The odious Kanye West has been getting read for bad behavior for years! In 2018, Jarrod Spector — who played Sonny Bono in Broadway’s The Cher Show — tweeted during a performance, “Hey, kanyewest, so cool that you’re here at The Cher Show. If you look up from your cell phone, you’ll see we’re doing a show up here. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.” Helleaux! That was one of the best public snapbacks in Broadway history — Patti LuPone level, in fact — and the theater world breathed a Tony-worthy sigh of relief that someone had the spine to call out audience rudeness, especially that of a big name, which could draw even more attention to the problem.
But Spector got sweaty after having done so. Running into the assistant company manager backstage, the actor nervously wondered, “Am I fired?” Far from it, as it turned out. The tweet was a big hit and even engendered a kind of sweet apology from Kanye, along with increased awareness of theater etiquette. And it still has legs! Recently, Spector reposted the tweet on Instagram and put a new spin on it. He wondered, “You think if I tweet about him being a raging antisemite, he’ll apologize for that too, or nah?” Um … nah.
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Don’t it make my brown eyes red
Will we all look up from our phones at another Hells Kitchen queer bar? Sure, since Red Eye NY seems to have been brewed with a large cup of ambition. As created by nightlife impresarios Daniel Nardicio, Taylor Shubert, Sam Benedict, and Adam Klesh, the place combines a coffee bar, performance space, and a hangout. It will also feature the downstairs level, “the Cockpit,” in the near future.
In the meantime, I enjoyed the crowded, boozy soft opening on December 7, and so did DJ Johnny Dynell, who attended with his nocturnal empress wife, Chi Chi Valenti. Posted Dynell: “The club has a great feel. It’s new and modern, but thankfully still feels a little ‘dirty.’ And I mean that as the best compliment possible.” Somehow, I know exactly what he means. When I asked Nardicio for some deets about the downstairs, he replied, “We’re affectionately calling it the Cockpit, as we had to dig four feet of the basement out to create it. It’s a sexy, underground bunker of music and men, which will host Strip Trivia, techno, a sexy rock and roll party called Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap), a cock shot luge, underwear parties, my party Devil Wears Nada, Adonis parties…etc. More of the tawdry stuff I’m known for. But always with a smile!” At the very least, I’ll be glad to flash my pearly whites.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Truly pushing the envelope
Something else to look forward to: Coming in February is the juicy book OSCAR WARS: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat and Tears by New Yorker writer Michael Schulman, who has investigated the cold hearted calculations behind all the competition. One chapter (“The Envelope”) deals with the down-to-the-wire 2017 Oscar battle between the gritty queer drama Moonlight and the musical fantasy LaLa Land.
As Schulman explained it to me, “After Moonlight made a splash at Telluride in 2016, several seasoned campaign strategists advised the producers NOT to sell it as a gay love story since they were spooked by the memory of Brokeback Mountain.” That tragic cowboy love story didn’t win Best Picture in 2006, and many feel that was because of outright homophobia. In fact, some squeamish voters admitted they couldn’t even bring themselves to watch the DVD screener!
“Instead,” continues Schulman, “they advised leaning into the theme of ‘adversity.’ Moonlight, of course, became the first explicitly queer film to win Best Picture (if you don’t count Midnight Cowboy).” And it thereby overcame adversity.
What’s more, says Schulman, “The drama of ‘Envelopegate’ is detailed extensively in that chapter, including how during their rehearsal, Faye Dunaway pleaded for Warren Beatty to let her read the winner, and he kept teasing her with the winner card. When Warren showed her the mixed-up card in puzzlement at the actual show, she likely thought that he was relenting and letting her read the card, after all, so she simply said ‘LaLa Land!’ and unleashed chaos.” Well, the winner is actually … anyone who can get their hands on this book.
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Just.my.opinion
Moonlight is a horrible, horrible movie. No one should have ever nominated it for an Oscar, let alone voted for it. It will go down in history as one of Oscar’s biggest mistakes.
BEARY FLINTSTONE
GIRL YOU’RE RACIST GO SIT DOWN SOME DAM WHERE
dbmcvey
Not when “Crash” is an Oscar winner.
Kangol2
Are you joking? There are far worse Oscar Best Picture winners, beginning with Crash. Some other clunkers include Green Book (utter dreck), Amadeus, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances with Wolves, Braveheart, and Gladiator!
Paris in Santiago
For crying out loud, Michael Musto! Please wear your bike helmut when riding around NYC! You already busted a foot, dammit.
Dymension
I loved Crashed AND I loved Moonlight!