THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

What's gay about the High School Musical franchise? What's not would seem to be the real question for this fantastically colorful, exuberant, all-singing, all-dancing, tween sensation. For grown-up queer audiences, it's a chance to experience the revenge of the drama club and show choir; for gay kids, it's a set of pop-culture training wheels. So both fan bases should be thrilled (possibly to the point of breaking into song) by the news that High School Musical 3: Senior Year is finally a go. All the original cast members, including Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, have signed on for the third and possibly last installment, due for a theatrical release this October. Can the boys' costumes get pinker? The musical numbers bigger? The jazz-hands jazzier? All will be answered - with choreography - by Halloween.

Valentino's Last Runway Walk

What better way to cap a 45-year career than with a documentary crew to set it all down for posterity's sake? That's what's happening with legendary fashion designer Valentino as he wraps ups nearly five decades in the rag biz with his final haute couture show ( it took place in late January ) and a documentary feature titled Valentino: The Last Emperor . Directed by Vanity Fair special correspondent Matt Tyrnauer, the film goes deep into the private life of the man behind some of the world's most beautiful clothing, chopping over 200 hours of footage down to just two, for what is expected to be a May premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. After that, look for a limited art-house release - not to mention a big write-up in Vanity Fair.

Orlando Jones Has Misconceptions

A career in Hollywood can take an actor from one unusual role to another. Just last year, audiences who bothered to show up for the giant-alligator-eats-everyone movie Primeval got to see comic actor Orlando Jones do battle with the creature. This year, however, Jones will do battle with religious conservatism on screen in Misconceptions. He'll play a gay man who - along with his partner ( played by David Moscow ) - finds a right-wing, born-again Christian woman to act as a surrogate mother. The kicker? God told her to do it. The film's co-writer and director, Ron Satlof, is a Hollywood veteran with credits that go back to Hawaii Five-O and Get Christie Love! No due date set yet, but expect hilarious controversy to erupt when this bouncing baby arrives.

Scissor Sister Visits the City

It was inevitable. The beloved characters from Tales of the City began life in newspaper installments, moved onto bookstore shelves, and then hit TV screens. Now it appears they'll live again on stage, bringing a musical version of San Francisco in the '70s to a new generation of theatergoers. And who better to tap into that era's queer-saturated, glam-rock-meets-disco musical aesthetic than Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame. The popular, flamboyant rock band's songwriting team of Shears and guitarist Babydaddy have become stars doing exactly what the City citizens did, living openly and with style. Shears is reportedly working with Jeff Whitty of Avenue Q on the musical, with no other information available right now. And with luck the finished product will emulate the success of Q or Rent rather than Taboo.

Romeo San Vicente's last great Broadway experience was with a very athletic male dancer. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .