THEGAYUK

Category: Entertainment

  • EastEnders Introduces Its First Trans Character Played By Trans Actor

    Riley Carter Millington, 21, will be joining the cast of EastEnders as Kyle, a transgender character.

    Riley’s casting is the first time a UK television soap opera has ever had a transgender actor playing a transgender character in a continuing role.

    Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Executive Producer,announced earlier this year that he was creating a transgender character and he was determined to have a transgender actor in the role. Following that announcement, a number of transgender actors put themselves forward for the role and, as well as working alongside groups within the transgender community, EastEnders undertook workshops to find an actor. As soon as they found Riley, the character of Kyle was developed and created.

    EastEnders is Riley’s first television role. Riley’s first appearance as Kyle will be on screen this month (October 2015) but little will be known about his mysterious character for quite some time. Following this brief appearance, Riley will return permanently at the end of the year.

    Speaking of joining EastEnders, Riley said “I am extremely excited to be joining EastEnders. I can honestly say that I have now fulfilled my two biggest dreams – to be living my life as a man and to be an actor. I cannot wait to really get stuck in with filming and I look forward to seeing what is in store for my character.”

    Dominic Treadwell- Collins, Executive Producer adds “From Mark Fowler’s HIV to Colin and Barry’s first gay kiss, EastEnders has always led the way in changing audience’s perceptions about ‘difference’ – and ultimately making the world a better place. It has been my intention for a long time to cast a trans actor playing a trans role – and we have been so careful to ensure that we cast the right actor for the part. I’ve sat in many acting workshops over the years with our Casting Executive Julia Crampsie and her team – but never have we been so moved by the incredible life stories and wealth of talent that we experienced over our several weeks of workshops with transgender actors. The people we met showed us a strength and bravery that took our breath away – and to go through as much as they have while maintaining humour and a positive view on the world is testament to what special people we met.

    In Riley, we have found not just a talented actor but also an inspirational young man whose warmth immediately comes through the screen. And this isn’t about tokenism. Alex Lamb and his story team have worked with Riley to create an EastEnders character who is fresh and relatable – but also comes with his own stock of secrets and is going to be thrown right into one of our biggest stories for the end of the year. I hope that the audience will take Riley and his character to their hearts as quickly as everyone here at EastEnders has done.”

  • BOOK REVIEW | Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

    Seventeen-year-old Katie is in a state of turmoil.

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  • Ever Wondered What Superman’s Dong Looks Like?

    This DC Comic’s cover for Superman attests that Superman’s dong is in fact supersized.

    If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what Superman’s privates might look like this new cover by writer/artist Frank Miller as some answers for you.

    It’s the cover to Miller’s new Dark Knight Returns-sequel, Dark Knight III: The Master Race. It’s set to be a massive seller…

    Although he’s still fully clothed you can still see the outline of his super wedge.

    You can tell by the hands… I mean look at those meaty chunks.

    Up until now, Superman’s junk has had a suspicious “action man” look about it. Now we have outlines and it has to be said we approve.

  • The 59th BFI London Film Festival begins on Wednesday

    The program for the 59th BFI London Film Festival is another stellar lineup of must-see movies starring the world’s hottest stars, and includes several films with Gay & Lesbian content:

    It’s a rich and diverse lineup that includes a total of 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 40 European Premieres and 11 Archive films. Taking place from Wednesday 7 October 2015 to Sunday 18 October 2015 at various venues across London, also included are talks and seminars and special presentations.
    The festival opens with the premiere of the eagerly anticipated Suffragette. An all-star cast brings to life the early UK feminist movement as they fought for their right to vote. Carey Mulligan (who is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination for this role) stars alongside Helen Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, with a cameo by Meryl Streep. Screenplay by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame).

    Gay & Lesbian themed films to be shown at the festival that might be of interest to you include:

    Tangerine

    A tale of two transsexual sex workers on Santa Monica Boulevard and the friendship they have amidst their dangerous profession.

