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  • Nick Griffin Bankrupt, Plans To Write Pamphlet On Dealing With Debt

    Yep, you couldn’t make it up. Nick Griffin who once called gay people ‘creepy’ has been declared bankrupt.

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  • Vigil For Trans Girl Leelah Alcorn In London Trafalgar Square

    On the 28th of December 2014 Leelah Alcorn, a trans girl from Kings Mills, Ohio, was found dead on the Interstate 71, having killed herself.

    In her widely publicised final words published on her Tumblr blog, she gave the cause of death as a lack of access to trans-related healthcare and the associated sense of helplessness in the face of systemic transmisogyny. In light of Leelah’s death, there has been an unprecedented outpouring of grief and anger by the trans community and its allies, with well known celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Laverne Cox voicing their anger across social media platforms. In addition to this a petition, which currently has around 200 000 signatures, has been produced that calls for an end to transgender conversion therapy, one of the direct causes of Leelah’s hopelessness. Finally there have been candlelit vigils across the world, the largest being the ‘Stand Up 4 Leelah Candle Vigil’ in Columbus, Ohio on January 2nd.

    In response to aforementioned events, we the trans community of London and the surrounding areas stand in solidarity with the vigils occurring across the globe, and at 1pm on Saturday 3rd of January we too will come together to memorialise Leelah Alcorn.

    This vigil will take place in Trafalgar square and serves four purposes. First it is there simply to remember a life cut so short by someone that shared our struggles, a girl killed by systemic transmisogyny. Second it is there to remind people that her death was a political death, that when a member of our community is brutalised at the hands of oppression we must all fight back. Third it is a reminder to other folks that we are more than just individuals in this struggle, that as a community we are stronger and that we can create positive change. It is deeply saddening that Leelah’s parents are still refusing to give her the basic respect she deserves, even in death, and so the fourth purpose of this vigil is to do what they will not and mourn a sister.
    Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/events/743397569080952

  • Gay relationships can be more stable than straight ones

    Study by Deborah Schurmnan-Kauflin Finds Gay Relations More Stable Than Straight Ones.

    A new study reported in Psychology Today has found that same-sex relationships are more stable than straight ones – and that gay people can end up having better and longer relationships than their heterosexual counterparts.

    200 people took part in the study, which found that 59% of the gay people interviewed had been in a ‘stable, loving relationship for three or more years’ while only 19% admitted to cheating on a loved one.

    Meanwhile 47% of heterosexual respondents had been in a stable relationship – and even less found themselves in a long-term relationship (42%). Of those who had married 50% had divorces and almost half admitted to cheating on their spouse or loved one and two thirds said they were unhappy with their sex lives.

    Gay people tended to work longer (over 5 years) within their companies, but were less likely to remain in contact with their parents – making siblings and friends the more important relationships in their lives.

    Another study from Copenhagen in 2013 showed that men in same-sex marriages lived longer.

  • OPINION: Rylan has every right to play down Tom Daley’s coming out

    OPINION: Rylan has every right to play down Tom Daley’s coming out

    This week, former X-Factor contestant Rylan Clark openly criticised the public reaction to Tom Daley’s coming out, saying: “It is still hard to come out… but what about people like Alan Carr, Gok Wan, Graham Norton and me – people who are on TV who have never hidden their sexuality? What do we get? We don’t get recognition.”

    Oh Rylan, I thought, you’ll do anything for a headline. After all, in the formulaic industry of reality TV, Rylan’s whole purpose on the X-Factor was to get headlines. He was the comic relief; the weirdo with no talent; the guy who entertained us with his delusions of grandeur… Rylan garnered tabloid headlines, promoted the show and kept people watching. That was his job.

    And yet, while Rylan was supposed to be flavour of the week, for some reason, he seems to have endured beyond his natural shelf life. In turn, our fascination with this fact has kept him in the public eye. So what is it that has kept Rylan Clark in the limelight? And does the fact that he is a camp, talentless caricature invalidate his right to speak about matters that don’t involve the X-Factor or Celebrity Big Brother?

