Vintage Theatre Productions Presents 'tick, tick…BOOM!'

Vintage Theatre presents "tick, tick… BOOM!" March 17 through April 23. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Vintage Theatre is located at 1468 Dayton St. in Aurora. Tickets ranging from $20 - $38 are on sale by calling 303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.org.  

His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theatre styles.

Before “Rent”, there was "tick, tick… BOOM!". This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of “Rent”, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, "tick, tick… BOOM!" takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.

CHRISSY JUDY -- IN THEATERS MARCH 31 & ON DIGITAL, DVD, DEMAND APRIL 11

Coming of age Drag Queen dramedy CHRISSY JUDY has been skedded by Dark Star Pictures for an April theatrical, DVD and On Demand release.

The film, which had its world premiere at Provincetown Film Festival, before screening OutFest, NewFest, Hamptons IFF & over 20 more worldwide, will screen in select theaters from March 31 before a Digital and DVD release rollout on April 11.

The pic, written, directed, edited by and starring Todd Flaherty alongside Wyatt Fenner, Joey Taranto, Kiyon Spencer, and James Tison, tells of a determined gay man whose best friend and drag sister suddenly couples off and moves away, leaving him to question his personal and professional life becoming an irrelevant solo act both onstage and off

Judy’s been described as many things: a free spirit, a day dreamer, a boy-crazy hot mess. But this is going to be the summer it all comes together for this ambitious, 30-something drag queen/cater-waiter and his best friend, Chrissy. That is, until Chrissy’s priorities suddenly shift, forcing a disillusioned Judy to examine his life and priorities as a queer artist, and rediscover himself in the process. In this dark comedy, "Chrissy Judy" explores the universal pain of breaking up with your best friends and questions, "What do you do when your chosen family no longer chooses you?"

Under Fire: New MAP Report Details Eight Tactics to Erase LGBTQ People from Schools and Public Life

So far this year, 45 states have introduced a collective total of at least 580 anti-LGBTQ bills, surpassing the previous record. There have been more than 160 anti-LGBTQ school-specific bills introduced in the first two months of 2023.  

This latest MAP report focuses specifically on ways anti-LGBTQ activists are working to completely erase LGBTQ people, and especially LGBTQ youth, from public life. In school settings their tactics include making it illegal to talk about LGBTQ people or support LGBTQ students, banning books that mention LGBTQ issues, preventing transgender youth from playing sports with their friends, and more. Efforts to limit visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ people more broadly include banning books at public libraries and bans on drag performances.  

Travis Coles and Frankie Grande Wake the Dead in SUMMONING SYLVIA Opening March 31

The Horror Collective is excited to announce the North American theatrical and TVOD release of their LGBTQ horror comedy Summoning Sylvia. Written and directed by Wesley Taylor (Smash, The Spongebob Musical) and Alex Wyse (Marvel’s Iron Fist, soon to join Broadway's Good Night, Oscar), the hair-raising romp tells the story of a gay bachelor party that takes a spooky turn when sinister spirits are suddenly summoned.

The cast of Summoning Sylvia includes Travis Coles (Superstore), Michael Urie (Younger), Frankie Grande (Henry Danger), Nicholas Logan (I Care a Lot), Troy Iwata (Dash & Lily), Noah Ricketts (American Gods), Sean Grandillo (Scream: The TV Series), Camden Garcia (Station 19), and Veanne Cox (You’ve Got Mail) as the titular specter.  The Horror Collective will release Summoning Sylvia in theaters nationwide March 31, 2023 and on Cable VOD and Digital HD April 7, 2023.

L’IMMENSITÀ Starring Penélope Cruz Opens May 12

Music Box Films will release L’IMMENSITÀ in New York (Angelika Film Center) and Los Angeles (Laemmle Royal) on Friday, May 12 followed by a national rollout.

Clara (Penélope Cruz) and her emotionally distant husband Felice (Vincenzo Amato) relocate to Rome to raise a family. Even though the paint is fresh, and the appliances are new, the crushing expectations around marriage, desire, and gender in the early 1970s remain as traditional as ever. 

Their children Andrew (played by newcomer Luana Giuliani), Gino, and Diana are likewise poised at a precipice, on the verge of adolescence, with nothing but their imaginations to defuse family tensions. 

The eldest child, Andrew (nicknamed Adri by his parents), yearns for another life – an outsized, vibrantly-realized vision of a world where he gets to live as the boy he knows himself to be. Without an accepted vocabulary for talking about his transgender identity, Andrew tells adults that he’s an alien from another galaxy and makes a habit of running away to pursue a local Roma girl who accepts his boyhood at face value. 

As an outsider ostracized for her own eccentricities, Clara instinctively strives to protect her son despite not fully understanding him. An effortlessly moving film about growing up, fitting in, and breaking the mold, L’immensita is as freewheeling and creative as its central characters, mixing genres and staging musical numbers out of thin air.

Rachel Bloom Coming to Boulder Theater July 29

Comedy Works Entertainment proudly welcomes RACHEL BLOOM: DEATH, LET ME DO MY SPECIAL coming to Boulder Theater on Saturday, July 29 at 8:00pm. Due to demand, a second show has been added! Tickets are $45.00 plus applicable fees and are on sale now! Tickets can be purchased online at BoulderTheater.com.

Rachel Bloom is an actress, comedian, producer, singer/songwriter and author. She is best known for co-creating, executive producing, and starring in the CW musical dramedy CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, for which she won the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy, Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a TV Comedy, and TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. In 2019, she won an Emmy Award for Original Music and Lyrics for “Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal.” The series was also awarded a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series. In 2019, Bloom sold out Radio City Music Hall performing CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND: LIVE as well as at The London Palladium, the latter of which earned her a five-star review from The Guardian.

 

Bloom can also be seen starring in Hulu’s comedy series REBOOT and Netflix's YOUR PLACE OR MINE. Her voiceover credits include TROLLS WORLD TOUR, THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2, BATMAN VS. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, EXTINCT and CHIP ‘N’ DALES: RESCUE RANGERS. Television guest credits include PORTLANDIA, THE SIMPSONS, BOJACK HORSEMAN, RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE and iCARLY.  Bloom released her first book, I Want To Be Where the Normal People Are, in 2020 through Grand Central Publishing.

'How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality' by Kevin Naff, Award-Winning Journalist and Editor of the 'Washington Blade'

How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality: And How Our Enemies Could Take It All Away by Kevin Naff, the long-time editor of the award-winning Washington Blade, is an extraordinary treatise on the rise of LGBTQ civil rights and acceptance over the last 20 years – and how easily it could all be erased. 

Naff has compiled a series of his award-winning Blade editorials, organized by topic and chronology, to clearly illustrate how these battles for civil rights were achieved.  For context, Naff has included new material that connects and frames each topic, making his 20-years of reporting relevant today. Hoping to engage and educate young LGBTQ members, and remind older LGBTQ members, of how and what the community has achieved, Naff’s goal is to help young people actively engage in the war against their civil rights with as much passion and dedication as those that came before them did. Marriage equality, AIDS medical breakthroughs, repealing of DADT, Title VII protections, and societal acceptance all hang by a thread as Republicans savagely and systematically work to reverse these gains.

 

“It is my hope that this book serves as an important history lesson for young LGBTQ people.  They must know their own community’s history because it’s not taught in schools, and they need to see how critical it is for them to become involved in protecting the rights others before them have earned through blood, sweat and tears over the last 20 years.  I’m concerned that complacency and ignorance of our history may destroy the world they take for granted,” says Naff.  It cannot be overstated the importance of reminding those who lived through the last 20 turbulent years what has been accomplished, and also of educating younger LGBTQ people of how easily it can all be taken away.

 

Kevin Naff is editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade, the oldest and most acclaimed LGBTQ news publication in the United States, founded in 1969; and is a co-founder and owner of Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, which publishes the Blade and owns ancillary businesses, including the Los Angeles Blade. He is an award-winning journalist, honored for 10 consecutive years by the Society of Professional Journalists for his editorial writing.

Lakewood Cultural Center and Performance Now Theatre Company present Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel"

Coming to Lakewood Cultural Center March 17 - April 2, the story of “Carousel” revolves around Billy Bigelow, a swaggering, carefree carnival barker who falls in love with and marries the sweet but naïve Julie Jordan. Their lives take a tragic turn, and Billy is given one chance to make things right. Richard Rodgers referred to “Carousel” as the favorite of his musicals with a score “more satisfying than any I’ve ever written.” “If I Loved You” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” underpin this stunning tale of hope, redemption and the power of love.

 

Under the Director and Choreographer Kelly Van Oosbree and Music Director Heather Iris Holt, the cast includes Monica Slabach as Julie Jordan, Jeremy Rill as Billy Bigelow, Carolyn Lohr as Carrie Pipperidge, Lars Pierce as Enoch Snow, Liz Brooks as Nettie Fowler, Bill Diggle as Jigger Craigin, and Jennifer Burnett as Mrs. Mullin. 

OUT on Digital and DVD: El Houb (The Love)

Writer-Director Shariff Nasr’s intimate, unique and commanding exploration of a man who comes out to his family, EL HOUB follows up a bravura festival run with a national release this Spring and will be available on digital and DVD on April 11.

Moroccan-Dutch Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) tells his parents (Lubna Azabal and Slimane Dazi) that he is attracted to men. After years of keeping up appearances, the word is finally out. The difficult days that follow evoke beautiful and poignant memories. He realizes that he has to confront his family to finally break the silence. But in order to be accepted, he must come to terms with his own feelings first. Written by Nasr, Philip Delmaar and Fahd Larhzaoui, and produced by Joram Willink of BIND, EL HOUB will hit theaters March 31 and be available on DVD and Digital April 4 from Dark Star Pictures and Uncork’d Entertainment.

EL HOUB is inspired by main actor Fahd Larhzaoui’s personal experiences with coming out to his family. EL HOUB (meaning ‘the love’) focuses on the silent culture the director has observed in Arabic families – not only about homosexuality but cultural taboos in general.

MY Denver PRIME Offers Free Rec Center Membership to Those 60+

Denver’s active lifestyle knows no age limit, and older adults and seniors are just as active as anyone.

Just like the MY Denver Card gives all Denver kids free access to Denver’s recreation centers and pools, the MY Denver PRIME membership expands free access for all the city’s residents ages 60 and older.

MY Denver PRIME provides Denver residents ages 60+ with FREE access to all the city’s recreation centers and pools, including drop-in fitness classes and clubs. As of 2022, the membership also offers access to the Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave in Denver's Lookout Mountain Park. This membership is for Denver Parks & Recreation facilities only and does not offer admission discounts to other cultural institutions such as museums, zoo, botanic gardens, etc.

Learn more about the activities and classes offered by DPR’s Active Older Adults division.

Outright International and Alliance for Global Equality Renews Quest for LGBTIQ Rights

Outright International and its partners are pleased to announce the launch of the Alliance for Global Equality, a five-year program to strengthen the resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) global movements. The program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Oak Foundation, Dreilinden, and private sector partners.

A unique collaboration among Outright International, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, and Victory Institute, the Alliance will advance long-lasting social and economic change for the LGBTIQ community in at least 11 countries through robust grantmaking and technical support. Additionally, the Alliance will build partnerships with private-sector companies, and country-level civil society organizations and community-based organizations to better equip them to advance social change for LGBTIQ people.

Global efforts to advance LGBTIQ equality have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and a continued rise in anti-rights movements and authoritarianism. The geopolitical landscape has worsened unemployment rates, food insecurity, and political and social exclusion, and has reduced access to services and civic spaces.

“The launch of the Alliance for Global Equality comes at a time when the backlash against our communities around the globe is growing,” noted Maria Sjödin, Executive Director of Outright International. “It is critical that we accelerate the availability of resources both in countries where LGBTIQ civil society is under increasing pressure, as well as where clear progress is being made so that momentum can be maintained.”

USAID Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam noted, “Our Agency is proud to support the Alliance for Global Equality, which builds on USAID’s LGBTQI+ inclusive development work.” He went on to say, “Through the Alliance, USAID is furthering efforts to ensure LGBTQI+ persons can help transform their own societies, from living with dignity to participating in civic life to accessing sustainable livelihoods and social services.”

Lambda Literary Award Finalists 2023: Gay Fiction

Check out the Gay Fiction Lambda Literary Award Finalists of 2023:

Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala, translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan, Canongate Books

God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu, A Public Space Books

Hugs and Cuddles by João Gilberto Noll, translated from Portuguese by Edgar Garbelotto, Two Lines Press

My Government Means to Kill Me: A Novel by Rasheed Newson, Flatiron Books

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French 79 returns with new album 'Teenagers' May 5

International electronic artist French 79—the musical alias of French producer, remixer and songwriter Simon Henner—is set to release a new record Teenagers on May 5.

In conjunction, French 79 premieres the album’s latest single “Like is Like” today alongside an accompanying music video. The video was directed by a pair of Henner’s lifelong friends and creative collaborators who go by the name Cauboyz. Listen to/share the song HERE and watch/share the video HERE.

Of the video, Cauboyz says, “‘Life is Like’ tells of a musician’s journey. If the music video embodies three phases of his life, it helps us give a glimpse at the intimacy of a character through a window. Here, architecture and time seem to intertwine and create a monolithic sequence. The perception of time evolves with age. The tender age was yesterday and yet, it is already so far away. What is left of our childhood? From the time when dreams were as powerful as life. Where building an ego was as much as when the architect completes a bridge. What is left of our adolescence? Our first experiences, our fleeting loves? These creative moments resonate in us as adults, with nostalgia driving our creation instincts. This music is so heady that the synths’ reverb seems to echo in these private places. The story of a piece, from its first dream to the release of the album. The position of the musician, at the center of our lives through his.”

World of Wonder announces the Queens and Release Date of “Drag Race España" S3”

Start your engines for another wig-snatching season of “Drag Race España,” debuting season three on Sunday, April 16th, followed by a weekly roll out every Sunday, exclusively on WOW Presents Plus in the US and select territories worldwide (day-and-date with its local airing on Spain’s ATRESplayer Premium). Supremme de Luxe returns as host, joined by returning judges Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, and Ana Locking.

The twelve fierce, Spanish queens competing for the title of Spain’s next Drag Superstar include: Bestiah, Chanel Anorex, Clover Bish, Drag Chuchi, Hornella Góngora, Kelly Roller, María Edilia, Pakita, Pink Chadora, Pitita, Vania Vainilla, and Visa. Each week, the queens will compete in a variety of gag-worthy challenges and wig-snatching runway categories.