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☆ Born of Grief, a Couple’s Off Broadway Incubator Marks 20 Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2002, Jenny and Jon Steingart founded the Off Broadway incubator Ars Nova as a way of honoring Jenny’s brother, Gabriel Wiener, who in 1997 died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 26. Now, as the nonprofit theater is marking its 20th anniversary, the couple is facing another wrenching struggle: Jon has A.L.S., the severe neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “Every painful experience in my life — if I have to live through it, I am going to come out on the other side with a lesson and a way to give back in some way,” Jenny Steingart said in a recent interview at their home on the Upper West Side. “Because a loss without some meaning behind it is really hard to live with.”So this anniversary, to be celebrated with a gala on Monday, also finds the Steingarts feeling great satisfaction, having created an institution that — in the wake of the 9/11 attacks — has played a crucial role in the professional development of so many artists. Among those who have worked at Ars Nova are Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Christopher Jackson and Phillipa Soo of “Hamilton” fame; Bridget Everett, the actress and cabaret performer of the acclaimed HBO series “Somebody Somewhere”; and Dave Malloy, who created “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” at Ars Nova.

☆ Where the royal family goes in London, from Indian restaurants to theme parks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Well, they’re not, obviously – but sometimes they do put down their tiaras, leave their palaces and join the hoi polloi at restaurants, bars and even theme parks. He once called Brilliant Restaurant in Southall, west London his favorite Indian restaurant – and Gordon Ramsay is also a fan. Stuart C. Wilson/Getty ImagesBack in the noughties, party Prince Harry was a regular at Mahiki, a Tiki-themed bar-club-restaurant in Mayfair. Simon Dack/AlamyIn his memoir “Spare,” Prince Harry wrote about popping out to shop for clothes at T.K. Toby Melville/Getty ImagesThe-then Meghan Markle was apparently spied In the heart of Chelsea while she was engaged to Prince Harry, getting a facial from Sarah Chapman.

☆ Robert Patrick, Early and Prolific Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Patrick, a wildly prolific playwright who rendered gay (and straight) life with caustic wit, an open heart and fizzy camp, and whose 1964 play, “The Haunted Host,” became a touchstone of early gay theater, died on April 23 at his home in Los Angeles. One day in 1961, a 24-year-old Mr. Patrick followed a cute boy with long hair into the place, where the playwrights John Guare, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and, soon, Mr. Patrick, all got their starts. The cute boy was John P. Dodd, who went on to be a well-known lighting designer and die of AIDS in 1991. No one was paid, except the cops, because Mr. Cino was not just running an unlicensed cabaret but also a gay hangout, which was illegal in the early 1960s. Its young playwrights, particularly Mr. Patrick, churned out plays, playlets and monologues akin to TikToks, as Don Shewey, the author and theater critic, said in a phone interview.

☆ Harry Belafonte, Folk Hero
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Wesley Morris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

And rather than simply translate his hot-ticket cabaret act for American living rooms, Belafonte imagined something stranger and more alluring. “The bleaker my acting prospects looked,” Belafonte wrote, in “My Song,” his memoir from 2011, “the more I threw myself into political organizing.” That organizing took familiar forms — marches, protests, rallies. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with Coretta Scott King as the beneficiary, because Dr. King didn’t believe he could afford it. (“Martin began drafting his antiwar speech in my apartment.”) So, yes, Belafonte was near the psychic core and administrative center of the movement. But those bleak Hollywood prospects — some incalculable combination of racism and too-raw talent — kept Belafonte uniquely earthbound, doing a kind of cultural organizing.

☆ Lizzo protests Tennessee drag ban, inviting drag queens on stage in Knoxville
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Toyin Owoseje | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lizzo made her stance on Tennessee’s anti-drag-show legislation clear by inviting drag queens onstage at her Knoxville concert. Last month, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation banning “adult cabaret” artists from performing in public and/or in the presence of children. The controversial bill listed “male or female impersonators,” which is widely interpreted to mean drag queens. In a show of defiance, Lizzo, known for her vociferous support of body-positivity and self-love, welcomed queens including Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Asia O’Hara and Kandy Muse from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to join her performance at the Thompson-Boling Arena on Friday. “But why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most, the people who need to feel this release the most?” Lizzo told cheering fans.

