by tim parks
To say that Reichen Lehmkuhl is militant when it comes to raising awareness regarding lifting the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, would not be an understatement at all. Reichen Lehmkuhl Does Ask and Does Tell
August 4th, 2010To say that Reichen Lehmkuhl is militant when it comes to raising awareness regarding lifting the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, would not be an understatement at all. Anything Goes with Mitzi Gaynor
August 4th, 2010by bill biss & brad shaw
78-year-old entertainer Mitzi Gaynor is still bringing audiences her specialty, by giving them the old razzle dazzle with her one-woman show, Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins, which she will perform at The Welk Resorts Theatre September 2 through September 5.A rare triple-threat commodity in the world of the business known as show, Miss Gaynor has been singing, dancing and acting her way into the hearts of fans for over 60 years now, and along the way has worked with the likes of Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and even Marilyn Monroe.
Her film resume is chock full of stellar celluloid moments, in which she was able to showcase all of her talents, in films such as There’s No Business Like Show Business, Les Girls and Anything Goes.
Her turn as Nellie Forbush in 1958’s South Pacific saw Gaynor not only wash that man right outta of her hair in a lyrical sense, but she was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress for the role she is most identified with.
However, being the true entertainer that she is, Gaynor also parlayed her film credits into a successful run as a Las Vegas headliner for many years, while she also hit the road with her incomparable knack for song and dance.
And, she provided small screen viewers with glimmers of flash and dazzle in a series of annual specials that aired throughout the 1960s and into the late ’70s. A collection of these gems became an Emmy-winning documentary, “Mitzi Gaynor Razzle Dazzle: The Special Years,” which marked the seventh such accolade that the venerable showstopper has garnered over her storied career, while off camera, she enjoyed a 52-year marriage to Jack Bean, who passed away in 2006.
The Rage Monthly chatted with the very charming Gaynor about her showbiz past, the slap happy nature of Les Girls director George Cukor, memories of co-stars and the current crop of musicals.
Let’s Talk About Sax! An Interview with Dave Koz
August 4th, 2010by tim parks
Musician Dave Koz is experiencing the professional equivalent of being on cloud nine, as he has been nominated as “Entertainer of the Year” for the inaugural American Smooth Jazz Awards, being held in Michigan City, Indiana on October 29. As if this weren’t enough of a celestial boost, Koz literally saw stars, in the singular sense, when he was presented with his very own on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last September.
The venerable saxophonist is currently touring with guitarist Jonathan Butler and percussionist Sheila E., and Southern Californians can catch him at the Long Beach Jazz Festival on August 14 and the Thornton Winery in Temecula on August 28 and 29.
The 47-year-old is also readying his forthcoming CD, Hello Tomorrow, for an October 19 release date. His latest effort features the openly gay performer’s rendition of Herb Alpert’s song “This Guy’s in Love With You,” on which he sings.
This is quite indicative of the new musical ground he’s treading upon by stepping outside of his comfort zone, as he told The Rage Monthly.
The Rage Monthly: Congratulations on receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Please share a bit of that experience.
Dave Koz: I was born and raised in California and Los Angeles. I kind of grew up where stars were in the back yard. I use to go with my parents and walk down the street and look at those names. I’d ask my mom, “Who’s this and who’s that?”
Now, somebody can be walking with their parents and walk over to my star and say, “Who the hell is Dave Koz (laughter)?” It all comes full circle. To say the word “surreal” doesn’t even do it justice. It was such an outrageously “pinch me” moment.
How did this happen? How did I get here? I just kind of embraced it. I had a great time and was surrounded by family, friends, colleagues and fans. It was a day I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.
Nikki & Rich – Soulful, Hip and Uber-Talented
August 4th, 2010by bill biss
In the history of popular music, sometimes “it takes two, baby, to make a dream come true.” Such is the case with the magical and very musical duo of Nikki and Rich.The combination of Rich Skillz’s musicianship, production and music writing combined with Nikki Leonti’s amazingly powerful, sensual and chameleon-like voice and lyrical skills create major sparks on their Reprise debut CD called Everything.
The Rage Monthly spoke with the two of them just weeks before their release drops on August 17. Let’s find out more about this dynamic duo, shall we?
The Rage Monthly: You two have been compared to a lot of musical duos of the past. No one has ever compared you to Captain and Tennille though.
Nikki and Rich: (laughter)
Nikki: I like that.
Rage: The music is so wonderful.
Nikki and Rich: Thank you.
Rage: Rich, a question for you. Please tell me about the experience of the first time you heard Nikki sing?
Rich: It was amazing. I just heard this power in this voice. I think the first thing that hit me was not so much how I was blown away…that was an instant. But, the fact that I was excited to get something. The music that she had played me, I felt she wasn’t using what she had in her.
She had acoustic and country and all that. It was all great, but I really thought with her voice and us doing this kind of soul and pop thing that we do, would really work with her. I completely changed my whole production style accordingly. She was just this raw talent that came in and I was just blown away.
DEVO’S ‘Something For Everybody’ – A Chat with Mark Mothersbaugh
July 15th, 2010
by bill bissDevo hasn’t lost a bit of their zip on the new CD called Something for Everybody. It’s very clean Devo and as the band is known for, the songs combine a double dose of clarity and cleverness.
The group is headlining the San Diego Pride Festival this year. So, for those across Southern California who have “devolutionized” with Devo since their very first album in 1978, come on down to the festival on Sunday night, July 18 at 7:15 p.m. to be thoroughly entertained with their live performance.
Mark Mothersbaugh took a few minutes out of his schedule to talk with The Rage Monthly about the new work and share a few memories along the way.
The Rage Monthly: Let’s talk about the new song, “No Place Like Home.” A piano intro in a Devo song? (both of us start laughing) I love the tribal feel in it too and the lyrics “You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.” Who wrote this one and did Judy Garland have just something to do with it?
Mark Mothersbaugh: I tell ya, TCM is my favorite TV channel. She’s embedded in my brain, that’s for sure. I see her movies all the time. I’ll tell you the history of the song. I actually wrote the music to be the main theme for a movie I was scoring at the time called Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
It was the first piece of music I played for the two young directors. It was their first film. They reacted to it really positively. Then I wrote something else for the picture and that first piece didn’t get used. I loved the theme so much and thought it was a great song.
So, I took an instrumental copy of it and gave it to Jerry [Casale, Devo bandmate]. He came back the next day with a whole set of lyrics. So, we have to ask him about Judy Garland (laughter).
Ariel and The Hired Guns – Rocking the San Diego Pride Festival
July 12th, 2010An Interview with Out Ariel Aparicio
by bill bissAriel Aparicio is a husband, father, restaurant owner and rocker. This dynamo of Rock and Roll energy mixed with his fiery Cuban spirit will take the Latin stage of this year’s San Diego Pride festival stage.
His latest hit on LOGO is called “Lucille” and is a fun spin through the nightlife scene and a few transvestites along the way. Right in the middle of Pride season, Ariel spent a few minutes on the phone from New York with The Rage Monthly.
He’s got a great sense of humor, obvious musicianship and he is furthering exposure to other out gay artists also. For performance time on Pride Weekend, July 17-18, please go to sandiegopride.org or arielaparicio.com.
The Rage Monthly: For someone who had never heard your band before, how would you describe the musical vibe of Ariel and The Hired Guns?
Ariel Aparicio: I call it Rock n’ Roll. Wow. What a surprise huh? My influences run from classic rock, “New Wave” and punk…it’s all in there. I’d rather just generalize it and call it “rock.”
Hopefully those who listen, maybe they’ll come up with their own term of endearment (laughter). It’s constantly trying different things. It probably will never be just one particular sound.
Rage: I really like your latest one called “Lucille.”
AA: Thanks, now “Lucille” sounds totally different than anything else we’ve ever done.
Rage: That recently hit NewNowNext on LOGO. How has the response been so far?
AA: It’s been fantastic. I’m really excited. I’m kind of like a twitter geek and I’m constantly on there and it’s got amazing response. Right after it debuted, it also hit the MTVmusic.com website. It was phenomenal. Just under twenty-four hours, it went to number 21 on the charts. It’s just been great.
Wanda Sykes – Standing Up for Comedy and LGBT Rights!
July 5th, 2010
by bill biss“Make them laugh…make them laugh. Don’t you know everyone wants to laugh.”
Those lyrics could easily be Wanda Sykes’ mantra. The comedian, actress and author has taken her perspective on life, LGBT rights, and the current issues at hand and turned it into comedy gold.
The out activist and mother of two twins is coming to the Starlight Theatre at Pala Casino on Friday, August 27.
The Rage Monthly thought it would give you the heads up early, as her show is sure to be a sell-out.
Here, Wanda Sykes shares a bit of her own brand of humor, her take on LGBT rights and charity work and just why she became a comedian in the first place.
