Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

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

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Rosie O'Donnell: Chicago arrival on showtunes, Oprah and her new show
NUNN ON ONE: TV
by Jerry Nunn, Windy City Times
2011-10-12

This article shared 5377 times since Wed Oct 12, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Rosie O'Donnell started in stand-up before landing roles on television movies. The Rosie O'Donnell Show won Emmys and launched her into the talk show circuit, where she came out of the closet two months before the show ended its run.

O'Donnell then became the moderator on The View, further showing her comedic side while becoming embroiled in controversy. Since then she has been raising children, blogging and running Rosie Radio on Sirius XM Radio. She now starts a new endeavor on OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network with The Rosie Show this week.

Windy City Times: Hi, Rosie. We love seeing you pop up around town and I wanted to welcome you personally to Lakeview and Boystown. I expect you to be at Sidetrack for Show Tunes Sundays.

Rosie O'Donnell: Honey, I didn't even know about this. I'm jotting it down. Sidetrack Show Tunes—what time?

WCT: It's around four o'clock. It's every Sunday. Sidetrack is the gay bar there with [a lot of] televisions. They re-enact Broadway musicals; for example, the crowd throws napkins when [it shows] Titanic and everyone sings all the words.

RO: Oh my Lord, I am so there. They'd better reserve me a table.

WCT: [Laughs] I can arrange that for you.

RO: Can you do requests? Do they ever do The Rink?

WCT: For you I'm sure they would, yeah.

RO: Come on—Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera. Very few people know the words to that. I could have a solo.

WCT: They have played that one many times in the past. Do you want to bring Broadway Kids to the city and maybe team up with Broadway in Chicago?

RO: Yes. First of all, the entire cast of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is going to be on in the first week. We do this whole program for the last decade where we teach inner-city kids who live below the poverty level song, dance and life skills. These kids are going to come perform as well. We're going to have a lot of Broadway. As soon as we open the show which, is not really an opening but I think Broadway-like, as soon as we do the show [Oct. 10] I'm going to have a little bit more time. I'm going to go check out the theater here in Chicago because I understand it's pretty fantastic.

WCT: Yeah, Carrie Fisher is here tonight, just to let you know.

RO: Yes, and she's actually on the show as well. I've seen that show, Wishful Drinking. Have you seen it?

WCT: I saw it on cable. I haven't seen it live yet.

RO: It's fantastic and her new book is pretty amazing. I just finished it. It's called Shockaholic. It talks a lot about her father and her last Christmas with Michael Jackson—pretty fascinating stuff.

WCT: I have to check it out. So you finally bought a house and are no longer staying in a hotel…

RO: I actually move in tomorrow, so I'm thrilled about that. I love being in a neighborhood that I can walk to the restaurants for dinner and not have to order room service. I actually love it here and can imagine living here for this next chapter of my life.

WCT: How was it working with Oprah?

RO: Well, Oprah is sort of magical. I'm about to turn 50 in March. Half my life I've watched her on television, and I was one of those crazy super-fans who used to [record it on my VCR] back in the old days. Later I put her on my TiVo, and I would watch it every night. So it was a huge thrill for me and a vote of confidence.

You know, the truth is, when I was about to sign with NBC, I questioned whether or not I would be able to do it and to sort of withstand the network kind of pressure and the network mishigas that happens and happened. Right around that time the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien fiasco had just finished, and I was not feeling very safe or secure in the network's investment in their talent.

WCT: I remember that, but people knew you would be a good match for the show.

RO: People started calling me right after [Oprah] said she was going to leave her program. I called my agent and said, "Does she need someone? Because if she needs somebody for her network, I'd rather do it there." But agents never really care about your emotional desires. They care more about their financial bottom line.

So you make a lot more money on network TV than you do on cable but, to me, it wasn't ever about the money. No part of my career was ever about money. It was always about trying to do the best job in the best place that would be most congruent with my life and my values. That's definitely where I ended up, largely because I do believe in what she taught us all that you can live your best life, and if you dream it, you can live it. A large part of my career and my success is because of watching her and learning from her, so to be here now with her is beyond a dream come true. It's like everybody's dream. For me it's like winning the lottery. I'm excited to get started. I hope that I serve her and the network well.

WCT: Do you feel pressure for your show to be a big success?