    Carol

    Carol tells the simple story of a 1950’s department store clerk who falls for another woman. This one stars the can’t miss Cate Blanchett, and is directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven). With Rooney Mara.

    Chemsex

    A documentary that takes a look at London’s gay sex and drugs scene. It will do doubt cause lots of conversation and controversy.

    Grandma

    Lily Tomlin is back on the big screen playing a sharp-tongued, foul-mouthed Lesbian poet in her 70’s, who also happens to be grieving over the death of her long-term partner, and is interrupted by a visit from her granddaughter.

    Gayby Baby

    A documentary that follows the lives of four Australian children whose parents all happen to be gay.

    Aligarh

    This film follows the downfall of a male college professor after he was found in bed with his male-rickshaw driver lover. It’s one of the few films ever that has dealt with the Indian gay male experience.

    Closet Monster

    A troubled teenager falls for a new boy at his work which makes his life even more confusing. He has conversations with his pet hamster, voiced by Isabella Rossellini.

    Other movies being shown at the festival include:

    Trumbo

    Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston stars as Dalton Trumbo, a screenwriter in 1940’s Hollywood who gets blacklisted after he is confirmed to be a Communist. Diane Lane plays his wife while Helen Mirren plays gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

    Bang Gang

    One of the most controversial films of the festival about a group of French high school students who start a private orgy society.

    High Rise

    Adapted from J.G. Ballard’s novel of the same name, High Rise stars Tom Hiddleston in a film set in a luxurious high rise tower block that begins to decay almost as soon as it is built.

    He Named Me Malala

    A documentary about the 18-year old Malala Yousafzai who was shot in the head by the Taliban for championing girls’ education in Pakistan.

    The Program

    Director Stephen Frears brings us the story of disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong (played by Ben Foster) in a documentary-style telling of Armstrong’s triumphant Tour de France years to his mighty downfall after his confession of taking drugs to enhance his performance.

    Live from New York

    A funny documentary about the long-running American television institution Saturday Night Live, from its beginnings in 1975 through its many cast members (some of whom went on to have highly successful movie and television careers).

    Black Mass

    An unrecognizable Johnny Depp stars in this true story about one of the Boston’s most violent criminals (Jimmy Bulger) who became an FBI informant. Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulger’s brother Billy and Joel Edgerton as the FBI agent who persuades Jimmy to turn against the mafia.

    The Lobster

    This film could win the award for the most far-fetched plot: In the future, single people have to find a partner within 45 days or are then transformed into animals and released into the woods. This one stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. With their very good lucks there is no doubt they will find a match, within one day no doubt.

    The Lady in a Van

    Dame Maggie Smith stars as a homeless woman who lives in a van parked outside playwright Alan’s Bennett’s home in the 1960s. Believe it or not it’s based on a true story that actually took place in the 1960s, where she ended up staying for 12 years.

    Truth

    Cate Blanchett (again) stars at CBS news producer Mary Mapes, with Robert Redford as anchorman Dan Rather, and their involvement in a story that questioned then-President George W. Bush’s receiving preferential treatment to help avoid the Vietnam draft.

    Sherpa

    Documentary about the deteriorating relationship between Sherpas (local people who help expeditions guide their clients up Mt. Everest) and western tourists, arriving just a few days before last year’s deadly avalanche that killed 16 sherpa. Timely as well in that sherpas were all but ignored in the recent film ‘Everest.’
    Room

    Brie Larson stars as a woman who has been trapped in a garden shed for seven years after being kidnapped and raped. She then attempts to escape with her five-year-old son.
    The film festival closes on one of the most eagerly-awaited films of the year – a film called Steve Jobs

    Michael Fassbender plays the late Steve Jobs, the man who made Apple a household name. Kate Winslet co-stars as his assistant Joanna Hoffman and Seth Rogen plays Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
    There are nine program strands each headlined with a gala, they are: the Love Gala, the Debate Gala, the Dare Gala, the Laugh Gala, the Thrill Gala, the Cult Gala, the Journey Gala, the Sonic Gala, and the Family Gala.
    There will also be talks with filmmaker Todd Haynes (Carol), casting director Laura Rosenthal, actress Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), and filmmakers Jia Zhangke and Walter Salles (A Guy from Fenyang).
    There will also be prizes handed out in the following categories:

    -The Official Competition: recognizing inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.

