On Sherri Shepherd's talk show, entertainer/fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi said he'd love for out actor Dan Levy to portray him in a potential biopic based on Mizrahi's memoir, I.M., The Wrap noted. "Dan Levy, OK," Mizrahi said. "I said it. Look how cute he looks." Levy is best known for his portrayal of David in Schitt's Creek alongside his father, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O'Hara; Dan has producing and creating credits on the Emmy-winning show as well.
Waller—a spinoff of the LGBTQ+-inclusive superhero series Peacemaker—is a go, Deadline noted. The series centers on the mercurial and political Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who is a senior civil servant and director of ARGUS. She established the Suicide Squad, in her quest to assemble a team of expendable metahumans (those with special powers) who would be used to execute covert operations against dangerous threats.
And speaking of Viola Davis, after winning a Grammy on Feb. 6, she is now in the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) club, CNN noted. Her win for the audiobook of her memoir Finding Me completes her EGOT collection. She previously won an Emmy for her role in How to Get Away with Murder, an Oscar for Fences, and two Tonys for King Hedley III and Fences. In 2015, she became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama and, in 2017, she became the first Black woman to score three Academy Award nominations.
Trans Emmy-nominated artist, author, activist and musician Laura Jane Grace has announced her spring tour dates, a press release announced. Combining solo headline shows with performances supporting Frank Turner and The Interrupters on their upcoming North American co-headline tour, Grace's run will begin on April 5 in Columbia, Missouri and visit markets such as Atlanta on April 11 and Chicago on April 30, culminating in an appearance at The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 13.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation is pleased to announce Elton John and chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation David Furnish's return as hosts for the 31st annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on Sunday, March 12, per a press conference. Emmy-winning actor Eric McCormack and Golden Globe-winning actress Michaela Jae Rodriguez will be special guests, with singer-songwriter and actress Rina Sawayama set to perform. See www.eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org for more info.
GLAAD announced that Grammy Award-winning music superstar Christina Aguilera will receive GLAAD's Advocate for Change Award at the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, March 30, a press release noted. Global recording artist and actor Bad Bunny will receive the Vanguard Award and film, while film/TV actor and Broadway star Jeremy Pope will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. For tickets to the event, visit www.glaad.org/mediaawards/tickets.
Broadway performers gathered at NYC's Joe's Pub for a special evening of recognition as GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) recognized Broadway star and activist Andre De Shields with the Howard Ashman Award, Gay City News noted. The evening brought out Tony and Grammy winners, along with other entertainers. De Shields won the 2019 Tony Award for his featured role in Hadestown; he is also known for playing the title role in the 1975 production of The Wiz and for performing in the 1988 production of Ain't Misbehavin'.
Queer Vancouver-based singer Mathew V announced Anything Goes—a new record that seeks to reframe the assumed heteronormative narratives of the Great American Songbook, according to a press release. Due out April 14 on 604 Records, Anything Goes takes on standards by the likes of Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Henry Mancini and draws out queer perspectives from their lyrics.
Grammy-nominated singer Adam Lambert has released his latest single, "Getting Older," a press release noted. Produced by Tommy English, Adam's "Getting Older" is a glam rendition of the Billie Eilish track. "Getting Older" follows previously released singles "Mad About The Boy," "Ordinary World" and "Holding Out for a Hero" from Adam's upcoming album, High Drama, via his new deal with BMG.
Barbra Streisand will publish her first memoir, My Name Is Barbra, on Nov. 7, The Guardian reported. The book (reportedly more than 1,0000 pages) will cover the life and six-decade-long career of the 80-year-old star. Although there have been several books about her life, this will be the first time Streisand has published her own account. Streisand has found success as a singer, an actor, a director and a producer, and has two Oscars, five Emmys, 10 Grammys, 11 Golden Globes and a Tony.
A U-turn has happened with the Neil Patrick Harris vehicle Uncoupled, which has been given a second chance with Showtime after airing for one season on Netflix, EW noted. The show—which stars Harris as Michael, a man attempting to re-enter the New York City dating scene after his long-term relationship with co-star Tuc Watkins ends—premiered last summer, and its fate was in limbo until the January cancellation. Season one ended on a cliffhanger in which Michael and Colin (Watkins) reconnected at a wedding.
Also, Showtime announced it has placed a straight-to-series order for the new drama Dexter: Origins (working title), based upon the Emmy-nominated hit series Dexter that starred Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall, per a press release. The network is also developing a new version of Dexter: New Blood that depicts the ongoing emergence of Dexter's son, Harrison. In addition, the network is exploring projects based on other characters from the Dexter universe, such as the makings of the notorious Trinity Killer originally played by Emmy winner John Lithgow.