RO: I don't feel any pressure. I feel nothing but privilege, truthfully, and it's going to be thrilling. For her to not only ask me to be on her network but for her to also give me her studio, her staff, her buildings and welcome me to her city—it's an unbelievable city, Chicago. She is totally the mayor of the city, the emotional mayor, because everywhere I go, people are like, "Hey, Rosie, thanks for coming here. Hey, Ro, how you doing?" I have yet to pay for a meal in any restaurant. At my hotel I was staying, there were gifts of cupcakes and chocolate. It's been an unbelievable welcome, and it's all really because of the goodwill that she's garnered for over two decades here. She has set me up in a way that few ever get to with a generosity that's not often found in Hollywood.

WCT: How have things changed since your original talk show?

RO: It's changed completely. It's done a 360. It's not the same landscape in any capacity. When I started in 1996, I went to the NATPE [National Association of Television Program Executives] conference and had to convince people that I was not going to do a Jerry Springer-type show. I had to literally sit down with station owners and advertisers and tell them, no, I was going to do Merv Griffin. The philosophy at the time was "That will never work," because what was number one in daytime in '96 or what was drawing all of the media attention was a Jenny Jones guest had been murdered, and Geraldo Rivera had his nose broken.

That's when I entered into the foray, so I was dubbed "the Queen of Nice." Comparatively I was, because what we were seeing was violence on a daily basis. So with the exception of Oprah there was no other show on TV that was putting forth messages of positivity back in 1996. It was a whole different game.

Also, the Internet was not yet flourishing. I remember having meetings with Warner Brothers and asking for an Internet component. They said, "People don't have computers." They later bought AOL. That was a problem. But they didn't really understand the Internet and the way that media is now consumed by the average person at home. They want their celebrities accessible. There was no Perez Hilton then, there was no TMZ, there was no media Internet pop-culture forum like there is now.

There's such fractured viewing styles in the afternoon. Used to be you really had three options: ABC, NBC or CBS. You were either going to watch game shows, talk shows or soap operas, and that was it. But it's changed completely now. The kind of numbers that we got in the '90s were 5.3s, sixes sometimes. Now people get ones on network television, never mind on cable.

WCT: Do you have some dream guests?

RO: Adele we are hoping to get. She just cancelled her North American tour. She has throat issues. But as soon as she's up and healthy, she'll be here, and that's thrilling for me. I'd love to have Melissa McCarthy on. I could not believe how funny she was on SNL. Literally, I had to wear a Depends undergarment watching that show. I've never seen anyone as funny, never mind their first time, as the host, so I'd love to have her on the show.

There are so many new young talents that I think are astounding. Emma Stone is one of them, a brilliant young actress. I met her actually one night at a restaurant. Ryan Gosling, I think, is an amazing actor. I'm sort of fortunate in that I've interviewed so many people. I was on for six years. We usually had three guests per show. I was really fortunate to have spoken to so many Hollywood luminaries in my career already that it's the new ones and the young ones, the ones that I sort of missed that I would love to get to sit down with now.

WCT: Any gay topics or guests?

RO: I don't know, specifically. Just like any other minority group, I don't specifically think, "Well, I'm going to have gay topics as well as African-American issues." Like every other artist and comedian, I talk about my life, so things that pertain to my life are probably going to appear more pertinent than to a host who maybe was not gay. It's an entertainment show, so are we going to have gay guests? Yeah, and we're going to have a gay host.

Nowadays, it doesn't seem so relevant. In '96 when my show started, not one interviewer even asked if I was gay. Not one. This was before Ellen came out. This was before "Will and Grace" was on. It's a whole different world than it was in '96 when I started. It's really inspiring to me as well to see like Neil Patrick Harris win the Emmy Award and host the Oscars and the Tonys, to be so brilliant, and have a husband and a baby. It's not a big deal in a way that I could not have imagined when I began my career. So will we have gay people on? Yes. Will we talk about things that include LBGT issues? Yes. Is it going to be a primary focus? No. It's going to be just one part of who I am, and one part of the show.

WCT: What is the format?

RO: We have a live band. I'm going to come out and do standup with a microphone like you do in a comedy club. They tried to get me to do one without a mic on my old show. I never could do it because I don't really tell jokes. I don't really do monologues. I tell stories, and my standup was more about stories. So we're going to have a microphone and a stand. I'm going to do about 10 minutes of stand-up. I'm going to take questions from the audience like Carol Burnett did. We're going to go to commercial, come back and have a guest probably for three full segments.