The Rage Monthly: You have a comedic gift for bringing light to a situation. Your original take on gay marriage, for instance, really makes sense in a comedic way. How would you describe your style of comedy writing and what subjects draw you in to talk about on your current tour?
Wanda Sykes: Oh boy. I guess my style is grounded in reality. I always like to start some place where it’s either something that’s going on socially or personally, current events or whatever and start there.
It’s even better if there is a bit of hypocrisy going on (laughter). I really love that, especially with politicians or the people in power to bring down. Yeah.
Alec Mapa Stands Up for Equality
July 5th, 2010
by tim parksWhile actor and comedian Alec Mapa has brought laughter to the masses with his widely known characters on Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, it is his real-life role as an advocate for a wealth of LGBT causes, which he takes very seriously.
Mapa is scheduled to bring his unique brand of guffaw-ridden material to the Birch North Park Theatre on Friday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. and will be kicking off Pride weekend along with fellow comedian Dana Goldberg for “Stand Up For Equality,” which is literally and proudly presented by the Human Rights Campaign.
The very busy 45-year-old, who corresponded with The Rage Monthly via e-mail, dished about the end of Ugly Betty, a possible return to Wisteria Lane and his label of being “America’s Gaysian Sweetheart.”
The road to his reign supreme of the previously mentioned title began, circa 1987, with his first credited acting role as Peng in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Supermom’s Daughter.
If he was able to write a new Afterschool Special, which tackled a multitude of teen angst from 1972 to 1997, he would script a high school melodrama that could speak to the youth of this country with “But I’m a Quarterback!”
“Here’s the premise: an absolute jock who bullies every single misfit in school gets knocked out at football practice,” he explained. “He wakes up in a gay teen’s body, the very one he harasses everyday and experiences what its like firsthand to be harassed and bullied 24/7.
The gay teen ends up in the jock’s body for a day too, and REALLY enjoys the locker room for the first time. The jock, of course, wakes up wiser, more compassionate and, in my script, totally gay and in love with the big sissy.”
Julianne Moore Talks About Her New Film – The Kids Are All Right
July 5th, 2010by bill biss
The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenka with a screenplay by Cholodenka and Stuart Blumberg, takes a realistic, poignant and humorous look at a modern family in Southern California.
Annette Bening and Julianne Moore portray two lesbian parents Nic and Jules, respectively. Their children [Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson] discover their biological father played by Mark Ruffalo.
What ensues in the process tests the strength of the moms’ relationship after 20 years of life together as partners and raising a family. The film is brilliantly acted with a vibrant screenplay and is a fresh alternative to the current summer’s blockbuster crop of films.
The Rage Monthly had the opportunity to sit down with Julianne Moore in Beverly Hills recently to discover more about this unique film experience and her thoughts on creating a very human and true-to-life role in The Kids Are All Right, opening on July 9.
Julianne Moore met Director Lisa Cholodenka several years back at a women-in-film luncheon. Moore told Cholodenka how much she loved her movies such as Laurel Canyon and High Art.
Moore asked her at the time, “Why hadn’t I seen the script to High Art? Seriously! I never saw that script.” Laughing, Cholodenka and Moore stayed in touch and the director sent Moore the script for “Kids.”
The actress signed on for the film about five years ago. In the interim, Cholodenka had a baby through artificial insemination from a sperm donor and gathered the financing for this film.
Debbie Reynolds – A Great Lady Gives an Interview
July 5th, 2010
by bill bissIn the Hollywood heyday of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, MGM Studios was the crown jewel of Culver City.
The publicity department created the slogan “More Stars Than There Are in the Heavens.” One of those brilliant stars who is still very much earthbound and twinkling is Debbie Reynolds.
The Academy Award-nominated actress and Emmy-winning TV star of Will and Grace, Reynolds is bringing her own special talents to Welk Resort in Escondido from July 28 through August 1 with two evening performances on Wednesday, July 28 and Friday, July 30 at 8:00 p.m. and three 2:00 p.m. matinee performances on Thursday, July 29, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1.
There has always been an optimism and strength in Debbie Reynolds. She has an overwhelming career in Hollywood and has had an overwhelming personal life at times.
Debbie Reynolds describes her philosophy in getting through life, “Day by day…and I wonder what’s coming at me the next day. I always go by a five-year plan. I get through today and I’m not going to get upset for five years.
I always picture a long tunnel and at the end of the tunnel, there’s a light. I know I can make it to that light and I’ll take five years to get there. Now…I’ve gone through many tunnels (laughter). So, I just keep trying. I never give up. That’s the philosophy of my family and that’s how my daddy and mother raised me to never give up.”
