

During my wanton youth, there were many fun nights spent at Hojo's drinking Whiskey Sours and snacking on fried clams (or cried flams, as I liked to call them). Afterwards, we'd head upstairs for the entertainment, the Gaiety's live all-male strip show that Madonna made infamous in her 1992 SEX book. For the budget conscious, a night at the Gaiety (15$ the last time I went) was way cheaper than the cost of a Broadway show....and certainly a lot racier. ;)

Anyway, it's all gone now, as are many old Times Square landmarks. But kudos to Jeremiah for keeping the dream alive....and remembering.

The Latte Zoo

I found this amazing video on a great site for coffee-addicted New Yorkers....nycmugged.com. I don't know who this barista is but if I had to guess, I'd say it's an art student.