    -First Feature Competition: recognizing an original and imaginative directorial debut

    -Documentary Competition

    -Short Film Award
    Tickets have already gone on sale, so if you want to see any of the above-mentioned films or to peruse the other events taking place at the festival, please go here:
    http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff

  • TOP LIST: Ten of The Top Cross-Gender Performances in Theatre

    During the earliest conception of theatre in English history, there were specific laws that restricted women from having any involvement within performances and acting onstage in any way.

    Englishmen found it amusing that in other countries, such as continental Europe, women were allowed on stage. As the centuries have rolled out and Shakespearean traditions continue to reign stage direction, the 21st century has seen gender role switching become something of a trend within theatre across the world. Some of the most iconic roles in history, such as Hamlet, being played by the opposite gender has a become popular and modern tendency used by directors to creatively adapt the story in a way that is unconventional and engaging. We look at the 10 top plays where switching gender roles have played a role in the success of a play:

    1. The Importance of Being Earnest (2015)

    David Suchet plays the role of the formidable Lady Bracknell in the 2015 version of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at the London Vaudeville Theatre.2. The Merchant of Venice (2015)

    Rachel Pickup played Portia, who dresses up as a boy to enjoy the freedom that comes without having to be a woman, in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ earlier this year at The Globe, London.

    3. Hamlet (2014)

    Maxine Peake played the Danish Prince in ‘Hamlet’ at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in 2014, although the leading roles of Prospero and Macbeth each went to males.
    4. Henry IV (2014)

    Harriet Walter plays the lead role of ‘Henry IV’ in Phyllida Lloyds recreation at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2014.

    5. Twelfth Night (2012)

    Mark Rylance’s performance as a ‘stylised’ Olivia in Tim Carroll’s Shakespeare Globe adaptation of ‘Twelfth Night’ was critically acclaimed back in 2012 at London’s Apollo.

    6. The War of The Roses (2009)

    Cate Blanchett played Richard II in Benedict Andrews production of ‘The War Of Roses’ in Sydney, 2009.7. Taming Of The Shrew (2003)

    Janet McTeer played the macho Pertruchio in the all-female casting of ‘Taming Of The Shrew’ back in 2003.
    8. The Tempest (2000)

    Vanessa Redgrave gave a memorable performance as Prospero in ‘The Tempest’ back in 2000 at the Globe, London.
    9. Richard II (1995)

    Irish actress Fiona Shaw played Richard II in Deborah Warner’s production at the National Theatre, London, in 1995.
    10. Peter Pan (1954)

    Mary Martin played Peter in the original theatrical production of ‘Peter Pan’ in 1954. Which later saw Cathy Rigby and Sandy Duncan amongst others take the role.

    THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST starring David Suchet will be screened live by satellite from London’s Vaudeville Theatre to 400 cinemas across the UK & Ireland on Thursday 8th October at 7.15pmhttp://importanceofearnest.com/cinema

  • Artwork and Track Listing Released For Anastacia’s Next Album

    Looking fierce and hotter than ever Anastacia has released the artwork and tracklisting of her ultimate hits album, due out in November.

    Pop legend Anastacia – the mega voice behind massive hits including I’m Outta Love and Left Outside Alone – has released her brand new single Take This Chance. The track is taken from her forthcoming album ‘Ultimate Collection’ out November 6th.

