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

Comedian Lisa Lampanelli is offering fans a sneak peek of her upcoming one-woman show in four special performances March 21-23 under the wing of off-Broadway's The New Group at the Acorn Theatre, according to Playbill.com . Lampanelli, called the "Lovable Queen of Mean," has been developing and refining the piece (with the goal of presenting the show on Broadway) with Alan Zweibel over the past two years.

Fans of the UPN-CW cult series Veronica Mars have been hoping for a big-screen return since the show was cancelled after three seasons in 2007—and they are now getting their wish, according to Deadline.com . An official Kickstarter campaign launched by creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell zoomed past its Kickstarter goal of $2 million in only 10 hours. According to Thomas, rights holder Warner Bros gave its blessing if at least $2 million were raised for the project via crowdsourcing. The pic will shoot this summer with a slated 2014 release, with Warner Bros aiding in distribution.

NBC has made several changes regarding its shows, according to Deadline.com . For example, Smash will move to Saturdays beginning April 6 and will air its entire season of 17 episodes. In addition, a one-hour season finale of The New Normal will run Tuesday, April 2, at 9-10 p.m. ET.

Expectations are high for Justin Timberlake's new album, The 20/20 Experience, according to Billboard.com . The RCA Records set, which is due to go on sale on March 19, could score the best sales week for an album in four months, with insiders suggesting that sales could top 500,000 units. The last CD to sell more than a half-million in a week was One Direction's Take Me Home, which opened with 540,000 units sold after its release Nov. 13, 2012.

Judge Judith Sheindlin (better known as Judge Judy) is having her own legal snag. According to Vanity Fair, Patrice Jones (the former wife of Judge Judy producer Randy Douthit) claims Douthit sold Sheindlin the former couple's fine china and flatware for $50,000 without Jones' knowledge and consent. Jones sued the television judge for the $514,421.14. Sheindlin has handed back the china, according to NewsNet5.com . In a statement to TMZ, Sheindlin said, "[Jones] and her attorney want a circus, and I refuse to be a further participant in their drama."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged the NFL to investigate if possible draft picks were improperly asked about their sexual orientation during the league's combine, which he said would be illegal in New York, according to AP.org . (In the combine, college players perform mental and physical skills for coaches, general managers and scouts.) Schneiderman asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to call him by March 20 to schedule a meeting on the matter.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post was not allowed to cover the red carpet for the March 16 GLAAD Media Awards in New York honoring Anderson Cooper and featuring Madonna, because of the publication's history of transgender-bashing, according to Advocate.com . GLAAD invited Post editors to a meeting to discuss their coverage, which includes frequent references to "trannies" and "she-males." The newspaper brass turned down the meeting, leading the media watchdog organization to bar the Post from the event.

HBO has launched a new Game of Thrones beer, Digital Spy reported. The cable network has teamed up with Cooperstown, N.Y.-based brewers Ommegang for the blonde ale named Iron Throne as a tie-in with the fantasy series. The taste has been described as "extremely easy-drinking: malty, vaguely fruity, a little spicy, but nothing overpowering."

Oscar and Grammy-winning singer Adele may be moving to the United States, specifically Los Angeles, the Huffington Post noted. Reportedly, she wants to move to better balance career with motherhood. Around awards season, Adele spent more than a month living in house (rented from Sir Paul McCartney) in California with her 5-month-old son, Angelo, and boyfriend Simon Konecki. The ease of living together in L.A. and singer Robbie Williams' wife, Ayda Field, persuading her to move have reportedly gotten to Adele, and she is seriously considering the big transition.

Lady Gaga has unveiled a 24-karat gold-plated wheelchair to aid in her recovering from hip surgery, according to the Huffington Post. The chair was custom-made or her by jewelry designer Ken Borochov of the luxury brand Mordekai. The seat comes equipped with a black leather seat with a removable leather canopy; in addition, it can recline all the way back if Gaga needs to lie down.

Speaking of Gaga, she has reportedly asked Donatella Versace to design her wedding dress, according to Digital Spy. The singer is said to be marrying her boyfriend, Chicago Fire star Taylor Kinney, in the summer when both their schedules become free. GaGa reportedly wants a black-and-gold dress that has a removable skirt and train, which can then be converted into another gown for the ceremony.

