Michele’s Team Pick: Mermaids/Novel Love

Out playwright Kate Foster’s show, Mermaids / Novel Love, has been running at The Players Theater in New York’s Greenwich Village all May long and you have one final chance to catch it tomorrow night, June 1st! Billed as “two short plays. One totally awesome lesbro experience,” Kate herself has cryptically revealed that one play is about a lesbian couple who have a mermaid in their bathroom and the other is about a lesbian writer and her lesbro.

Intriguing, am I right or am I right? Mermaids in the bathroom sounds like a classic literary motif, although I can’t think of any examples of it having been done before. Either way, I want to know what a lesbian couple does in such a situation. And it’s about time that some visibility to lesbros. Every gay lady’s gotta have one.

For $10 tickets, use the discount code AADA when you purchase them here!

Jess’s Team Pick: Autostraddle’s Broadway Benefit Concert Photos & Video

Last month I told you about Tiffany Schleigh, the incredibly generous girl who decided to transform her February 21st birthday party into a benefit concert for Autostraddle on Broadway.  Well, the evening was an incredible success — so much so that folks lined up around the block, leaving standing room only — and this wasn’t even an original RENT cast reunion! In fact, the night was so special that the owner of Rachel’s (the show’s venue) offered Tiffany a weekly show, christened “Cabaret For A Cause: Open Your Heart at Open Mic,” where she will host open mic performers and donate $1 from every drink and $2 from every entree to whatever website, charity or show her little heart desires each night.

So, keep an eye out for upcoming cabaret performances every Monday night beginning in April and once again, THANK YOU TIFFANY!

(top) Tiffany & friends, (btm left) West Side Story's John Arthur Greene, (btm right) Legally Blonde's Becky Gulsvig

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(left) Rent's Tracy McDowell performing "I Kissed A Girl", (right) Spring Awakening's Emily Kinney

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11-year-old Mallory Bechtel performing “For Good” from Wicked with Wicked‘s own Libby Servais!

Jess’s Team Pick: Broadway Benefit Concert For Autostraddle in NYC

A few weeks ago I received an amazing email from music composer/writer/Auto-reader Tiffany Schleigh explaining that in lieu of gifts for her upcoming birthday, she wanted to hold a benefit concert for Autostraddle in New York City and pack it with performances by Broadway stars and her favorite local singer/songwriters.

See, Tiffany found out about Autostraddle via Haviland Stillwell when she came out last year and wanted to show her appreciation in some way.  So, if you are in New York City on February 21 you obviously need to head down to Tiffany’s birthday / Autostraddle benefit concert at Rachel’s and $1 from every drink will go straight to us. ISN’T THAT INCREDIBLE? The entire team was taken aback by her generosity and ambition for putting this amazing show together!

Tiffany’s Birthday / Autostraddle Benefit Concert:

Date: Monday, February 21
Time: 8-11pm
Place: Rachel’s in NYC (608 9th Ave. btwn 43rd & 44th St.)
FREE! *$1 from every drink will benefit Autostraddle

Performances by:

Allison Strong (Bye Bye Birdie)
Marina Lazzaretto (West Side Story)
John Arthur Greene (West Side Story)
Emily Kinney (Spring Awakening)
Paul Scott Pilcz (Bye Bye Birdie)
Drew Gasparini (Singer/songwriter)
Becky Gulsvig (Legally Blonde)
Daniel Lincoln (singer/songwriter)
Molly Pope (Our Hit Parade)
Samantha Souza (Great White Way Report)
Tracy McDowell (Rent)
Ben Cameron (Wicked)
Trevor McQueen Eaton (a rockstar)
Maggie Glassman (PACE University)
Will Van Dyke (singer/songwriter)
Lauren Elder (Hair)
Brynn Williams (Bye Bye Birdie, Thirteen)
Bethany Tesarck (Bye Bye Birdie)
Rhett Gerren George (Memphis)
Mel and El (comedic singing duo)
Grace N Michelle (Youtube superstars!)
Marti Cummings
Libby Servais (Wicked)

Leave Tiffany some birthday love in the comments & visit her Facebook and Twitter!