    Ok, so let’s get the unpleasantness out of the way. Yes, Rylan is exhaustingly narcissistic, shamelessly desperate for attention, and has, as yet, failed to exhibit any discernible skills or talents which justify his level of fame. Indeed, he said himself: “I wanted to be famous. I didn’t care what for.” And you sort of have to respect his honesty. But as was insightfully observed in the Guardian, Rylan Clark isn’t just the questionable token comedy act. His campness might be loud and glitzy, but it hasn’t managed to conceal the fact that he has a quick wit and intelligence to go with it.

    This is exactly why, when I heard Rylan criticise the response to Tom Daley’s coming out, that I paused and found myself thinking, doesn’t he have a point? Of course, it’s great news that Tom Daley feels comfortably sharing his sexuality with the world. He’s a popular role model; kind, considerate and friendly, scandal-free (so far) and in touch with many people, especially younger ones. But the cynic in me also questions whether there would be nearly so much fuss if he looked less like Tom Daley, Olympic athlete and gay icon, and more like… well, Rylan Clark.

    But despite Rylan’s valid point, headlines are subtly loaded against him; even within the gay media. I saw one which read: Rylan wants same attention as Tom Daley for being gay. But what he actually said is that he didn’t get that kind of attention, so why should Tom Daley? It’s a subtle difference, but it’s an important one; the first suggests jealousy, the second nods to a desire for a different kind of equality. The fact that Rylan is ridiculed (even indirectly) for speaking his mind, should tell us that even within the gay community, we are not always happy for people like Rylan to perform outside their predetermined roles.

    The narrow-minded stereotypes we are fed by the mainstream media about how gay people are supposed to look and act is so pervasive that even the gay community itself cannot shake it. And the reason nobody dishes out congratulations to the Gok Wans, the Alan Carrs and the Rylan Clarks out there is because they fit perfectly with the flamboyant, bitchy gay trope. It’s precisely because they’re open with their sexuality that they will never receive the same kind of adulation for it as somebody less flamboyant, less ‘typically gay’, like Tom Daley. And that’s not right. It also hints that, after years of speculation about his sexuality, the world isn’t really that bothered by Daley’s coming out. Although they might be saying ‘well done’, I’m starting to think that what they really mean is ‘I told you so’.

    It is tempting to suggest that Rylan’s remarks about Tom Daley are nothing more than a jealous cry for attention, but that would be too easy. Perhaps, from the self-proclaimed fame monster, there is an element of truth to this, but it’s hardly enough of a reason to invalidate his opinion entirely, even if it is just with subversive, undermining headlines.

    But when Rylan says: “I’m just upset that in 2013 someone coming out is still such big news.” he’s right. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read: ‘brave Tom comes out’ and frankly it makes me wince. Perhaps it was brave for him to come out, but to define it by its bravery rather alone suggests that there is something shameful in it, and there isn’t.

    Nonetheless, congratulations Tom Daley, we’re very pleased for you. But give Rylan his dues too; if not for being gay (after all, who cares?) then for having the guts to say what he thinks without sugar-coating it. He might be a fame-hungry media whore, but at least he’s a fame-hungry media whore with a pair of balls and, I’m starting to suspect, a brain to go with them.

    @WillHillier

     Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • TV: Benidorm Returns To ITV Tonight At 9pm

    Benidorm series 6 kicks off tonight on ITV1 at 9pm. The Solana hotel may have been upgraded to four-stars but has the cliental?

    Benidorm’s newly four-starred Solana is open for the Summer season, with manageress Joyce Temple-­Savage (Sherrie Hewson) proud of the all-inclusive services on offer. It’s a star-studded new series, too: Joan Collins, Matthew Kelly, Philip Olivier, Nicholas Burns, The Krankies & Rustie Lee are all making VIP guest appearances, and the Solana itself has some fantastic new guests in residence.

    Mick Garvey (Steve Pemberton) is currently stuck at the airport. He’s been detained by a customs officer who’s found something dodgy in Madge’s luggage, so Janice(Siobhan Finneran), Madge (Sheila Reid) and Michael(Ollie Stokes) go to the Solana without him. They’ve encountered a family from Watford who have also just arrived, but are already determined to leave. Clive andTonya Dyke (Perry Benson and Hannah Waddingham) were expecting a truly four star welcome for their holiday, but the state of the room ensures they have the first of their massive arguments, much to Madge’s amusement. Their 16 year old son Tiger (Danny Walters) soon spots Michael by the pool, and can tell that he’s the sort of fella who’ll make a useful partner in crime.

    Meanwhile Joyce is hoping that Donald (Kenny Ireland) and Jacqueline (Janine Duvitski) will forget that she offered them a free holiday this year, but they stage an eye-­catching protest, proving to the staff and guests that they’re as much a force to be reckoned with as ever.

    Mateo (Jake Canuso), Lesley (Tim Healy) & Liam(Adam Gillen) know that despite its four star status, life at the Solana is as unpredictable as ever, especially where the constantly partying Kenneth (Tony Maudsley) is concerned. Kenneth is worried about mysterious and intimidating messages he’s been getting, which threaten to ruin the grand reopening of Blow n’ Go. Liam, who’s now working with Kenneth at the salon, reckons it’s time for Kenneth to make a new start, and wants to do whatever he can to help. Lesley, on the other hand, is ambitious to become the Solana’s assistant manager, so is more than willing to go the distance when it comes to staff discipline.

    Mateo has problems all of his own – a new cocktail waiter is in town (Jason, played by Philip Olivier), who’s easy on the eye and far more motivated by work than Mateo will ever be. Mateo and Jason fight over Bianca Dyke (Bel Powney), who’s arrived at the hotel to be with her family. Liam swoons over her too, resulting in some hefty soul-­searching between him, Lesley and Kenneth over whether he is ever going to find the right ’girl’.

    Series 6 sees the welcome return of Martin Weedon (Nick Burns), who’s now single, and on the lookout for fun with a rowdy stag party. We welcome back Cyril Babcock (Matthew Kelly), too – and look forward to a grand finale in Episode 7, with VIP guests Rustie Lee, The Krankies and Joan Collins.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Swingin’ At The Savoy With Holly Penfield

    For any first-timer- and even seasoned veterans – any arrival at the Savoy is as entrancing as entering some exotic, virtually endless, opium dream.

    With exquisite cheekbones kissed by pale neon, absinthe green, you’re instantly folded into the architectural arms of an Art Deco wonderland, and baptised by the liquid chandelier of the Savoy’s front-facing fountain into a life previously unimaginable.

    Forget the tawdry tat and tension of Central London; Here, virtually unchanged, is Oscar Wilde’s incomparable favourite hotel in town, an oasis of calm, civility and companionship.

    And the pearl of this perfect, urbane oyster? Undoubtedly, the jaw-dropping, newly-refurbished Beaufort Bar, a ground-floor extravaganza of ebony black and gleaming gold. Now yes, F.Scott Fitzgerald may have once imagined a diamond as big as the Ritz,
    but compared to this staggering elegance, his vision seems as cheap, everyday and pedestrian as counterfeit Chanel.

    Merely enter the Beaufort, greeted and often escorted by fin de siecle dandy and maitre’d Helios, the very model of suave panache, and you step inside an enormous, Fabergé’s egg of a room, a space worthy of the Romanoff’s Imperial Russian Court at its’ very peak.

    It’s astounding; a mirrored back wall reflects and doubles the sumptuous, gleaming gold starburst anoiting the central bar and performance space, and there’s an expectant aura of secular sanctity, so strong that one almost hesitates to shatter the spell by sitting down.

    Ah, but we’ve yet to taste the oyster’s oyster, the pearl beyond price of the Savoy’s hospitality – its’ justly famed, live performances, spearheaded by the Savoy’s recently reincarnated, darkly delicious cabaret, currently of a calibre that even Noël Coward would crawl to be part of.

    Now, in large part, that ecstatic, cabaret revival is due to the sterling efforts of show-stopping, San Franciscan jazz diva, Miss Holly Penfield. Currently residing in London, Holly can only be compatred to a Liza Minelli without the excesses and unpredictability, and with an enviable, sterling-silver reputation of always delivering miraculous, crowd-rousing shows at the peak of her game.

    And tonight – Holly’s Christmas Burlesque Fantasia- is no exception. Aiming to reconjure the snap-brimmed, Charleston-kicking heels and reckless, ultra-chic abandon of the Savoy’s original, 1920s cabaret, mysteriously absent until recently, Holly and her entourage burn hotter than limbo dancing and flaming Sambucca cocktails at midnight on the Champs Elyseé!

    It’s a spectacle virtually unparalled in modern London.

    Partnered by her regular co-host, Mr. Dusty Limits, a tall, debonair, Disneyesque Prince Charming with chiselled cheekbones and Fred Astaire frockcoat, Holly injects a simmering, tactile sense of film goddess glamour from her first moment of stage.

    It’s contagious; immediately, the audience’s energy levels sky-rocket to Empire State excitement.

    Wrapped and caressed – the word ‘dressed’ is just completely inadequate– in yards of shimmering, orange satin, crowned by her liquid honey bob, Holly’s voice makes gorgeous, virtual love to the audience. Her opening songs – ‘Let It Snow’ and ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ – impact with the exuberant joy of Christmas This Very Minute, her pure, caramel tone as effortless as a master saxophonist, a Charlie Parker beautifully clarified with vintage brandy.

    No wonder that, within seconds, the awe-struck audience is literally drunk with cookin’ conviviality. Effortlessly involving the crowd with a flirtatious banter and interaction of a finesse Judy Garland could only dream of, Holly selflessly gives her audience the finest gift a performer can – one hundred percent dedication. And more impressive still, she’s an absolute maestro, a stellar mistress of narrative phrasing, the wickedly difficult art of injecting love, loss and laissez-faire insouciance into lyrics that – with lesser talents – would sound as trite as fortune cookie frivolities.

    Yes, admittedly tonight, there’s a slight flurry of microphone problems, but the indomitable Miss Penfield – unlike singers crippled without Auto-Tune – is every bit as commanding, and arguably, even more beguiling – with her purely acoustic delivery.

    But if Holly’s indisputably the buzzing, electric glue that binds and lifts her cast into a devastating, ensemble whole, they each excel on their own terms.

    There’s the sultry, almost irresistable – to men, at least – Kitty Bang Bang, who redefines striptease into a work of scorching, choreographic eroticism, almost a Royal Ballerina reincarnating a chiffon-swathed Botticelli’s Venus, but all toned, modern muscles and Lady Gaga fierceness.

    Then there’s the extraordinary Duchess Of Crouch End, a mature drag-queen like no other, and distant cousin to Dame Edna, though lacking that worthy’s often leaden wit. Much closer in tone to acclaimed, music-hall and vaudeville performers Hinge and Brackett, Mrs.Shufflewick and Douglas Byng, she’s a meticulously-crafted character songstress, complete with ukelele, delivering wryly comic tales of once-privileged destitution with a vicious sting in her tale!

    With the brief sound problems resolved, the second half kicks like Frank Sinatra’s neat bourbon, as deathly-elegant David Bowie clone Dusty Limits simmers through ‘Mad About The Boy’, wringing every drop of steaming innuendo from some very willing men in the front row.

    Still panting, he’s joined by Holly for a rapturous, hell-for-leather duet on ‘Money’, from Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, with the audience simply superglued to their seats with pleasure.

    But then – with quite sudden, breath-taking audacity – show-mistress Holly orchestrates a complete, theatrical U-turn, with the thrillingly bizarre entrance of Craig Reed’s cross-dressed, hula-hoop swinging Oompa Loompa in Wizard Of Oz, ruby slippers. Gyrating faster and faster, hoops threatening to helicopter from his hips, they burst into glowing, multicoloured incandescence, a stunning coup de theatre perfectly synchronized to a thumpingly techno ‘Over The Rainbow’.

    By now, the cast are completely swamped by a simply non-stop love tsunami of Christmas cheer, only to be ramped up higher still by Holly’s final entrance.

    Sheathed snugger than a glove in tip-to-toe, Balenciaga black – including the signature, ebony bob of her ‘evil jazz twin’ alter ego – Holly unleashes a totally awe-inspiring take of her self-penned celebration of the Savoy itself, ‘Swinging At The Savoy’.

    It’s an utter revelation. Sung urgently, magnificently on the beat, it’s a kaleidoscopic, imaginary montage of Holly’s singing star predecessors at the Savoy, and a magical evocation of the Savoy’s enduring mystique.

    Utterly timeless and utterly contemporary, Holly’s liquid gold harmonies strike out and stake a unique, inimitable vocal territory between peak-era Lena Horne and Peggy Lee, and as enchanting as either. Propelled by a steaming beat that Holly’s perfectly married to her infectious, mischeivous lyrics, it’s a stratospheric display of sung brilliance that, inevitably- brings the house down in storming applause.

    So did we have myself a merry little christmas? Beyond doubt, but words simply cannot begin to do justice to the mystique Holly and her cast conjure in the uniquely symbiotic setting of the Savoy. Thanks to the support and encouragement of visionary mangers, the Savoy has continued to nurture a superlative artist and cast whose nights, justifiably, are considered the toast of London by true conneisseurs, and perfectly complement and enhance the Savoy’s über-chic, soigné mystique. Our advice? Book a room, dinner and Holly show ASAP; She’s the spirit of Judy Garland live and reincarnated in London, but better preserved – and more consistent – than late-career Judy ever was!

    Holly Penfield returns to the Savoy in March

  • INTERVIEW: Lesley Joseph on Birds Of A Feather

    Dorien has been living the life Up West – more successfully than even she dreamed. But it’s not long before her “Es-sex In The City” lifestyle is back to being just Essex. She wants to hang on to the high life, and to eternal youth, but now she’s been forced to retreat back in Chigwell for the first time in years and she’s discovering that she’s trapped yet again.

    For Lesley Joseph, playing Dorien really is the dream role.

    And as she returns to Birds of a Feather, her character definitely can’t quite believe her luck after living it up in London. Still very much a man-eater, Dorien is now a rich, successful novel writer whose steamy book has caught the nation’s imagination.

    But her Champagne lifestyle soon comes crashing down and she is forced to move in with her old friends, Sharon and Tracey.

    “Dorien is rich now but what we didn’t want to do is depart too far from the original where it was a big fish in a small world,” explains Lesley.

    “And so that is why she goes and lives back with the girls. I didn’t want her to be so successful that she could live in Hollywood and ring Madonna. She has still got an eye for the men!
    “Over the series, we fill in a lot of gaps about what has happened over the last 15 years and so the jigsaw starts to fit into place. There are lots of digs at each other, but the warmth and friendship is still there as otherwise they wouldn’t be living with each other.”
    Fans will be relieved to hear Dorien’s outfits are still as racy as ever, reveals the actress, who also admits she had to work out before filming started again so she could look her very best.
    “You can’t play Dorien unless you look good,” she says. “I didn’t want people to think I looked a bit podgier and so I did a lot of exercise. I really worked hard. I wanted to get back to a working Dorien weight.”

    And as the actress goes on to explain, whilst Dorien may think she is a cut above Sharon and Tracey, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Lesley’s own lifelong friendship with her two co-stars.

    “When it is three women together, people presume you don’t get on very well off- screen,” she says.

    “And so when you tell them you do, people don’t want to hear that. It’s annoying because they never say that about men. We really could not be closer. I think people are a bit bemused by that but what you see on-screen is what you see off. That is what has always been the great thing about Birds of a Feather – the chemistry works in every place.”

    Asked what her favourite moment has been making the new series and Lesley replies instantly that it is the fact she has been able to work again so closely with Pauline and Linda.
    “I get quite emotional even thinking about it,” she says. “The best thing about doing Birds of a Feather again has been the fact we are all together. We are all so brutally honest with each other. We are all family people at heart and I also admire them so much. There is such a bond between all of us.”
    Bursting out laughing, she reveals, however, all three actresses are conscious that they have aged since the last series went out and the technological advances of High Definition television means the pictures are even sharper. “We didn’t have HD last time,” she says chuckling. “We do touch on the stuff like getting older in the series – although there is a scene where Tracey is plucking her chin with a magnifying glass.”
    Incredibly passionate about the new series, Lesley feels there is a huge buzz surrounding the show. “It really is exciting times,” she says. “The reaction has been unbelievable and so many people have stopped me in the street asking when exactly it is coming back. They are really excited.
    “What is lovely is there is a real buzz at ITV. It has got so many great dramas on right now with Downton and Broadchurch and Birds of a Feather really does fit in too.” Smiling, Lesley jokes she hopes what happened in the theatres on tour won’t be replicated at home.
    “We have spent the last two years touring around the country with Birds of a Feather,” explains Lesley. “It has been a lot of fun and the audiences really did love it so much. In fact, people would bring their three-year-olds along because they could not get a babysitter and did not want to miss out.
    “But we also had to call out ambulances for more people than ever before! They laughed so much, they needed an ambulance! We called them out eight times and the show had to be stopped!”.
    Since the show was aired, Lesley has been very busy in various dramas, including playing Rachel Culgrin in the ITV soap, Night and Day, and she has performed in a lot of theatre shows like the Calendar Girls.

    Given she has loved working with Pauline and Linda so much, is she sad that filming is coming to an end then? “Yes but it will be lovely to think that maybe we will be able to do another series,” she replies. “I would love to do another one if this works.”
    Lesley – who is starring in panto over Christmas before going on to appear in the Hot Flush musical – adds: “I feel so positive. Everyone keeps telling me this is really going to work. There are great vibes going…”
    Birds Of A Feather returns tonight at 8:30PM on ITV1

  • THEGAYUK’s New Year’s Recognition LIST 2014

    TheGayUK reveals The LGBT New Year’s Recognitions for 2014.

    With over 5000 votes cast TheGayUK’s New Years Recognition List has been announced and includes 15 individuals, companies or organisations that actively supported, championed or spoke up for the LGBT community in 2013.

    Readers were asked to vote on 5 categories, which included: Awareness, Activism and Politics, Health, Entertainment, Sports and Health.

    Read the entire list at http://www.newyear.thegayuk.com

    In the field of Education
    Bridegroom – The Documentary film
    Bisi Alimi – Activist and Advocate
    Human Rights Campaign – Advocacy Organisation

    In the field of Health
    Ben Cohen Stand Up Foundation – Bullying Awareness Charity
    G-A-Y – Club and Bars
    UK Positive Lad – Twitter user and HIV Magazine Founder

    In the field of Entertainment
    Adam Lambert – Singer
    Graham Norton – TV Presenter
    Theatre 503 – Theatre in London

    In the field of Sports
    Tom Daley – Olympian and Diver
    Jason Collins – Sportsman
    Clare Balding – TV Presenter

    In the field of Activism, Awareness and Politics
    Stephen Fry – Author, Broadcaster, Actor
    Shane Bitney Crone – Activist
    Pinknews – Online Newspaper

    Jake Hook co-founder of TheGayUK remarked: “2013 was an incredible year, so many great things happened for the LGBT community both at home and abroad.

    The seeds of equality planted by the generations before us are starting to take root and without these people’s bravery, persistence and determination the journey would be much harder.

    We’ve still got a long way to go and we still need to stand in solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world – but we are on the way.”

    TheGayUK would like to thank everyone who voted.

  • Vile Homophobic Reaction To Gay Kiss On EastEnders

    Vile Homophobic Reaction To Gay Kiss On EastEnders

    Numerous Twitter users took to the micro social network to call actors and characters in Eastenders ‘Gay Kiss’ f*ggots, queers and batty boys.

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  • Top 10 | Theatre Film and TV of 2013

    Well we’re at the end of 2013 and what better time to look back at my 10 best theatre, tv and film moments of the year, some of which I reviewed, some of which I didn’t.

    Sadly, my first choice only managed a run of a few months at the London Palladium, nor is it a show I reviewed myself. The original Broadway production of A Chorus Line opened in 1975 and ran for 6,137 performances, garnering no less than 12 Tony Awards. It was the longest running musical in Broadway history, until overtaken by Cats in 1997. Here in London it managed a respectable 3 year run, when it opened at the enormous Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1976. The Palladium revival was a loving re-creation of the original, using Michael Bennett’s original choreography (Bennett died in 1987 of AIDS related lymphoma), and it brought back many memories of when I was a young dancer, working in the West End. This revival was every bit as brilliant as the original production and various reasons were offered as to why it was not as huge a success this time round. Apparently it had minority interest (only dancers and people in show business could have any interest in the travails of being a Broadway/West End hoofer); at 90 minutes without an interval, it was too long and attention flagged; it lacked spectacle being set, for the most part, on an empty stage with dancers in practice clothes. But this was all true the first time round, and the show was a huge success back then. Audiences have changed, I suppose. Certainly the second time I attended this revival (on press night) the audience seemed more interested in being seen themselves than watching the show.