WCT: So more time with one guest.

RO: One thing I really didn't like about my old show and about the trend that's happening on talk shows today is the guests get, like, five minutes, six minutes, and you can't really get a conversation going in that amount of time.

So we're going to have a real lengthy sit-down, insightful interview, not always with a celebrity who has something to promote. Like Russell Brand is my first guest. He doesn't have a movie coming out. He has nothing to sell. He's just coming to hang and talk. That's really going to be, I think, the difference between our show and maybe some of the others that are on now. Then we're going to have a human-interest segment we're going to play a game at the end of every show.

WCT: Will there be koosh Balls?

RO: Here's the thing: They don't make them anymore. We called the company and they're like, "No we don't make them." The guy who was from Scotland—a lovely man who gave us them free and then he actually made the Rosie Show Koosh Ball shooter and gave all the money to charity—no longer owns the company, so we'll see. I would have loved to have said, "Everything is going to be different this year, everything" then thrown koosh balls at everybody. But we'll see what we could do. I'm sure I'll find something to shoot at people because I enjoy that.

WCT: Are you nervous about the winter?

RO: People in the audience kind of laugh at me and go "Oh, just wait." The only thing I'm afraid of is this Snowmageddon winter thing, but my garage is apparently heated, which is essential, I've heard. My roof apparently has something that will melt the ice. I feel like I'm getting ready for the frozen tundra. But aside from that, I'm good to go. I could truly imagine having my whole family move here and live here, and it's really beautiful, I have to say. People always say people in the Midwest are nicer, but now I've been here. I'm like "Oh my God! They really are!"

WCT: Good to hear that. See you at Sidetrack.

RO: I'll be there, Sundays at 4!

The Rosie Show just debuted this past Monday on OWN. Visit www.oprah.com/own for details and listings.


This article shared 5377 times since Wed Oct 12, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds
2024-03-21
It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman
2024-03-21
Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

RuPaul finds 'Hidden Meanings' in new memoir
2024-03-18
RuPaul Andre Charles made a rare Chicago appearance for a book tour on March 12 at The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. Presented by National Public Radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM, the talk coincided with ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

Oprah, Niecy Nash-Betts honored at GLAAD Media Awards
2024-03-15
Oprah Winfrey and Niecy Nash-Betts were honored at the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards that took place in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton on March 14. Winfrey received the Vanguard Award, introduced by iconic Chicago ...


Gay News

House-music festival on Aug. 30-Sept. 1; icons, Idris Elba to be part of it
2024-03-13
The ARC Music Festival—an event celebrating house music—will take place Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Chicago's Union Park, per WGN-TV. This will mark the fourth year that the festival will celebrate the genre at Union Park—less than ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer
2024-03-08
Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez is set to slay at The Big Gay Cabaret
2024-03-05
Out and proud performer Jai Rodriguez is set to play at The Big Gay Cabaret this March for three days. Presented by RuPaul Drag Racer Ginger Minj, this monthly series highlights the wide world of cabaret ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor
2024-03-01
Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy attacked on social media, allegedly by backers of Burke
2024-02-26
Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy—a supporter of Cook County state's attorney Democratic candidate Clayton Harris III—posted on social media that a backer of Eileen O'Neill Burke, who's running against Harris ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors
2024-02-25
Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic
2024-02-23
At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Utah board member, Baths founder dies, Fla. protests, DoJ equity plan
2024-02-16
Utah's Republican governor and lieutenant governor urged the State Board of Education to take action against a conservative board member whose social-media post questioning the gender of a high school basketball player incited threats against the ...


Gay News

THEATER Dot-Marie Jones talks Goodman production, 'Glee,' 'Bros'
2024-02-12
Running through Feb. 18 at the the Goodman Theatre, the production Highway Patrol works with a script conceived entirely from Emmy-winning actor Dana Delany's (TV's China Beach) digital archive of hundreds of tweets and direct messages ...


Gay News

GLAAD finds missed chances for LGBTQ+ inclusion in Super Bowl ads
2024-02-12
--From a press release - Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024 — GLAAD is reacting to a lack of LGBTQ storytelling in ads that aired duringSuper Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 and is reminding brands, corporations and advertising agencies why including the LGBTQ ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.