Joan Rivers has suggested that Joy Behar is making a "wrong" decision in leaving the daytime show The View, according to Digital Spy. "I don't know if it's a good move," Rivers admitted, adding, "I think The View is such a great program. I think she's wrong." Behar will leave the show in August after being a panelist for 16 years.

Les Miserables director Tom Hooper is rumored to be considered to helm the new biopic on former Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, according to Digital Spy. If it happens, it will reunite him with Sacha Baron Cohen, who has been attached to play Mercury. The film was previously planned to shoot in 2011, but has been held up by contractual complications.

Singer Belinda Carlisle is making a comeback, Digital Spy noted. Carlisle, 54, has said that her new single would be called 'Sun' and that it would feature on her upcoming album Icon, a record which would revisit some of her biggest hits from the 1980s. The former Go-Go's lead singer, who lived in France for 20 years before moving back to the U.S., added that she felt as though her voice "is much more mature now."

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is returning to the theater by writing new music for a Yale Repertory Theater adaptation of Shakespeare, according to Rolling Stone. He is contributing to These Paper Bullets, a rock adaptation of the Bard's Much Ado About Nothing that follows a band from Liverpool as the members navigate romance and the music industry in London. Armstrong already has musical-theater experience, having adapted Green Day's American Idiot to Broadway in 2010.

A story that compared Justin Bieber's behavioral descent to Lindsay Lohan apparently irritated the young singer, according to FoxNews.com . After the Fox411 story was published, Bieber ranted on Instagram ""to those comparing me to Lindsey [sic] Lohan look at her 2012 tax statements." Lohan later called Bieber's words "senseless and mean." He subsequently deleted the Lohan reference, adding, "My post was only up for a few minutes but I realized right away that what I said at the end was wrong and distracted from what I was trying to say."

Sir Elton John canceled a March 15 concert in Birmingham, Ala., for "medical reasons," the Huffington Post reported. He was supposed to perform at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex Arena. Ticketmaster announced the cancellation on its website hours before the event. John did perform in Memphis, Tenn., the follow night, however.

Rapper Redfoo of LMFAO and actor Sendhil Ramamurthy (of the TV shows Heroes and Covert Affairs) have entered the U.S. Open national playoffs in bids to earn berths in the final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, according to ESPN.com . Redfoo, 37, will enter the USTA Northern California Sectional qualifying tournament June 18-23 under his real name, Stefan Gordy. Ramamurthy, 38, has entered singles and mixed doubles in the June 9-15 USTA Eastern Sectional qualifying tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open will be played.

Theo James—who has gotten his share of admirers because of his CBS show, Golden Boy—is the male lead for the young-adult film Divergent, opposite Shailene Woodley (The Descendants), according to HitFix.com . Other names who have been linked to the project include Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, Aaron Eckhart, Zoe Kravitz and Maggie Q, although none has been officially confirmed yet.

Former WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw has pled not guilty to charges stemming from an argument and shooting last November, ESPN.com noted. Holdsclaw was arrested after an argument in Atlanta with Tulsa Shock player Jennifer Lacy, who told authorities she was Holdsclaw's ex-girlfriend. Authorities allege Holdsclaw broke Lacy's car windows and shot at the car. Holdsclaw's attorney has said he intends to try settling the case without a trial.

Health concerns are forcing Morrissey to cancel his North American tour, Hitfix.com reported. In a statement released March 15, his rep says the singer has to take a break after suffering a series of maladies, including double pneumonia, a bleeding ulcer and a gastrointestinal problem called Barrett's esophagus. Fans can get refunds where they purchased their tickets.

Worldwide distribution plans are in the works for the film Codebreaker, about the life and death of gay British scientist Alan Turing, according to TuringFilm.com . The film has been shown or will be seen in various U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York City, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. Former Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon heads Story Center Productions, LLC, the Washington, D.C.-based documentary production company behind the movie.

Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about her painful past when she spoke publically for the first time about the miscarriage of her third child, according to the New York Daily News. "I had a really bad experience when I was pregnant with my third," Paltrow confessed to The Mail on Sunday's You magazine. "It didn't work out and I nearly died. So I am like, 'Are we good here or should we go back and try again?'" Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin have two children, Apple and Moses.

