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

Up Hot Mama

Since her turn as a tattooed, bisexual rocker in last year's Prey for Rock & Roll, Gina Gershon has thrown herself into her work. Every lesbian's favorite screen icon just finished the upcoming thriller Out of Season with Dennis Hopper. Now she's filming West Memphis Three, the true story of three teenage convicted child-killers, which will also star Michael Pitt, Donal Logue, Michael Madsen, and Gershon's Prey co-star and Sopranos regular Drea de Matteo. But TV, as everyone knows, is where the real money and household-name status are found. So Gershon is hoping Hot Mama, an ABC sitcom with eyes on the fall season, turns out to be a hot property. In it, Gershon plays a wedding planner who's also a hip single mom with a conservative daughter, and, well, sitcom-ish funny stuff happens. Hey, it worked for Family Ties.

HIV Poz Boxer Roughs

Up Movie Screens

Writer-producer Curt Johnson has optioned the movie rights to the story of Tommy Morrison, the 1990s heavyweight boxing star who tested HIV-positive in 1996. It's a compelling story since Morrison—considered to be as tough as Mike Tyson—was rising in boxing's ranks, had co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rocky V, and was even scheduled to battle Tyson upon the champ's release from prison. A positive HIV test derailed the event and forced Morrison into retirement, where he has continued to be a source of surprise by refusing traditional medical treatment for the virus. Johnson will pen the screenplay and casting is already being discussed. Names like Stallone and Mickey Rourke are being thrown around, and several sports-world figures may appear as themselves, but nothing's definite yet. Romeo, who is always up to watching shirtless men fight, is hoping for a Mr. T cameo.

Sophie B. Acting

It's been a few years since barefoot omnisexual chanteuse Sophie B. Hawkins hit the pop charts with 'Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover' and 'As I Lay Me Down,' but she hasn't been spending her time sitting around collecting royalties. The pop star has taken up acting. She appeared in a little-seen, straight-to-video thing called Beyond the City Limits with Alyson Hannigan, and popped up on The Chris Isaak Show, too. But it's her upcoming film roles that will really show the world whether she's a thespian or just a singing part-time lesbian. Walk On, an ensemble film about baseball's Texas Rangers, to be directed by Walter Hill, is in production now. In it, Hawkins plays the mother of co-star Jessica Simpson's character. Meanwhile, she's also joining Gina Gershon on the set of West Memphis Three in a small role. Romeo thinks these minor parts are a good idea for singers getting their feet wet in movies. Glitter-sized debacles don't look good on anyone.

Will & Grace:

The Next American Idols?

In the grand tradition of such albums as Laverne & Shirley Sing and The Simpsons Sing the Blues, the cast of Will & Grace is recording an album to be titled Will & Grace: Who's Your Daddy? Okay, maybe it will be better than those other ones. After all, Megan Mullally has a fine voice (her show-tune moment with Clay Aiken on a recent Saturday Night Live was as gay as anything W & G could cook up), and Eric McCormack was well-received as Harold Hill in The Music Man revival. Now it just remains to be seen if Sean Hayes and Debra Messing can out-karaoke their fellow castmates. The cast's songs will appear alongside tracks by other artists, such as Cheryl Lynn's 'Got To Be Real' and a recording of 'Footloose' by Kevin Bacon's band, The Bacon Brothers. Sing out, sister.

DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .