Who says politicians are the ultimate thespians? Certainly not Michigan State Representative Jack Brandenburg: the politician has launched a war against Saginaw Valley State University over their production of Angels in America. The first battle came in radio form, when Brandenburg appeared on local WJR 760 AM and took on Tony Kushner's Pultizer and Tony award winning AIDS tear jerker.

Upon hearing of the play's production, the rambunctious Republican went to Pam Burns - the head honcho at the Subcommittee on Appropriations for Higher Education. Obviously an appreciator of fine culture - not to mention dire politics - Burns shooed Brandenburg away. Brandenburg may not love the theater, but he sure as hell loves a good fight.

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No doubt Sir Ian McKellen's a super star. Long a queer icon, his roles in The Lord of The Rings and X-Men trilogies have granted him even more mainstream success.

The combined effect has given him such celebrity status that his mere breath requires a bit of virtual ink, as seen by this PageOneQ headline (see above).

But, seriously, it's a link to this article on McKellen's role as King Lear. We won't give away all the details, but we will offer his puzzlement over Hollywood's preference for closeted stars, particularly when so close to gayer-than-gay West Hollywood:

Can people whose minds work like that make good films? And if at the heart of Hollywood there is that lie, how many other lies are there?

We thought we'd spice thigns up a bit and give you theater-fags a little somethin' somethin' witH "The Bitch of Living" from the newbie Broadway musical, Spring Awakening. Duncan Shiek's musically-minded adaptation of German playwright Frank Wedekind's 1891 salacious (pregnancy, masturbation and homosexualty!) play, it's garnered rave reviews. And for good reason. We caught a preview a few weeks back and we were thoroughly entertained - quite a compliment coming from our over-stimulated selves.

If you like what you see, check out the show's website. You should also revisit Ryan Doyle's interview with Chris Garneau in which Garneau talks about his role in Spring Awakening's revival.

• So, Eliot from Fast Hugs has a crush on Jim Halpert: John Krasinski's character from The Office. He's asked us to put out a call for any gay men who fit the description: dead-end job, a complete coward and fictional. Sounds like a dream...

• Kenneth of kenneth in the (212) fame needs to get his mind out of the gutter. How do we know? He's getting his kicks from TJ Maxx, that's how.

• Ben Gannon, legendary producer of The Boy From Oz, has succumbed to cancer, The Age reports. He was a measly 54 years of age. No jokes here.

• Queer artist Mike "Mikiki" Hickey uses his craft to comment on the world of internet sex. His first order of business: get a fake tan, according to The Montreal Mirror.

• New York Magazine reports that despite favorable reviews and seemingly endless press, Broadway's The Little Dog Laughed will close in February. For some reason, we don't think it's laughing.

• From Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago's finest have finally ruled that the six-person shooting is not is not a hate crime. It's just good old fashion blood-letting. Phew, what a relief!

Seemingly anti-gay humor's popped up in at least three plays this season, spurring openly New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood to pen a piece on the revival of homophobic slurs in popular culture. The omnipresence of gay epithets, he says:

"...[Raises a question that has been brought to the forefront of the cultural chatter recently in another context: Who is and is not allowed to use — and to laugh at or milk laughs from — derisive names for minorities?
...
Gays and blacks took the language meant to demean them and put it to sly new use when speaking among themselves. Lately, as attitudes have relaxed, it has become easier for the rest of America to join the parties.

Isherwood's concludes by saying we rarely acknowledge this humor's "unfunny origins". Huh? If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that discrimination's a laugh riot. So is rape, murder and - of course, incest. Comedic gold right there.

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We may not be as into theater as some other fags, but we definitely have a thing for Tony Kushner. Who can resist a little Angels in America, right? So, we're thrilled that our friends over at AfterElton sent us this link to their interview with Kushner to discuss the upcoming documentary on him, Wrestling with Angels, as well as his upcoming musical, Caroline, Or Change.

Of course, what's a gay interview today without a little Foley rumination? Not surprisingly, Kushner's got plenty to say about Foley and his wiley ways:

The political scandal du jour, about Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley, is on Kushner's mind these days. When asked what he thinks about the subject, Kushner responds in a way that many gays have probably felt during this the whole sordid affair: “Oh, great, thanks! It's good for you [Foley] to take this moment to come out of the closet now that you have been revealed as a sexual predator.”

As if that's not enough, Kushner says he's "horrified" by Jim McGreevey. Yeah, we are, too.

Note: If you're a comment reader like us, you'll notice a reader said that Kushner's play, Caroline, or Change closed in 2004. The AfterElton article, we should clarify, discusses the upcoming production at London's National Theatre. So there.

• Alaskan judge not fucking around when it comes to marriage law. Yeah, girl! [365 Gay]

• Is gay support by celebrities just a bunch of PR bull? Kim Ficera seems to think so. [AfterEllen]

• Brit play sheds light on Asian gays. A bit of an odd couple, but okay... [Pink News UK]

• Artists "revisit" male figure. As if we'd forget? [The New York Blade]

• Homophobes miss slave days. Shocker. [Gay Alliance]

For us, last night was dedicated to Entourage and Tourgasm. But we hear this was a little awards show last night, too. Something called the .. Tony's? Why yes, of course! You think we snatch up free theatre tickets from publicists and then stop caring about Broadway? Certainly not.

Last night's top winner, much to our surprise, was The History Boys, a British import that we had the pleasure of seeing during previews. The History Boys picked up six awards, including best actor, which went to Richard Griffiths (and was presented by Broadway dud Julia Roberts). Across the stage, Jersey Boys and The Drowsy Chaperone also led the pack with four and five awards each, respectively.

Meanwhile, Oprah's The Color Purple, up for 11 nominations, snagged only one: LaChanze for best actress-musical. Harry Connick Jr.'s The Pajama Game didn't go home empty handed, and neither did Rabbit Hole star Cynthia Nixon, who picked up the best actress-play Tony. Now all she needs is an Oscar.

It's only been playing since last Friday, but the new man-meat-fest/Broadway musical Tarzan is already a big hit with teenage girls and their high school principals. The dad of a teenage audience member commented, "My [sixteen-year-old] daughter kept commenting on how cute Josh is. He did do a great job [of getting the audience hot and bothered]." And a 52-year-old principal was practically sweating, ""He's very hot. He only puts on clothes, a suit, just once. He's always in his loincloth. He was hot."

The music and lyrics for Tarzan were all written by Phil Collins, but we are willing to look past that since leading man/former Star Search contestant Josh Strickland is said to prance about in a loincloth through most of the show, only donning clothes "once." We suspect there is some skin-colored spandex beneath the loincloth to keep his boys in check, but having not seen the show yet ourselves, we can always dream.

For now, take a look at these photos we grabbed from Josh's Friendster profile after the jump. Some of them show a bit of skin, and others are highly questionable. You know what we mean.

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It’s no secret Queerty harbors a deep love for the Maysles Brothers brilliant documentary Grey Gardens. The film, which if you ignorant queens don't know, centers on Jackie O’s eccentric (to say the least) cousins has had a gay cult following for years (it even spawned a Rufus Wainright song - again for you ignorant bitches). Well, now you can see Big Edie and Little Edie’s names in lights.

"

Grey Gardens" also developed a following among people, gay men especially, who responded both to the implicit campiness of the film — two faded old biddies, preening and bickering and singing Cole Porter tunes in la-di-dah accents — and to the women's eccentricity, originality and uncompromising independence. The two Edies, a cross between the Collyer brothers and Miss Havisham and Estella, are a bizarre version of the American family but ultimately an affectionate and mutually sustaining one. Their admirers include numbers of men who love to watch the film while dressed in drag and reciting the dialogue from memory.

The Cat Ladies Sing [NY Times]

Steven Fales is just your average once-married, Morman, gay-prostitute who’s become a hit on the New York stage. His one-man show, Confessions of a Morman Boy, gets a kinda good, kinda bad write up in The Times.

“At one point, he strips to his underwear, illustrating his transformation into a sex worker, while also giving his audience (I counted three women there, two taken to the show by critics) some beefcake. Say this about Mr. Fales: he knows how to sell it. The question is, can he stop?

The Times has no choice but to try to keep their dignity, but lucky for you we don’t have to. The only reason to go see this is to see the muscled Utah hottie in his Calvins. Oh, and the story might be worth paying some attention to.

But we’re going solely for the flesh.

Gay Escort: Hunky, Likes Vaudeville, Mormon Background [NY Times]

If in NYC you have to check out Dog Sees God, a hilarious comedy about the Charlie Brown kids all grown up. We recently caught the show and have not laughed that loud since Jackie Beat was in town.

The premise of the story is that Snoopy get rabies, kills Woodstock, and must be put to sleep. From there Charlie Brown tries to find himself. The characters have changed: one into a reclusive closeted gay, one into a pyromaniac, another into a stoner. Acted by a cast of young Hollywood types, the delicious Eliza Dushku and the too-hot-for-words Ian Somerhalder amongst them, the play is a perfect mix of humor and drama and gives these beloved pals of childhood some depth.

And it’s really gay. So gay in fact GLAAD gave it a media award.

Dog Sees God [Official Site]