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

Phantom Is a Menace to Make

Talented tunesmith Andrew Lloyd Webber wants to make beautiful music with queer director Joel Schumacher. Webber has just bought back the screen rights to his uber-successful Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera from Warner Bros., where the showstopper has been stalled in development hell for well over a decade. Webber is convinced that following the success of Moulin Rouge and Chicago, Phantom can be made into a blockbuster film. He hopes to reteam with Schumacher, who took a crack at the project years ago. Hunky heartthrob Antonio Banderas has long wanted to play the titular role in Phantom, but now rumors are circulating that awesome Aussie Hugh Jackman might don the mask in the big-screen version.

The Platinum Touch

Openly gay TV execs Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari, whose company produces shows like Six Feet Under and The Hughleys, are working on the tentatively titled Screwball Homicide, a comedy series for Lifetime about a brilliant female detective who is professionally teamed with her ex-husband. Even though their marriage went bust, the two still try to make their crime-solving relationship work. Greenblatt and Janollari, recently named to Out magazine's list of 100 most influential people, are also behind Platinum, an hour-long show about two brothers who start their own hip-hop record label. Platinum spins its way on UPN, with an additional broadcast on MTV, in April.

D.E.B.S. Will Debut in Theaters

Out filmmaker Angela Robinson didn't win an award for her short film, D.E.B.S, at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but she scored something even better—a green light to make a feature-length version. Robinson's wickedly funny film—the recipient of a 2002 grant from POWER UP, the Hollywood power-dyke organization—centers on four high school seductresses whose SAT scores show they have so much aptitude for lying, killing, and cheating that they're drafted as secret agents. In the feature version, Robinson promises a gorgeous villain and plenty of girl-on-girl action. Production is set to begin in May. No word if leading lesbian Tammy Lynn Michaels, who starred in the short, will reprise her role.