Show Queen Gift Guide, Gay Holiday Cabaret, Nathan Lane “Cometh” & More!

ho-ho-hoA Holiday Gift Guide for the Show Queen in Your Life

Scrounging for a last-minute gift for a loved one who eats, sleeps and breathes Broadway? Queerty is here to help with a few ideas that will make the show queen in your life shout, “Hallelujah, Baby!”

1. Playbill Binders. True theater nuts meticulously curate their collections of Playbills from shows they’ve seen. Playbill offers several binder options to help keep things organized. I use the Basic Binder, because I’m cheap and it looks good on a shelf.

2.Theater Tickets. If you have a specific show in mind, go for that, and be sure to look for discount codes online. BroadwayBox.com is a great resource in New York, while Broadway Across America has listings of tours travelling through 29 other cities. If you’re not sure what the recipient already has seen, then consider giving them a gift certificate to a ticketing agency (TelechargeTicketmaster, etc.). That way, they can see whatever show they want.

3. Stocking Stuffed with Queers. Buy a stocking, and fill it with knickknacks from plays and musicals written by queer theater artists. A sample stocking might include Justin Vivian Bond’s memoir, a filmed version of the 2007 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, scripts from Lisa Kron’s solo shows, a biography on Ridiculous Theatrical Company founder Charles Ludlam, and the cast albums from William Finn’s March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland.

4. Membership/Subscription/Donation to a Local Theater Company. Throw a little money at a small local company in your friend’s name, because they’re the ones who make theater interesting and affordable for us regular folk. A few of my favorite theater companies from around the country: the queer feminist Vortex Rep in Austin, Texas; Company One in Boston, Massachusetts; and the New Ohio Theatre in New York City.

 

justin vivian bondCabaret Is Gay Gay Gay This Holiday

In the coming weeks, the New York cabaret scene is looking prettay swishy. Here’s a look at what’s happening around town.

At Joe’s PubJackie Hoffman (who, if we’re being honest, is just a gay man trapped in a straight Jewish woman’s body) will perform her show Hebe for the Holidays December 20-24. Lea Delaria will star in Fuck! It’s Christmas! on December 21. Justin Vivian Bond and friends will Let It Snow December 22-23. And Sandra Bernhard will bring Sandyland to the downtown venue December 26-31.

Further uptown, drag star Hedda Lettuce will perform her Christmas Special at The Metropolitan Room December 20-22.

And at Don’t Tell Mama, Jane-of-all-trades Seth Rudetsky is keeping things queer with his weekly talk show Chatterbox, in which he interviews Broadway stars and coaxes them into singing something for the crowd. Chatterbox runs every Thursday at 5 p.m. Also, on December 28 and 31, impersonators Tommy Femia and Rick Skye will reprise their award-winning show Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli Live! at the Hell’s Kitchen club.

 

Stage Notes

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  • The Goodman Theater production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh will play the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2015. The production, which received rave reviews in Chicago in 2012, stars Tony winners Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane.
  • When you’re good to Bebe, Bebe’s good to you. Tony-winner Bebe Neuwirth will return to the long-running Chicago revival on Broadway in January. She’ll be playing Matron Mama Morton, her third role with the company since originating the role of Velma Kelley in 1997. She returned to play Roxie Hart ten years later.
  • Valisia LeKae, who was nominated for a Tony this year for playing Diana Ross in Motown the Musical, has left the production to undergo treatment for ovarian cancer. The 34 year-old announced her diagnosis and departure on her Facebook page.
  • Musical theater stalwart Annie Golden is an undisputed badass, as her interview with Web2Carz proves. Golden most recently played mute inmate Norma Romano on Orange is the New Black, the popular Netflix series based on the writings of out memoirist Piper Kerman.
  • Out playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney was the focus of an excellent episode of the PBS documentary series Independent Lens. Titled “Playwright: From Page to Stage,” the hour-long episode documented McCraney’s work on the trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays, which he hoped to bring to Broadway a few years ago. Watch it here.

Send your submissions and pitches for the Drama Club column to tommyjomalley@gmail.com.

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