Featherweight boxer Orlando Cruz—who last year made history by becoming the first professional boxer to come out as gay while still competing—scored his second consecutive victory since coming out, Advocate.com noted. On March 16, Cruz whose nickname is "The Phenomenon," defeated Aalan "The Bomber" Martinez in a sixth-round technical knockout at Kissimmee, Fla.'s, Civic Center. During the fight, Cruz wore a multicolor boxing kilt with Puerto Rican and rainbow flags to acknowledge his nationality and sexual orientation.

Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kandi Burruss, along with her songwriting partner, have sued former friend (and ex-fellow Housewife) Kim Zolciak for unpaid profits from the song "Tardy for the Party" and want a cut of the royalties, according to TheHotHits.com . Burruss is a respected Grammy Award-winning songwriter who has written hit songs such as TLC's "No Scrubs" and Destiny's Childs' "Bills Bills Bills." Zolciak has denied that Burruss is entitled to any of the profits.

Beyonce released her newest track, "Bow Down/I Been On," March 17 on her official Tumblr page, according to Digital Spy. It is not known whether 'Bow Down/I Been On' will be the first single to be taken from the star's upcoming fifth studio album. The new LP will be Beyonce's first release since 2011's 4 and follows her headline half-time show at this year's Super Bowl in February.

Performing in San Francisco, singer Michelle Shocked—who came out as bisexual in Outlines newspaper (which purchased and merged with Windy City Times in 2000) two decades ago—reportedly told the crowd that "God hates fags" and that she lives in fear of same-sex marriage, according to The New Civil Rights Movement. Many audience members were furious and walked out on her performance. Shocked later tweeted, "Truth is leading to painful confrontation #shortsharpshocked," according to the Huffington Post. In response, all 11 U.S. stops on Shocked's tour have been cancelled (from Santa Cruz, Calif., to Evanston, Ill.), according to Billboard.com .

Evan Ross, the 24-year-old actor son of Diana Ross, will play a role in the VH1 biopic about the girl-group TLC called Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story, according to SingersRoom.com . Ross will portray producer Dallas Austin, TLC's longtime producer and ex-boyfriend of Rozonda "Chili" Thomas, played by Keke Palmer. Other cast members include rapper Lil Mama as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Drew Sidora as Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and actor-model Donny Boaz as the group's longtime manager, Bill Diggins.

The American Theatre Wing's 67th Annual Tony Awards will be held Sunday, June 9, and will air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET, live from the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, according to Playbill.com . The official eligibility cut-off date will be April 25 for all Broadway productions opening in the 2012-13 season. The nominations for the 2013 Tonys will be announced live April 30. The awards ceremony returns to Radio City after a two-year hiatus.

Legendary singer David Bowie has his first number-one album in 20 years, as The Next Day debuted at the top of the British charts, according to Fox News. The last top album for Bowie, 66, was 1993's Black Tie White Noise, which had songs such as "Jump They Say" and "Miracle Goodnight." Bowie's new album sold more than 90,000 copies, with Jon Bon Jovi's What About Now at number two.

The second annual International Gay Coaches Conference, hosted by the Gay Coaches Alliance, returns May 2-6 at the Easton Mountain Retreat Center, near Albany, N.Y., according to a press release. Gay men who are coaches now or who have a strong interest in becoming coaches are urged to attend, in addition to gay men in areas such as counseling and religion. Conference details and registration are available at www.conference.thegaycoaches.com .

Carnie Wilson, known as one-third of the music group Wilson Phillips ("Hold On"), announced on Twitter that she contracted Bell's palsy, causing paralysis on the left side of her face, the New York Daily News reported. Although it sounds serious, Bell's palsy is known as a temporary illness. It's a form of facial paralysis that can result in drooping, twitching, pain behind the ear or the eye, dry mouth and difficulty tasting food.

Out actor Sir Ian McKellen, known for his role as Magneto in the X-Men films, will preside over the nuptials of Patrick Stewart, a.k.a Professor X in the mutant superhero franchise, the New York Post reported. Stewart, 72, also a television icon for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, will marry Sunny Ozell, 35, a jazz singer he has been romantically involved with since 2009. Both McKellen and Stewart are set to return for X-Men: Days of Future Past, an upcoming prequel.