    In a recent interview with THEGAYUK out in November, Anastacia revealed she would be playing a gay venue in London – and will announce the date shortly.
    1. I’m Outta Love
    2. Left Outside Alone
    3. Sick and Tired
    4. Paid My Dues
    5. Stupid Little Things
    6. Not That Kind
    7. Everything Burns with Ben Moody
    8. Welcome To My Truth
    9. You’ll Never Be Alone
    10. Pieces Of A Dream
    11. Best Of You
    12. Heavy On My Heart
    13. One Day In Your Life
    14. Cowboys & Kisses
    15. Why’d You Lie To Me
    16. Love Is A Crime
    17. I Belong to You (El Ritmo de la Pasion) with Eros Ramazzotti
    18. Army Of Me
    19. Take This Chance

  • Stonewall FIlm Slips Further Down The Chart

    Things are going from bad to worse as Stonewall slips from 37 to 41.

    Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall has slipped from number 37 in the box office charts to number 41, taking in a just $60,460 in B.O. receipts last week. The controversial film, which has been accused of “white washing” the history of the Stonewall riots has been panned by critics, despite audiences loving it.

    Emmerich’s choice of focussing his film’s story on the fictional character of Danny, was because he thought that the character would be more relatable to a straight audience. Speaking to Buzzfeed he said,

    “You have to understand one thing: I didn’t make this movie only for gay people, I made it also for straight people. I kind of found out, in the testing process, that actually, for straight people, [Danny] is a very easy in. Danny’s very straight-acting. He gets mistreated because of that. [Straight audiences] can feel for him.”

    According to RottenTomatoes.com critics are rating the film at 9% whilst actual audiences are rating it as high as 93%.

    The film had been ranked at 193 in all “gay and lesbian” films over at BoxOfficeMojo.com however it has crept up to 180.

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Showstoppers show themselves up in the West End

    Long form improv is the high-wire act of this performing spectacle in this impromptu musical theatre delight.

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  • THEATRE REVIEW: Pam Ann Queen Of The Skies, Leicester Square Theatre

    She’s still got it. Forty-Six she reminds us, and still has lots of wear left in those knees. ★★★★

    And as those noisy punters she had removed from the front row will attest, as feisty as ever. Pam Ann is the unchallenged Queen of the skies and looking around at the packed Leicester Square theatre – queen of the gays as well – with every c*ck joke, every rim job mention provoking whoops of excitement that explode across the small auditorium.

    It’s not hard to understand why the gays have taken Pam under their collective wing for nearly 20 years, in an interview with this very magazine in 2013 she said about the gay community,

    “They didn’t create Pam Ann; they created my whole fking life and my existence. That’s why I have not got married. I have not had kids. I am a fking gay man, 99 per cent of my friends are gay so they can take responsibility for everything. My vocabulary is gay, I speak gay, everything is gay. I f**k like a gay so you know, I say they created my whole existence and Pam Ann.”

    There’s something different though with Pam Ann, perhaps a little more self-aware than her usual, it feels a little Pam Ann 2.0. In this show there’s a lot less “air” jokes and hardly any of her beloved characters, such as Lily, Valerie and Helga. The first part gives way to a full on stand up routine and while much is in the character, Caroline Reid (Pam Ann’s creator and body) is it seems, breaking and aching to get out.

    Don’t get me wrong; she still gets in the ‘ass-like-a-hippo’s-yawn’ gag (it was at 3 minutes and 42 seconds, but who’s counting) and she still flies in the headwind of the PC brigade, using race, religion, heterosexuals and class as her bread and butter material, much to the applause of the crowd.

    While some media outlets will call her shtick out-dated and a product of days past, our community needs levity and moment to stop eating itself from the inside and listen to some of the pearls that fall from Reid’s mouth – and she knows that. With a knowing eye she momentarily tips her hat off to one particuarly hotly contested word – to the delight of the audience.