☆ Barry Humphries, creator of Dame Edna, dies at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Barry Humphries, the comedian best known for his character Dame Edna Everage who blossomed from an Australian suburban housewife into a self-described gigastar, died on Saturday. The Sydney Morning Herald said Humphries died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had been treated for various health issues. It was the character of Dame Edna who made Humphries famous. "Edna has this way of doing things, it seems to take the curse off it," Humphries told Reuters in 1998. That changed in 2000, when he was 66, and his "Dame Edna: The Royal Tour" on Broadway earned him a Tony award and role in the sitcom "Ally McBeal".

☆ A Dancer’s Life: Chita Rivera on Working Hard and Learning From the Best
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Juan A. Ramírez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“She makes you feel immediately part of a team,” Benanti said. “She’s not just out there for herself. “When you hear Chita, you see Chita. When you work with somebody like that, their range is so enormous that there’s nothing you can’t write,” he said of developing characters with Rivera. This constant work is all she knows, Rivera said, though it has left her with a slight blind spot when it comes to the business she so loves.

☆ 'My Neighbour Totoro,' Paul Mescal, Jodie Comer win at Olivier awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Marie-Louise Gumuchian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Jodie Comer poses with the award for Best Actress for "Prima Facie" accompanied by Paul Mescal at the Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain, April 2, 2023. It won best entertainment or comedy play as well as the director, set, lighting, sound and costume design category prizes. It won best revival, best actor for Paul Mescal for his role as Stanley Kowalski and best actress in a supporting role for Anjana Vasan, for her portrayal of Stella. "Killing Eve" star Jodie Comer won best actress in one-woman play "Prima Facie," in which she portrays a barrister who defends men accused of sexual assault before herself being assaulted. won best musical revival and best actor in a musical for Arthur Darvill.

☆ Tennessee Law Targeting Drag Shows Is Blocked by Judge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Mariah Timms | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cabaret performances, including by male and female impersonators, have been banned on public property or in a location where they could be viewed by minors in Tennessee . A federal judge on Friday blocked a novel Tennessee law that would have strictly limited drag shows hours before it was set to go into effect Saturday. U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Parker issued a temporary restraining order against enforcing the law in response to a lawsuit filed by a Memphis-based theater company.

☆ I'm a drag queen in Tennessee and scared the new law banning cabaret performances will hurt the drag community and leave me without a steady income
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Bella DuBalle, a Memphis-based drag queen, said this law will hurt both her and small businesses. DuBalle has been doing drag for a decade and working as a full-time drag queen in nightclubs and other venues for three years. However, a new law in Tennessee that takes effect on April 1 threatens her business and that of fellow drag performers in the community. DuBalle believes the law will harm the income and livelihoods of both drag performances and the local businesses that feature them. Building a full-time career took perseveranceBella DuBalle has been a full-time drag queen for three years.

☆ Drag queens fight back against Tennessee law that classifies drag shows as 'adult cabaret' entertainment and makes them a felony
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Bill Lee signed HB0009 into law, amending a law about cabaret performances. A drag queen suing the state over the law told Insider it violates performers' and parents' rights. Tennessee House Bill 0009 was signed into law by Lee on February 27, amending an existing clause regulating erotic performances to include "male or female impersonators" as "adult cabaret entertainment." The company's all-ages performances feature variety shows and comedies highlighting drag performers in an effort to provide the LGBTQ community with events and activities outside of bars and nightclubs. "Were it not for this law, Absent Friends would not have added an age restriction to its monthly performances."

☆ Judge Temporarily Blocks Tennessee Law That Restricts Drag Performances
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NASHVILLE — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the implementation of a Tennessee law aimed at restricting public drag performances, hours before it was set to go into effect. A Memphis theater company that frequently stages drag performances, Friends of George’s, challenged the law this week, arguing that the ambiguity of the law violated the theater’s constitutional rights. Violators of the law would be charged with a misdemeanor, or a felony for continued offenses. The measure, passed by the Republican-dominated legislature and signed into law on March 1, was set to go into effect on Saturday. community, had raised concerns about the implications for drag performers and transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

☆ How drag was pushed back into the shadows in Tennessee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Now, a Tennessee law restricting drag in front of minors is due to come into force on April 1. Several planned drag events were canceled over the winter after protests, and many venues felt forced to make previously family-friendly drag shows into adults-only events. Drag performers and venue owners say they are worried about their livelihoods and their rights of free expression. The Starbucks say there is no such thing as family-friendly drag; drag performers cite Bugs Bunny, Shakespeare's cross-dressing comedies and the Robin Williams film "Mrs. Doubtfire" among counterexamples. Outside of public Pride events, most Tennessee drag performers largely work in clubs and bars that admit only those over 18.

☆ A Tennessee high school club tried to put up flyers for transgender awareness month. The school said they were illegal.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A school club in Tennessee tried to put a flyer that defined the word "transgender" in November. But the principal of Northeast High School rejected it, a 17-year-old member of the club said. After the poster was rejected, Elizabeth came up with other ideas in an effort to get the word out about Transgender Awareness Month. Elizabeth said the experience raised her awareness about the extent to which trans rights are threatened in the state of Tennessee. The Tennessee law is part of a wave of legistion focused on trans people largely fueled by anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the United States.

☆ Tennessee governor will sign bills restricting drag, transgender youth treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he would sign into law bills that passed the legislature last week banning gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth and restricting drag performances in public. Lee said the drag bill, which comes into effect April 1, would protect children from being "potentially exposed to sexualized entertainment, to obscenity." Modern drag performances, which have long flourished in LGBT venues before becoming a more mainstream entertainment in recent years, typically do not involve nudity. One of the bills Lee will sign bans doctors from providing gender-affirming medical treatment, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery, for transgender minors. The Tennessee bills are part of an upswing in recent months in Republican efforts to regulate the conduct of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.

☆ Tennessee governor targeting drag says a photo showing him dressed as a woman isn't a problem because it was 'lighthearted' when he did it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A photo purporting to show Tennessee's Republican governor in drag in 1977 resurfaced on Reddit. The bill would limit where drag shows can take place under the guise of protecting children. Bill Lee after a photo purporting to show Lee in drag in a 1977 high school yearbook was shared on Reddit. Lee's spokesperson did not deny that the image was of the governor, but said that it was different to what Lee is targeting, which would stop drag shows taking place on public property. Lee told reporters on Monday that he plans to sign a bill that would limit drag shows in public under the guise of protecting children.

☆ Memphis drag queen fears Tennessee drag ban bill would empower strangers to call the cops on her for how she dresses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A bill that would outlaw drag is poised to head to Tennessee Gov. Bella DuBalle, a Memphis-based drag queen, said the bill is "terrifying" and puts her at risk. The bill identifies "male and female impersonators" — drag kings and drag queens — as adult cabaret performers. Tennessee's public drag ban proposal is one of the latest anti-LGBTQ bills making their way through legislatures across the country. Outside of drag, DuBalle identifies as nonbinary and said she worries the way she dresses could run her afoul of the law if it's passed.

☆ Tennessee takes lead in Republican effort to restrict drag shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Tennessee lawmakers will debate on Thursday whether to restrict drag performances in public or in front of children, one of more than a dozen bills limiting drag advanced by Republican politicians in at least 15 states in recent months. They see the bills as part of a Republican effort to advance laws limiting LGBT people's conduct across the country. Drag performances typically do not involve nudity or stripping. Established in 2015, Drag Story Hour, in which costumed drag performers read to children, has expanded to at least 20 states. Drag performers say they are just as able to tailor their act to their audience as other artists, like an actor who might appear in both a sexually explicit R-rated movie and in a children's movie.

REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Airbnb (ABNB.O) is offering a night for two in the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris this summer, transforming a box in the theatre into a plush bedroom with sweeping views of the famous auditorium. Before the pandemic, Airbnb had created other unusual overnight stays in the French capital, one of its key markets. The Palais Garnier stay includes a music recital, dinner in an ornate rehearsal room backstage and a behind-the-scenes tour of the elaborate 19th century building, including its underground pool, the inspiration for the phantom's lair in the book and musical. The Palais Garnier stay will be listed on March 1 for 37 euros, also the number on the box, one of the theatre's most prestigious, which will be decked out with antique furniture specially for the night. I think it will be a bit unreal," said Veronique Dubrulle Leroux, the great-granddaughter of Phantom of the Opera author Leroux, who will host the visitors.

☆ A GOP-backed bill in Oklahoma would fine drag performers up to $20,000 and have them face up to 2 years in jail for performing in front of a minor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Oklahoma bill would make it a felony punishable by a $20,000 fine for drag artists to perform in front of minors. The bill by GOP Rep. Kevin West would also make it a misdemeanor for one to organize drag performances in public. At least ten states have proposed legislation that targets drag performances, including drag queen story hours. State GOP Rep. Kevin West, who filed House Bill 2186 on January 19, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The bill is scheduled to have its first reading in the Oklahoma House on February 6, per the Oklahoma legislature's website.

Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., said claims that he performed as a drag queen are “categorically false.” His denial comes shortly after a Brazilian drag performer shared on social media an image of herself and another person in drag, whom she identified as the newly elected congressman. “The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen is categorically false,” Santos, who has been the subject of international headlines for weeks for fabricating parts of his résumé, tweeted Thursday morning. Rochard, who is identified as Eula Rorard in the photo, claims the other person in drag went by the stage name Kitara Ravache and is, in fact, Santos. As of Thursday afternoon, the images had been widely circulated on social media and news websites. A lawyer for Santos did not return NBC News’ request for comment regarding the congressman’s stance on the proposed policies related to drag performances.

☆ With over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills before state legislatures in 2023 so far, activists say they're 'fired up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

So far, Texas has taken the lead with 36 such bills, according to Equality Texas, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group. Four states — Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Arizona — have enacted restrictions on gender-affirming medical care for minors, though federal judges have blocked them from taking effect in Arkansas and Alabama. State Sen. David Bullard, the Republican sponsoring the bill, told The Oklahoman that gender-affirming medical care is a “permanent change in your body that cannot be reversed. Accredited medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — have supported gender-affirming care for minors. Advocates and doctors who treat trans youth have said many of the health care restrictions proposed by state legislators mischaracterize what gender-affirming care is.

Bangkok/Hong Kong CNN —For years, Thailand welcomed legions of Chinese tourists to its golden beaches, shopping districts and striking temples. Three government ministers headed to Bangkok’s international airport earlier this week to personally greet the first group of Chinese tourists to arrive after China lifted travel restrictions. Amazing Thailand always warmly welcomes our Chinese family.”Travelers from a Xiamen Airlines flight being welcomed by Thai officials upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Jan. 9, 2023. “The arrival of tourists from China, as well as from countries around the world, to Thailand is expected to increase continually. In Thailand, that’s been no exception, with travel companies beginning to reactivate Chinese social marketing campaigns and increase staffing, according to Barnett.

☆ Lawmaker complaint forces Tennessee pride festival indoors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The drag show at a Tennessee pride festival will go on Saturday — but not in the way organizers had planned it. Darin Hollingsworth, a Jackson Pride Committee member, said organizers were “horribly disappointed,” because they know local LGBTQ youths would have felt supported at the drag performance. “But we will be in contempt if we even allow parents to bring in their child, so we won’t.”Hollingsworth said the pride event had been in the works for a year, and Jackson Pride had advertised it repeatedly. The event began to face backlash after a Sept. 17 Facebook post from Republican state Rep. Chris Todd. As a result, the Jackson Pride Committee decided to move the festival, including the drag show, into the Civic Center and to increase security measures by, among other things, having a metal detector.

Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry, Darling” is — on its immaculately, obsessively polished surface — a film about the danger of dreams. Even if you have somehow avoided all publicity for the film, the pop culture reference points should already be clear. Pugh conveys blissful serenity and anguished confusion with equal conviction; her deftness justifies Wilde’s poetic anti-narrative, and vice versa. The real world feels like ghostly and desaturated reflection. “Don’t Worry, Darling” is a movie that airily warns you to watch out for illusions even as it revels in a film’s power to create a world deliberately untethered from reality.

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