Kelsey’s Team Pick: Camp Wanatachi – A New Musical for the Queer Camper in All of Us

Let me be frank: I hate musicals. I used to perform in them back in my stellar, beautiful teen years [Editor’s Note: Kelsey was also a cheerleader. Discuss].

Then we had a falling out, musicals and I. They were too happy, too polished. And they didn’t really go with the whole “edgy” thing I had going on (moved to Brooklyn, wore some ripped-up skinny jeans). But recently I came across a shiny new musical with a whole bunch of queers up in it, Camp Wanatachi. Workshopped in Williamsburg and previewed at various joints throughout Brooklyn, it’s finally here and officially taking names in the Off-Broadway scene.

RENT Returns to Off-Broadway: No Day But Today To Psychoanalyze Our Queer Attachment to RENT

RENT:

The Broadway show closed in 2008 but when one of the original producers caught the Neil Patrick Harris-directed and celeb-studded 1-off Los Angeles performance last summer, it lit a fire under his ass to make some magic again. The LA cast included Vanessa Hudgens, Wayne Brady and Tracie Thoms.

SO WE ARE VERY EXCITED THAT THEY ARE reviving RENT Off Broadway in 2011! Word on the street is there will be an entirely new cast filling the very big shoes of Mark (Anthony Rapp), Roger (Adam Pascal), Maureen (Idina Menzel), Collins (Jesse L. Martin) etc., and the freshly-produced version will open in June 2011, after the Tony awards.

For the uninitiated, RENT was groundbreaking when it opened in 1994 for representing a group of friends, gay & straight, falling in and out of love despite race (and HIV status). It changed my life when I saw it. Riese has feelings about it too–

Riese’s Special Comment: It’s crazy to think that something that premiered in the mid-90s — when we grew up — is now almost a “period piece.” I was obsessed with the soundtrack in early high school, saw the touring company in Detroit in 1998 and saw it on Broadway in New York in 2001 and again in 2006. I saw the movie the weekend it came out (live show = so much better), and often wile away the twilight hours watching RENT videos on YouTube. Seriously.

I remember providing a sassy/smug teachable moment last year to a teenager who was confused why “AIDS was such a big deal” in the musical. She complained that RENT just seemed like “a bunch of spoiled kids whining about art and taking themselves too seriously.” The latter I could only explain with “it was a different time,” and the former made me want to bash my head into the undoubtedly primordial history textbook she’d read in Social Studies. CHILD, an ENTIRE GENERATION of gay men in New York City was almost COMPLETELY WIPED OUT by AIDS and it changed our entire world/culture dramatically in a very short period of time, particularly w/r/t sex culture and gay activism. In 1995, a year before RENT debuted, the CDC announced that AIDS was the leading cause of death among all Americans aged 25 to 44.

RENT’s narrative core is the romantic/heartbreaking tragedy of “living with living with not dying from disease.” But it’s also about a generational discontent that some apparently view as “a bunch of spoiled kids whining about art.” As a 15-year-old attending a boarding school for the arts during the mid-90s, I didn’t see spoiled kids whining about art. I saw my future: a self-selected post-racial queer utopia comprised of hilarious gay boys, damaged drug addicts, political performance artists and striving, dreamy, self-obsessed emo boys with Kurt Cobain theatrics and Angela Chase brains. In RENT, the lesbian couple (Joanne & Maureen) was so undeniably sexy in a way I’d never seen gay women portrayed before.

Take Me Or Leave Me, from the 2005 movie:

Prevention, awareness and medical advancements have fortunately made life with HIV radically different than it was in the 90’s. That’s obvious. The other major shift is an economic one: RENT takes place during an economic boom-time and now there’s a recession in which kids are supposed to make “sensible choices” and stop romanticizing the “need to express, to communicate” over things like electricity and shelter. What’s wrong with Scarsdale, really, if Dear Old Mom and Dad have a futon in the basement and food in the refrigerator? It seems positively rich that Mark can choose if he wants to “sell out” or not — these days, selling out is an artist’s only hope of making a living.

