THEGAYUK

Category: Entertainment

  • Adam Lambert returns to idol

    The out and proud singer is to make a return to Idol – this time as a judge.

    Adam Lambert, the first openly gay singer to achieve a number 1 album on the billboard charts in 2012, is to make a return to the home that made him famous, American Idol. This time as a judge.

    Keith Urban, who is a judge on the US version of Idol, had to leave to be with his wife Nicole Kidman, after her father’s died unexpectedly over the weekend.

    Adam Lambert rose to fame in the eighth season of Idol and won himself a legion of fans. He joins Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr as a judge as a temporary judge during the auditions.

    Speaking to Entertainment Tonight the “Never Close Our Eyes” singer said, ‘Unfortunately, it’s under these circumstances,

    ‘My condolences to Keith and his family.’

  • FILM REVIEW | Wish I Was Here

    ★★ | Wish I Was Here

    Aiden is evidently a very lousy actor. He’s so bad that even though he lives in LA he hasn’t managed to score even a bit-part role for some years now.

    He does insist though that he must ‘follow his dream’ and selfishly refuses to give up even though his nearest and dearest must pick up the slack for him. His wife Sarah has a monotonous data-processing job at the Water Company just to put food on their table, and his father pays the fees for the private Jewish school that both of his children, Grace and Tucker, attend. This however now has to change as his father announces that as he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wants to spend all his money on alternative therapies, he can no longer fund the kids’ schooling.

    Aiden’s response to this new development is to try and get accepted as a charity case at the school hoping they may forgo the fees, and when this fails, decides he will home school the children instead. It’s something that he clearly has no skills for, but then again, it’s obvious that he’s not actually qualified to do much at all beyond attending auditions.

    Pre-teen Grace who is a very earnest honours student wants to continue learning how to become a devout Jew, whereas her younger sibling Tucker would rather play video games than participate in his father’s attempts to teach him anything. Meanwhile, Sarah has to work in a cubicle with a creepy man who insists on talking about what he calls his penis voice and when she complains to her boss, she is just rebuked and told that she should be grateful she even has a job. Aiden’s father’s treatments fail and his health is now declining rapidly and he is desperate to make amends with Aiden’s slacker brother who seems to hate the entire world, except for the cute woman next door. But somehow Aiden still manages to make most of this all about him.

    There are more than a few similarities between Aiden on screen and his creator/writer/director Zach Braff (although Mr Braff is a good actor) as both are well-meaning and full of good intentions but in this movie are ultimately doomed to fall well short of their goals. This comic drama about the angst of a middle-class Jewish family ‘struggling’ in LA is at best mildly amusing, but for the most part is very flat and annoying. The fact that Mr Braff totally funded his sophomore movie from Kickstarter donors may be the clue as to why this rather undisciplined story, free of any Studio input, seems to have allowed him to indulge him in taking swings at many of the things in LA that seem to really peeve him with such an unfunny script.

    There are touches of the disarmingly charming Braff who has delighted audiences in his TV sitcom Scrubs for years, but not even a glimpse of the wit or humour of Woody Allen that he claims to want to aspire too. The high points are the poignant performance by Mandy Patinkin as the father, and a resilient Kate Hudson doing her best with the little she had been given as Sarah.

    After being so enamoured with his debut movie Garden State, a break-out Indie smash ten years ago, I was so looking forward to Braff’s follow-up, and it is just a disappointment then to find it is so less accomplished and enjoyable than one would have expected.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Ghost from a Perfect Place: Arcola Theatre, London

    ★★★★★ | Ghost from a Perfect Place: Arcola Theatre, London

    Multi award-winning playwright Philip Ridley returns to the Arcola with his contemporary classic Ghost From A Perfect Place, a scorchingly dark comedy where a monster from the past meets the monsters of the present.

    Twenty years after its premiere at Hampstead Theatre, Ghost From A Perfect Place has its first major revival under the direction of Russell Bolam, following his critically-acclaimed production of Ridley’s Shivered (Southwark Playhouse 2012).

    Back in the 1960s, Travis Flood led a gang that terrorised East London. Now, after an absence of many years, he returns to find his old turf in the clutches of a new kind of gang with a new kind of leader. Rio, the ruler of a mob of girls, instantly captivates Travis with her haunting beauty but soon a shocking story begins to emerge and it is one that shatters both their distorted memories.