    But what if Pam wasn’t Pam anymore? Instead we have Caroline… I’m excited about the prospect; does she need to be dressed up in the uniform to still be hailed high as one of the campest comic creations by the gay community? The question is will we let her flamboyant, coked up stewardess character go? Will we let Reid fly, shed the wingtips and become a fully-fledged real person rather than the institution she’s become?

    Pam Ann Queen of The Skies is on at the Leicester Square Theatre until November 30th.

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Roaring Trade – bankers misbehaving in a play with very little bark

    The strange world of bond trading and the lives of the traders who inhabit it is explored in the new play “Roaring Trade.” ★★

    There are four desks in an office in Canary Wharf where four unique personalities ply their trade day in and day out. Their goal, of course, is to make money. But not all of them do. Fortunes are made, and lost, in a single second. It’s a very stressful job, one that has direct effects on their families.
    ‘Roaring Trade’ is set on a bond trading floor of a fictional investment bank called ‘McSorleys.’ It introduces us to the four people who live and breathe their jobs. We’ve got beautiful blonde Jess (Lesley Harcourt), confident but not cocky. She’s got more balls than some of the men she works with, including Donny (Nick Moran), who’s putty in her hands, and is the cocky one. Then there’s PJ (Michael McKell), burnt out yet still slaves away at his job to appease his keeping up appearances wife Sandy (Melanie Gutteridge). Spoon (Timothy George) arrives as a new team member, very young, getting the job because his father is a fat cat in the City.
    For these four, it’s all about the money, and the bonus that validates their performances. It’s what drives them to succeed, at any cost, and whether that puts another team member at risk, so be it. When newbie Spoon makes £3.6 million on a trade, he suddenly becomes the golden boy. And when it comes to bonus time, Donny is oh so curious as to how much Spoon has received, enough so to attempt to take a peak at Spoon’s bonus letter. But when PJ receives less than what he’s expecting (a luxury trip to Barbados is cancelled for a trip to Brussels), this means his wife Sandy will not get her new kitchen, and their seven bedroom house will have to be put up for sale. Sandy says she’s worried that they will be the target of gossip if they sell their house, though PJ says that she likes to be the center of good gossip when the money is coming in and she is spending.
    Meanwhile, Donny instills his work ethic on to his son Sean (William Nye), teaching him how to make money using a sachet of ketchup as an example. He tells Sean that in the bond world, money can be made by selling something one doesn’t own, and making money off of it. It’s an example the son takes to heart.
    But things get very tense on the trading floor when Donny is down £8.6 million on a trade, and it gets even more tense when PJ is offered a head trading role at fictional investment bank Shads, and he wants to take the rest of the team with him. But when one trade goes in a different direction than expected because of internet chat room gossip, it’s anyone’s guess whose going to be in the money and whose going to be out of the money. And it’s not who you would expect.
    ‘Roaring Trade’ takes the ‘bankers are wankers’ phrase and runs with it. Donny, the veteran, seems to just care about making money. Jess appears heartless but always in control, while Spoon the newbie is so green that he will take risks just to get ahead. We get a different message from PJ – that not all bankers are bad. While the acting is not bad (George is superb as the new kid on the block) and Harcourt nails it as the tough-as-nails Jess, Mckell’s acting is a bit over the top, and the character behaviour not quite believable. Originally written for the stage in 2009 and quickly updated to reflect today’s news (a line in the show is “bonds are dropping like VW”), ‘Roaring Trade’ has more of a yelp than a roar. And while our real banks have taken risks in the past and are paying heavily for it now, as Donny says in the play – ‘There’s risk in everything that matters.’
    ‘Roaring Trade’ is playing until 24 October 2015 at The Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. To buy tickets, click here

  • THEATRE REVIEW | 5 Guys Chillin At The Kings Head Theatre

    5 Guys Chillin’ is a verbatim drama adapted from over 50 hours of anonymous interviews about the world of chem-sex on the gay scene. ★★

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