Now, having left New York City for San Francisco after six years there, Santa Fe resonates in a way I wouldn’t have expected when I was 15.

It’s a comfort to know, when you’re singing the hit-the-road blues
That anyplace you could possibly go after New York would be a pleasure cruise…

We’ll pack up all our junk and fly so far away
Devote ourselves to projects that sell
We’ll open up a restaurant in Santa Fe
Forget this cold Bohemian hell…

But RENT remains relevant despite societal changes — the mid-90’s WERE a time when we could afford to damn the man in pursuit of truth/art and we desperately need a new generation of strivers who believe doggedly that truth/art is actually more important than a 401K, though no reasonable adult would ever tell them that.

Also, the music is pretty f*cking awesome. There’s not a dud on the entire album.

The best part of RENT, however, is its intense, compassionate, hopeful tenderness. And fifteen years later, it still resonates: it’s a show about growing up and moving away and taking risks and making a new family out of your friends and loving them above all else. And what kid — especially a queer kid — can’t relate to that.

GLEE:

Ryan Murphy is starting to dish on what’s up with Kurt & Blaine (Darren Criss). He still isn’t sure whether Blaine will become Kurt’s boyfriend or just act as his mentor, and reveals that the anti-bullying storyline will span the entire season and will affect additional characters.  (@afterelton) Chris Colfer also referred to Kurt’s social relevancy when chatting with Entertainment Weekly:

“With all due respect to my castmates, they don’t get the letters like I get – the letters that not only say ‘I’m your biggest fan,’ but also, ‘Kurt saved my life.’ and ‘Kurt doesn’t make me feel alone’ from 7 year olds in Nebraska. When I was growing up, there wasn’t a character like this. I think what makes Kurt so special is he’s finding himself in front of our eyes.”

In other news, check out video of the scandalous, ought-to-be-illegal GQ photoshoot starring Lea Michele, Dianna Agron and whatshisface.

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT:

Lisa Cholodenko, her partner and their son are featured in W Magazine’s Family Values issue. Her experience starting a family inspired The Kids Are All Right, which is getting serious Oscar buzz this time of year. (@wmagazine)

QUEEN LATIFAH:

Still no #ItGetsBetter video, but she did give her two cents regarding the role the parents play in the world of bullying:

“I think a lot of times kids who are bullies get away with it because no one confronts their parents. Parents have to step (up) to other parents and say, ‘Listen, your son or daughter is texting my son or daughter, or emailing, or tweeting, or Facebook-ing or talking about my child or pressuring them in some sort of way. They’ve gotta step in for these kids… We’ve gotta fight for our kids. It’s a shame… No child should have to lose their life through a senseless killing and that’s really just the saddest thing of all. No parent should have to be on TV explaining that.”

She also reveals she was picked on at school because she had big breasts:

“Later, I found that having big breasts was a really good thing, and people were paying for this.”

(@dailyexpressuk)

PINK:

Making of Pink‘s “Raise Your Glass” video:

Jess’s Team Pick: My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding

Are you in NYC and looking for something different and awesome and totally gay to see during the New York Musical Theatre Festival next month?

My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding tells the TRUE story of a mother and son. The mother feels lost in life, wrestling with her identity. A new job brings new opportunities and with it a chance to truly find herself … discovering her sexuality, rediscovering her faith, and eventually coming out to her teenage son, ex-husband and homophobic Jewish mother. It really happened guys, just like The Real L Word.

I’ll be checking it out mid-October and will back with a full recap right here.

The limited run is from Oct 5 – 16 and tickets are just $20 (that’s really cheap for NYC theatre!), so get ’em while they’re hot. All ticket information is available at ovationtix.com/trs/pr/765115

American Idiot: Green Day Gets Emo on Broadway and I Like It

If ten years ago someone were to have told me that the music of Green Day, my favorite band, would one day be turned into a Tony award-winning Broadway musical, my 13 year-old skateboard-ridin’, wallet chain-sportin’ punk self would’ve been offended. My boyfriend Billie Joe would never ‘sell out’ like that.