On Watch What Happens Live, Sarah Michelle Gellar (who co-starred in the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo film) said her character, Daphne, shared a kiss with Velma, played by Linda Cardellini, according to Out. "There was an actual kiss between Daphne and Velma that got cut," Gellar revealed. "I feel like the world wants to see it. I don't know where it is." Velma has long been the subject of rumors about her sexuality and James Gunn, who wrote the script for the live-action movie, said that he tried to make Velma a lesbian in his original script.
Another gay kiss that was removed involved the film 80 for Brady, which is currently in theaters, according to Out. Making a cameo in 80 for Brady is openly gay Olympic athlete Gus Kenworthy, who plays the boyfriend of Brian Jordan Alvarez. During his cameo, Kenworthy was supposed to have a kissing scene with Alvarez—but the smooch was removed from the film, he told Variety. Kenworthy said, "They said they had to cut it for time, but I think they cut it for Middle America. They used the script for one take, but then we did it like four or five times where we would just ad-lib insults at each other and then make out."
Beyonce recently became the most-decorated artist in Grammy history—and she thanked the queer community during the evening, Stuff noted. She thanked the LGBTQ+ community "for [their] love, and for inventing this genre" as well as her Uncle Johnny, who she described in 2019 as "the most fabulous gay man I have ever met, who helped raise me and my sister." The "Irreplaceable" singer, who now has 32 Grammys, won for Best Dance/Electronic Album for 2022's Renaissance; best traditional R&B performance and best electronic dance recording for "Plastic Off the Sofa" and "Break My Soul," respectively; and best R&B performance, for "Cuff It."
And Madonna invoked the lyrics of Queen Bey as the "Open Your Heart" singer hit back at critics who scrutinized her looks during her appearance at the Grammys, Entertainment Weekly noted. "Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in," she posted on Instagram. "In the words of Beyonce, 'You won't break my soul.'"
First-timers in this year's class of potential inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame include Sheryl Crow, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon, Missy Elliott and The White Stripes, NPR noted. To be eligible, artists or bands have to have released their first commercial recording by 1997, slightly changing the institution's rule about the artist's first release coming out 25 years prior. The inductees will be announced in May, with the induction ceremony taking place later this fall.
The 2022 Into the Woods cast recording won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater album, Playbill noted. The other nominees in the category were SIX: The Musical, A Strange Loop, MJ The Musical, Mr. Saturday Night, and Caroline, or Change. Some of the other theater-affiliated award wins of the night included Terence Blanchard's contemporary opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones (which ran at the Metropolitan Opera) for Best Opera Recording, and Lin-Manuel Miranda's Encanto for Best Compilation Soundtrack and Best Score Soundtrack.
On the weekend of Feb. 4-5, Avatar: The Way of Water was knocked off the top of the box-office chart by the film Knock at the Cabin (featuring gay on-screen couple Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge) and the movie 80 for Brady, the Los Angeles Times noted. "Avatar" had been the top film for seven weeks. Knock at the Cabin marked director M. Night Shyamalan's seventh film to open number one. 80 for Brady is a comedy about four friends (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field) who go to the 2017 Super Bowl.
Lea Michele said she is trying to make amends for her bullying while starring on the hit show Glee, Out noted. Talking with Slave Play writer Jeremy O. Harris for Interview magazine, she said, in part, "I think these past two years have been so important for everybody to just sit back and reflect. I did a lot of personal reach-outs. But the most important thing was for everybody to just take a step back. More than anything, I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to apply the things that I've learned over the past ten-plus years in a positive way."
NYC-based Ma-Yi Theater Company announced the newest members of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab—the largest collective of Asian American and Pacific Islander playwrights in the country, according to American Theatre. New members include, among others, Nina Ki, a queer and Korean (or queerean) playwright based in Brooklyn; and ayla xuan chi sullivan, a Black and Vietnamese non-binary performance artist from Colorado.
A Broadway musical based on the six-time Oscar-winning movie La La Land (that stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) is in development, Deadline noted. The show, based on the Damien Chazelle-directed movie, will be helmed by Tony- and Drama Desk-winning director Bartlett Sher; the stage adaptation will feature music by the film's composer and two-time Oscar winner Justin Hurwitz as well as lyrics by Oscar- and Tony-winning composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
After We Collided's Dylan Sprouse and Scream VI's Mason Gooding will star Patrick Lussier's action thriller Aftermath, per Deadline. According to the logline, as a leader of heavily armed ex-military contractors (Gooding) starts killing hostages, Sprouse must rely on his military training, killer instincts and some unexpected help to get his little sister—and everyone else—home safely.