    A stark half burnt out council flat in Bethnal Green sees Torchie (played by the excellent Sheila Reid) entertaining the returning gangster, Travis Flood (Michael Feast) as he waits to meet up with her prostitute granddaughter, Rio for sex. Torchie fondly regales him with tales of their ‘heydays’ and unfurls the terrible story of how her life fell apart.

    Ridley’s play is both hilariously funny and horrific in equal measures. The audience both laugh and wince as the play hurtles towards (a not unexpected) yet shocking conclusion. The cast are excellent with Sheila Reid (Madge from Benidorm) showing her skill as an actress. Michael Feast is a superbly edgy yet absurd Travis Flood and the two are more than ably supported by a cast of three young actresses as the terrifying Rio and her disciples.

    This production is a real triumph for the Arcola and the staging and direction are faultless. This is theatre at its gritty best and Ridley’s play has lost none of its relevance to disconcert, even after twenty years.

    Ghosts from a Perfect Place runs until 11/10/14

    Buy tickets here: http://www.arcolatheatre.com/production/arcola/ghost-from-a-perfect-place-by-philip-ridley

  • FILM REVIEW | The Perfect Wedding

    ★★★ | The Perfect Wedding

    Paul used to be a drunk. He also used to be Roy’s boyfriend. Two years later and both men have moved on with their separate lives. Paul goes to AA Meetings regularly and is now sober, thanks to Zack his Sponsor, and he lives at home with his very supportive parents in the their rather lush waterfront home in Florida.

    Paul’s sister Alana is engaged to be married and is coming home for the Christmas holidays to start planning a lavish June wedding. Besides her overly-enthusiastic mother, Alana also has her two best friends coming to help work out the details too, trouble is, one of them is Roy, her brother’s ex, and both men are nervous at meeting again for the first time after their messy breakup.

    Roy is also concerned that as he is still single, he may be perceived as a loser, so he persuades Gavin another ex boyfriend to tag along and pretend that the two of them are a couple.

    There was a time a decade or two ago, when almost every gay movie dealt with the ‘A’ issue i.e. AIDS.

    Thankfully at least cinematically we have moved on and this rom-com tackles three more big ‘A’s ‘ instead: alcoholism, adoption, and Alzheimer’s. It almost seems at times with this issue packed story that bestselling romantic author Suzanne Brockman had deliberately penned a script (with her husband Ed Gaffney) about two guys falling in love where being gay was so ordinary that it is almost over looked.

    The Gaffney’s actually wrote this for their gay son the actor Jason T Gaffney who did his mom and pop proud with his turn as Gavin who everyone seemed to fall in love with at some time or another.

    And in case you had guessed that Paul and Roy had seen the error of their ways and fallen back together, then you would have been wrong. The couple whose marriage rounds out this film (after Alana’s had hers) is that of Roy’s two exes who found each other irresistible.

    Thanks to some good performances, a very impressive location and some deft direction from newbie Scott Gabriel this small-budgeted indie movie is definitely one of the better ones of this genre. Touching and tender with very likeable characters that one wanted to find happiness… even if it’s the kind that only happens in the movies… and not a single stereotype in sight.

    It had plenty of eye-candy, and for once they didn’t keep disrobing when the story lagged at all.

  • Shortlist For Polari First Book Prize Announced

    The shortlist for the Polari First Book Prize was announced last night at the Polari Literary Salon at the Southbank Centre.

    This year, for the first time, the five shortlisted books will be displayed at selected WH Smiths travel outlets across the country.
    The Polari First Book Prize is for a first book which explores the LGBT experience and is open to any work of poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction published in the UK in English within the twelve months of the deadline for submissions (this year Feb 1, 2014). Self-published works in both print and digital formats are eligible for submission. The winner will be presented with a cheque for £1,000, courtesy of the Société General UK LGBT Network.
    The winner will be announced on 8 October 2014 in the Purcell Room at the London Literature Festival.

    The Polari First Book Prize Shortlist:
    I Am Nobody’s Nigger by Dean Atta (Westbourne Press)
    Petite Mort by Beatrice Hitchman (Serpent’s Tail)
    Fairytales for Lost Children by Diriye Osman (Team Angelica)
    God’s Other Children – A London Memoir by Vernal W. Scott (self-published)
    The Rubbish Lesbian by Sarah Westwood (Mimwood Press)

    The judges this year are:
    Paul Burston (Chair of Judges) – author, journalist and host of Polari
    Bidisha – critic and broadcaster
    Matt Cain – author and former Culture Editor for Channel 4 News
    Suzi Feay – literary critic and broadcaster
    Rachel Holmes – author and former Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank
    VG Lee – author and comedian
    Paul Burston, Chair of judges, said, ‘The judges were impressed with the quality and diversity of books submitted this year. These five books represent a wide range of voices from a variety of backgrounds, making for a very exciting shortlist.’

  • WATCH | Gay web series: My Gay Roommate

    One of the hottest things online these days is the hit web series My Gay Roommate that follows the life of Nick a young gay man as he navigates his move into adulthood.

    Now in its third season, the series has already followed him during his first year in college with his straight roommate James, and started with Nick losing his virginity and finding the joys of Grindr. In the second season the story line followed Nick and his hilarious exploits spending a summer vacation at home with his family.

    In the latest season that started recently, Nick decides to take some time off from studying and hot-footing it to New York, and searching for a new straight roommate too. What’s refreshing about this whole series is that co-creators Austin Bening and Noam Ash who based it on their own experiences, they made sure that this wasn’t just another clichéd situation about a gay man developing a crush on the straight man, or the hetro deciding that he is really a homo. Its simply about a very genuine friendship between these two boys who have very different tastes when it comes to falling in love.

    Last week’s final episode in the present season was probably the hottest to date. Titled “Coital Logistics,” it deals with some issues in the bedroom between Nick and his cowboy lover… and who better to help remedy these ‘problems’ than gay porn star Levi Michaels who provides a cameo as well as some expert advice on being a power bottom. Things naturally don’t go as planned but it makes for great viewing and more than a few laughs.

    Here it is, and we guarantee after viewing it you want to check out YouTube for all the previous episodes

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Kes, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    ★★★ | Kes, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    In a small, northern working class community in the 1960s, Billy Casper’s life is not the easiest. He struggles with reading and writing, is picked on at school, bullied by his older brother and neglected by his uncaring mother. With nothing in his future but the prospect of leaving school and working in the coal mine, his future is bleak. When Billy finds and trains a wild kestrel, his life begins to find a purpose and meaning. But the cruelty of life strikes him a devastating blow.

    Produced by Cast Theatre and combining a mix of professional actors and amateur performers from the area, this new production of Barry Hines’ classic novel was adapted and performed to mark Cast Theatre’s first birthday.

    Jacob James Beswick stood out as young Billy Casper, looking every bit the part of the downtrodden youngster and filling the character with a balance of dread, pessimism towards the future and occasional glimmers of optimism. Beswick garnered a genuine empathy from the audience, especially during the shows closing scenes. Sally Carman, best known as Kelly McGuire in Shameless, was in familiar territory with her performance as Mrs Casper, and the incredibly handsome Ben Burman rounded off the family as vindictive half-brother, Jud. The majority of the cast were made up of amateur performers, making this local theatre in more ways than one and providing a cast who, as a whole, were pleasingly slick and polished and who had clearly honed their skills with the assistance of their professional contemporaries.

    The set was detailed, using a combination of projected backdrops and sliding panels to create different parts of the town, keeping the presentation simple but effective. The transitions between scenes were smoothly done and the original music, composed by Dom Coyote, added just the right amount of atmosphere. The lighting was kept low key, complementing the play’s gritty and dark subject matter and the story nicely gathered pace as it progressed. However, even in the intimate theatre space, the lack of microphones led to a few moments where it was difficult to hear what was being said, but this is a minor criticism of the production overall. The show has occasional moments of light humour, which were a welcome relief but which never detracted from the story or mood of the piece and the handful of local references added a nice touch. The show was engaging, enjoyable and a worthy choice and adaptation to celebrate the success of the theatre over the last 12 months.

    Kes is currently playing at Doncaster Cast until the 13th September 2014. Tickets can be booked online at http://castindoncaster.com , in person at the box office or on the telephone on 01302 303959.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dracula, Northern Ballet, West Yorkshire Playhouse

    ★★★★ | Dracula, Northern Ballet, West Yorkshire Playhouse

    Jonathan Harker is a young lawyer in the employ of Dracula, who shows the Count his beautiful fiancé, Mina, and upon becoming obsessed by her, Dracula heads to the shores of England to seek her out. But following the murder of her best friend, Lucy, by the Count, Mina falls under his spell. But in an attempt to avenge the death of Lucy, Lucy’s suitors and Harker are assisted by vampire hunter, Van Helsing, to track down Dracula in a desperate attempt to save Mina from an undead eternity.

    In this deliciously dark version of Dracula, from the opening moments of a naked Dracula stepping out of a coffin swirling in mist; through to the exhilarating and dramatic ending, Bram Stoker’s tale of obsessive love is brought to life by Northern Ballet who treat audiences to a lavish and spectacular gothic production.
    The atmosphere created in the theatre was superb with the lavishly detailed, Tim Burton-esqe sets providing a beautiful and visually stimulating backdrop to the dancers, which included performers being lowered from the ceiling and raised up from the ground. The cleverly designed low level lighting added to the gothic gloom of the piece and the music further complimented the ambience with a mixture of sharp strings and angular sounds akin to the soundtrack to “Psycho”; set against a host of choral orchestrations, reminiscent of “The Omen”. As always the costumes were beautifully put together, with the female dancers flowing gowns adding to the almost dreamlike quality of the show.

    Kevin Poeung provided the performance of the evening as asylum dweller, Renfield, who seems to have a strange connection with the Count. Poeung’s physical performance was energetic and contorted and contributed to one of the highlights of the show, namely the initial scene in Dr Jack Seward’s asylum. The engagement party was also a highlight, with the company dancing beautifully together. But the crescendo of the second act was the outstanding moment of the production with an ending which proved to be a breath-taking conclusion to the piece. Ashely Dixon also impressed throughout with his performance as Jonathan Hawker.

    The ballet was a lot darker and slightly heavier going than Northern Ballet’s usual fare, but the slow burn of the first act and the drama of the second act make this a rewarding watch. For an exhilarating piece of theatre told with an accessible narrative, Dracula is a visually rich and beautifully gothic piece of ballet.

    Dracula is currently being performed at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds until 13th September 2014. Tickets for Dracula can be booked at http://northernballet.com where you can also find out information about their upcoming productions for the Autumn/Winter season, many of which will be performed at different venues around the country.

  • Sam Smith Set Re-Release Hit Single With A$AP Rocky

    The Top 5 single ‘I’m Not The Only One’ is one of the defining tracks from Sam’s No.1, multi-platinum selling album ‘In The Lonely Hour’. Now Sam has teamed up with one of the hottest names in hip hop in recent years, A$AP Rocky, to feature on a new version of this latest single.

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  • REVIEW: Xlsior Mykonos

    The recovery time has been and gone, and now is a good time to reflect on the party festival that was Xlsior Mykonos.

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | War House, National Theatre

    ★★★★★ | War House, National Theatre

    First off, don’t hate me. Please don’t hate me, but I have to confess… I got up close and personal with Joey last night in Salford and had a great time.

    Who is Joey? Joey has chestnut hair, flowing in the breeze, he’s strong, muscular, has great legs – all 4 of them… Joey is War Horse.

    Don’t know about you, but I’d seen the images of the stage play, I’d even sat through the snoozefest that was the film, but nothing, and I mean nothing prepared me for the stage play.

    The story is so well known, I don’t feel the need to go over it here but it’s simply boy meets horse, boy trains horse to pull a plough, WW1 begins and the horror starts.

    This current touring production is at The Lowry until 20th September so you have time to book your weekend away in sunny Manchester before it travels to Stoke and then off to South Africa.

    I think the main thing that makes this production so darn wonderful is the animals – and by animals I mean Handspring Puppet Company and their puppets and puppeteers. These are some amazing creations – so articulated, so well observed, not just in terms of the look, but in the way they are manipulated and worked. Their walk, the noises, even down to their breathing… these are nuanced performances… you eventually forget about the people working them and buy into them as “real”. Watch out for the amazing flying birds, and the goose!

    That isn’t to detract from the human cast, with Lee Armstrong giving one hell of a performance as Albert Naracott who trains Joey, and then follows him to war. Martin Wenner makes up the other half of this main human duo, playing Albert’s German counterpart, Friedrich. I love how the story weaves together both Albert and Friedrich, alongside the equine Joey and Topthorn.

    This story seems to flow better than the film for some reason, the horror of battle shown better in the drawings displayed constantly on a torn paper screen, the minimalist staging ripe for touring but leaves so much to your imagination, the dirt and grime, the gas attacks, the effect on the people in occupied France…

    We were lucky enough to get to do a quick Q&A with Martin Wenner, Lee Armstrong and the horses/puppeteers after the play, and I managed to grab some half-decent images to give you some scale of these magnificent creations. (see above)

    If you can, get tickets, sell your gran if need be but go see it live – it’s a whole new world! I’ve been to the theatre quite a lot, but have never, ever seen such a reception as this cast and crew received for this production. Standing ovation? Tick!