In the 90s Green Day weren’t Broadway material, you know? They weren’t even off-Broadway material. They’d built their reputation on two-minute three-chord power punk anthems about melancholy, marijuana and masturbation that were best appreciated from a sweaty, trashy mosh pit, or better – the depths of my teen emo cave. Not from under the bright fancy lights of Broadway.

Thankfully as the band evolved & matured, so did I. And so when they announced that their Grammy award-winning rock opera, American Idiot, was being adapted into a Broadway musical, I knew that at first excuse I’d make the trans-Atlantic voyage to see it. I had to. And so that’s how and why some of Team Autostraddle – Riese, Alex, Laneia, Sarah & myself – came to be sitting on the Mezzanine of the St. James Theater in New York, New York, watching American Idiot: the Musical.

It was so spectacular that I have to tell you all about it. But first here’s a little trailer to get you in the mood:

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The Story

As with the aforementioned members of Autostraddle, I suspect that most of you have never listened to the American Idiot album in its entirety. And that’s okay, I’ve never listened to Fame Monster in its entirety either. So you may not be aware that American Idiot is actually a concept album, an anti-establishment ‘rock opera’ that tells the story of disaffected youth who flee suburbia in a search for self and freedom and meaning.

American Idiot’s protagonist is Johnny, aka Jesus of Suburbia, a young man who’s been raised on a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin in a place called Jingletown, which he describes as a land of make-believe that don’t believe in me. Concluding that the American Dream no longer exists, Johnny and his two BFFs, Will & Tunny, decide to leave town in search of something that will fulfill them, something they can believe in. They buy one way tickets to the city, but not all of them escape – Will’s girlfriend gets pregnant and Tunny falls for the promises of the US Army and enlists.

Finding himself alone and in the city, Johnny becomes torn between the story’s two core themes – rage and love. The love is represented by Whatsername: a free-spirited bohemian girl, a runaway of the establishment, a hero for the lost cause, the last of the American girls. And the rage is a destructive punk antagonist named St Jimmy: the patron saint of denial, the product of war and the fear that we’ve been victimized. St Jimmy is Johnny’s alter ego – under his influence, Johnny becomes erratic and addicted to drugs, and so Whatsername leaves him.

The Adaptation

As a Broadway musical, American Idiot really is second to none. Its production, staging and talent is hard to fault, which is not a surprise given that Green Day decided to entrust [some of] Spring Awakening‘s creative team – including director Michael Mayer – with the job of bringing their vision to life. The cast is exceptional, with Spring Awakening‘s John Gallagher Jr. [Johnny] and Tony Vincent [St. Jimmy] in particular delivering stand out performances.

As you’d expect from a rock opera, the music was the real hero of this show. The score features every song from the American Idiot album in sequence, plus select B sides and hits from 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown. And of course Green Day don’t actually perform in this musical, and they don’t need to. The 8-piece band – lead by young Australian music director Carmen Dean – does a spectacular job of recreating Green Day’s power, presence and punk spirit on stage.

American Idiot relies almost entirely on Billie Joe Armstrong‘s lyrics to tell its story. There are quite literally only a handful of spoken lines, the bare minimum to provide context and thread the score’s 22 songs together. The lyrics compete with crunching guitar riffs and booming double-kicks, so my advice? If you decide to see this show, spend a bit of time with the album first. You’ll need to piece less together.

The Verdict

When the house lights went down and the curtains opened to reveal rebellious Hot Topic youth stomping and snarling and shouting I don’t wanna be an American Idiot! against a backdrop of TV screens showing George W. bites, war zones and inane sitcoms, I sunk down into my seat a little. The cast tore up the stage, and scaffolding, with choreography and enthusiasm that was slightly reminiscent of the last stage adaptation I had the pleasure of attending, High School Musical.

But the moment Jesus of Suburbia stepped up and started telling his story, everything quickly fell into place. For the majority of the evening, it remained there. Overall the show is riotous and thrilling, with all the energy and attitude and emotion you could possibly ask for. I loved it as much as I expected to, possibly even a little more. But that’s not to say it’s without quirks.

The American Idiot plot isn’t exactly air-tight. It is, after all, based on a collection of 15 songs rather than a script or novel, so at times you’ll need to draw your own conclusions and resist getting hung up on things that don’t add up. Why did an anti-establishment rebel like Tunny suddenly become so attracted to military propaganda? Idk! So let’s just appreciate all those jazz hands in the chorus line and move on.

Also? If you like your musicals to have a happy and uplifting ending, go and see Mamma Mia! instead because American Idiot may leave you feeling as jaded and as hopeless as its characters, none of whom necessarily find the better life that they set out looking for.

At times it feels like the conclusion of this musical is that it’s almost impossible to find yourself, and greater meaning, in 21st Century America. That maybe there’s really nothing out there for our generation. I think it goes a little deeper, to possibly say that a search for something to believe in is fine and all – but essentially fruitless unless you believe in yourself first.

Watch the cast of American Idiot perform their opening act at this year’s Tony Awards:

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Tip: Tickets for American Idiot are available from $55 – $277 via the website. If you’re not adverse to risk, I recommend going to the TKTS ticket booth to see if you can pick up half-price seats on performance day.

Kristin Chenoweth is Popular and Possibly Perfect: The Auto-Interview

Kristin Chenoweth can do no wrong.  She’s worshiped by Broadway lovers everywhere for originating the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked (alongside Idina Menzel). Over the last decade, she’s seamlessly transitioned into film and TV work with roles in The West Wing, Running With Scissors and even snagged an Emmy for Pushing Daises.

Last year, Kristin Chenoweth made a splash as April Rhodes on a little basic cable show called Glee. When she participated in the National Equality March a few weeks after her Glee debut, marching down the streets of Washington D.C (with Autostraddle!), alongside a couple hundred thousand LGBT people and their allies fighting for equal rights, everybody recognized Kristin. Every homogay in the world wanted to hug/squeeze Kristin Chenoweth for many many minutes.

In March, Kristin returned to Broadway where she stars opposite Will & Grace star Sean Hayes in the revival of Promises, Promises. And when Newsweek scribe Ramin Setoodeh wrote that terrible confusing, homophobic rant singling out Sean Hayes and Glee co-star Jonathan Groff as evidence that gay actors “aren’t believable playing straight,” Kristin laid the smack-down, setting off a media firestorm, at which point every homogay in the world wanted to hug/squeeze/RT Kristin Chenoweth for many many hours.

Jess talks to Kristin about her return to Glee for Season Two with Idina Menzel, her brand new ensemble TV project, her strong Christian faith and her feelings about the overwhelming coverage of her Newsweek response article.

Jess: Was it a conscious decision to go a dramatic route in Promises, Promises, in contrast to the light, bubbly characters you usually play?

Kristin: Yea, it was. It’s so funny because people really start nailing you when you start doing the same thing over and over. I’ve been asked to do more dramatic stuff on TV and in film but never on Broadway, so it’s given me an opportunity to do something that I actually relate to more than people would ever want me to admit. So, I’m thrilled that I got to stretch myself as an actor and found it’s been a great time of healing for me… and our cast… I’m just in love with each and every one of ’em. So, I just feel so lucky to be on stage each and every night with Sean [Hayes] and Tony [Goldwyn] and Katie [Finneran], and the whole ensemble, who of course makes the show. They probably work harder than anybody every night.

Jess: Are you hoping to branch out into more dramatic projects in film & TV after the Broadway run ends?

Kristin: You know, probably so, because I don’t want to be pigeonholed and luckily so far I haven’t been. I certainly am known for comedy but the parts I’ve played have all been very different which makes me happy!  I did an independent film about a year and a half ago called Into Temptation with Jeremy Sisto, which was a very dramatic role and that was very well-received… I just want to play good parts. I want to play real people and continue to work consistently!

Jess: How has your life changed since winning the Emmy for Pushing Daises? Was this year the highlight of your career?

Kristin: I think what it did was make my face more well-known in the mainstream… I was so well-known in the Broadway world although I did do TV with The West Wing and of course Pushing Daises, which was such a gift. My career has been a steady path and I’m lucky enough to get to expand in lots of different areas with having a recording career, Broadway career, concert career as well as work in TV and film. So really the thing that’s changed the most is the recognizability factor, I guess. Wonderful opportunities come my way and just as an actor to be able to say that – I know how lucky I am. The hardest part of my work life is trying to decide what I want to do, and that’s a very high class problem to have! Certainly no one expected that I would come back to Broadway after the Emmy, but it’s my roots and it was very important for me to do that.  I’m going back to Glee and going on a concert tour soon and I’m currently working on a record in Nashville. I fly to Nashville to record my album on every day off from Promises, Promises. So, I think my mantra is “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” [laughing]

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Jess: I know you’re also also attached to star in a Dusty Springfield biopic. A lot of women are curious about how much it will reveal about her personal life given that she was so silent about it until her death.

Kristin: Awww, you know, that movie kind of died on the vine, I’m sad to say. I’d love to play her and I had a producer who really wanted me to do it and never could seem to get a script together and that really saddens me because I think that’s a great story… not a lot of people know that she was religious but also gay, and battled that. Her sound was different from the way she looked. I really hope that some day I get to play her cause I just think she’s awesome.

Jess: Do you have a dream role?

Kristin: Hmmm, I’d have to say… Dolly Parton!

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Jess: Would you be interested in your own series again after the tough time you had with the “Kristin” sitcom 10 years ago?

Kristin: Well….. I’m actually in development for a new series right now! I can’t really say what the subject matter is about, but here’s the thing– I don’t really have to be the “star” of anything as long as I like my part. A lot of people looked at Promises and went “aw, you don’t have the funny role, you’re so serious and dramatic” and I go, “well, that’s who I am as well.” With this new TV project, the important thing will be to cast wonderful people around me, which will be easy because there are so many great actors out there. The writing and the storylines are the most important thing, so I can’t even tell you yet if I’m going to be the “star” of the show. When I look at Pushing Daises and other shows that are successful like The West Wing and certainly Glee, there are definitely leads, but everybody’s character pops. I’m not out to do a star vehicle for myself, I’m out to work with great people… cause they only make you look better… that’s the secret!

Jess: Is the new series a comedy or drama?

Kristin: It’ll be a mix of both, similar to the balance they strike in Glee or Pushing Daises.

Jess: We have to talk about Glee. Has Ryan Murphy talked to you about coming back on a more regular basis?

Kristin: There has been some talk of that, but I think for me (and for them) it’s great when April Rhodes shows up kind of unannounced, and I think it’s really in line with her unpredictable character. But, I have to say… those people [the Glee cast]… they inspire me, and I’m praying that I get to have a scene with either Jayma Mays [Emma] or Jane Lynch. So, we’ll see what happens to poor little April!

Jess: I think all the Wicked fans are crossing their fingers that you’ll have a big reunion with Idina Menzel as well. Do you know if that’s in the works at all?

Kristin: I don’t know!  I know they just started work on season 2 but I don’t even know what they’re writing for April…. I just show up.

Jess: What was it like working with Idina in Wicked?

Kristin: Heaven! She’s an amazing, amazing singer… I really miss her because we had such great chemistry on stage and I think that’s very hard to replicate in that show.

Jess: Were you surprised that your Newsweek response article received so much attention?

“If Jesus were alive today he probably wouldn’t be in churches. He’d be with the sick and the poor and the people who are outcasts and people who feel unloved.”

Kristin: Extremely so. Extremely so. I was not prepared… I don’t think any of us were…nor was Sean [Hayes]. But, if it was a way to get the conversation started then I’m very happy. I said exactly what I needed to in that article and I stand by everything that I said. And Sean stands by everything about who he is and especially what kind of actor he is.

Jess: You’ve been very open about your strong religious beliefs and identifying as a Christian while simultaneously advocating for gay rights. Does the negative connotation associated with Christianity upset you?

Kristin: Oh, I hate it!! I hate it, because being a Christian to me is such an awesome thing. And I hate that there have been those before me who have turned it into an ugly word. Of course it can sometimes be connected with very conservative, right wing, intolerant people, and that’s not the way Jesus was. So, that bums me out that Christianity is linked to such a negative feeling, because I honestly think if Jesus were alive today he probably wouldn’t be in churches. He’d be with the sick and the poor and the people who are outcasts and people who feel unloved and the people who are told that they are not “OK.” If I had to read in the Bible that “it’s a sin to be 4’11” – what would I do?  Ya know, I think you are who you are and I don’t think God makes mistakes.  I’m hoping that there are a lot more Christians out there who believe like I do and won’t be afraid to say so.

Jess: What do you attribute your liberal stance on Christianity to? Was it the specific church you belonged to as a child or your parents’ influence?

Kristin: I think it came from my parents. They always taught me never to judge anybody, that was my job, and to accept and love people for who they are. I also think it was something I was born with. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I’m not exactly the norm. If you look at me: I have a funny speaking voice, I’m tiny… I’m not exactly what you superficially call a “normal person.” I’m in show-business and you get rejected on a daily basis – no matter who you are or what level you’re at in your career. I just wish that the word “Christianity” would start to change in the minds and hearts of America, even if you don’t believe in it — if you could just respect it.  Even if you don’t believe in God or believe in a higher purpose. My Grandma was a great Christian lady and she always used to say, “you read the Bible like you eat the fish – you take the meat that serves you well, but you don’t choke on the bones.”

Jess: There are a lot of gay readers out there who also have a strong faith but feel conflicted between the two worlds. Do you have any advice for those young gay people who struggle to manage the two?

Kristin: I think they should follow the lord because that struggle is between God and the individual. If they follow the path of prayer and keep a close relationship with God, or the power they believe in, they will find the right answers if they keep their beliefs. I’ve had so many gay fans who come up to me and say “thank you for making that Christian album and being so gay-friendly.” Well, I am… To believe it’s a sin for the way you are born… it just isn’t right.

Intern Camp: HAIR Revival, Greener Pastures & “Schoolboy to Showgirl”

Sometimes we get press releases about GLBT happenings that we’d love to attend but simply cannot because we are at home re-writing posts erased by bluehost and interviewing the cast of Gimme Sugar. That’s when our intrepid interns hit the town, in a little feature we like to call INTERN CAMP CHALLENGE.

This week, Intern Jess goes to the theater to see HAIR, Intern X (Alexandra Walters) checks out a reading of a new screenplay called “Greener Pastures” and Intern Elizabeth Bradshaw watches the hyped-in-her-hometown (Chicago!) Schoolboy to Showgirl: The Alexandra Billings Story.

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So Much Drama! – Top Ten Lesbionic Theatrical Experiences

Last night, the 62nd annual Tony Awards, hosted by out actor Neil Patrick Harris, bestowed heavy golden awards upon many theater people including but mostly not limited to Billy Elliot. In the spirit of the Tonys and the theater in general, we thought Autostraddle oughtta throw together a Top Ten of Lesbian/Bisexual Play Characters.

We thought this would be easier — the hardest part, we imagined, would be coming up with just ten. Surely if we thought really hard, wikipedia’ed (we expected a “lesbian characters in plays” list of some sort to appear … it did not), checked out the glbtq encyclopedia and googled some shit, we’d be rushing to narrow down the contenders by Sunday afternoon. I mean, there’s Maureen & Joanne from RENT, to start with. And then … um. The initial topic — “Broadway Plays” — was dead on arrival. So all plays. Let’s look at every play EVER.

Alas, although gay men populate theatrical spaces in remarkable numbers, it seems lesbian characters are few & far between, and lesbian shows are often relegated to the fringes of fringes. According to The Women’s Project, between 1985 and 1995, women wrote 17 percent of the new plays produced Off Broadway and 7 percent of those on Broadway. Those are old statistics, but if anything I think newer ones would be worse. (Read more about TWP’s mission here).

And so we found more than 10 plays, obvs, it’s unfortunate that there aren’t more that wold come immediately to mind for a mainstream audience. [And no, Wicked doesn’t count, all ye KC/IM fan-fic writers.] Change is gonna come though kiddos, for real.

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