    I did review my next musical of choice, and am happy to report that it is still running at the Phoenix Theatre, and absolutely demands to be seen. Once was originally a charming indie film, which has been expanded and fleshed out to make a full evening at the theatre. The stage of the Phoenix has been decked out to look like an Irish pub, where members of the audience can enjoy a drink before the show and during the interval. Almost imperceptibly the show starts, while the audience are still making their way to their seats. Not really a musical in any conventional sense, it is original, charming, sublimely poetic, moving, eloquent, and stylish. Don’t miss it.

    Of my next three choices, only one is still running in the West End, though the Menier Theatre production of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along enjoyed a new lease of life when the production was filmed and shown in cinemas up and down the country. Maybe it will eventually also get a DVD release. It has always been one of my favourite Sondheim shows, though its rather cynical message found little favour among audiences when it was first produced back in 1981, when it ran for 44 previews and only 16 performances. At least Maria Friedman’s debut production for the Menier Theatre did a lot better than that. Given a slightly more upbeat twist by Friedman and via a few deft re-writes by Sondheim, and with some fabulous performances (particularly Jenna Russell as Mary and Damian Humbley as Charlie) this was a sure-fire hit.

    Not to be missed was Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Alexi Kayle Campbell’s superb The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios. This superb play that juxtaposes two parallel love stories, one from the 1950s and one from today, deftly reminds us that prejudice is still here, despite the strides we have made in recent years. With fantastic performances all round, this was an extremely memorable night in the theatre.

    Still running (though the Apollo has been closed for a while after part of the ceiling collapsed a couple of weeks ago) is the National Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Wonderfully inventive, superbly theatrical, this adaptation of Mark Haddon’s popular novel will no doubt run for years. We were fortunate enough to book our tickets a few days before the production won no less than 7 Olivier awards, as it sold out completely after that. I’m sure it’ll be around for quite a while yet though.

    Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice are back in the West End this year, though not working together this time. Lloyd Webber ‘s new musical Stephen Ward is at present previewing and Time Rice’s musical version of From Here To Eternity (with music by Stuart Brayson) opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in October. In many ways a reassuringly old-fashioned musical (it is not sung through and has a very strong libretto by Bill Oakes), it is a thoroughly enjoyable, brilliantly conceived and executed new show. Let’s hope it has a deservedly long run.

    In the cinema, I got the chance to review HBO’s Behind The Candelabra, made for TV, but here given a theatre release. Stephen Soderbegh’s direction is not always sure-footed, and the film drags a little in the middle, which might be less noticeable in the context of a TV movie. He does however, get wonderful performances out of his all-star cast. Aside from Rob Lowe’s brilliantly immobile plastic surgeon, there are some great cameos from Dan Ackroyd, Scott Bakula and Debbie Reynolds (remember her?), but the movie succeeds or fails on the work of its two stars, and both Michael Douglas and Matt Damon give faultless performances. Damon is thoroughly believable as the star-struck young innocent who gradually descends into drug addiction, and Michael Douglas quite simply gives one of the best performances of his career. It would have been so easy, and so tempting, to overplay the role and come up with a clownish caricature, but Douglas completely avoids that trap, and comes up with a performance of great subtlety, which deservedly won him an Emmy Award.

    I didn’t review I Want Your Love which was granted a limited cinema release in the UK. Given the amount of explicit sex in the film, this is hardly surprising. Like Shortbus before it, director Travis Matthews breaks new bounds in how to present sex on the screen. The sex, and there is a lot of it, is real, and we get to see everything; blow jobs, penetration, cum shots, the lot. What makes it different from your bog standard porn movie is that this features real actors, and very good ones at that, pushing the boundaries of what they will do on screen in the context of a role. The sex scenes are handled rather differently than they would be in a porno, and much more sensitively; the connection between the actors, the reactions on their faces rather more important than the sex itself, though the camera doesn’t shy away from that either. There’s not a lot of plot, so it certainly doesn’t keep you on the edge of the seat wondering what will happen next. It’s one of those movies in which people spend a lot of time talking to each other; about their feelings, about their relationships, about work. I found it totally immersing and involving.

    Though I understand that many will not respond to I Want Your Love as I did, I do recommend unreservedly David France’s masterly documentary How To Survive A Plague. This remarkable movie tells the story of a small group of men and women in America, most of them HIV positive, who battled against government indifference and departmental incompetence, to save their own lives. In so doing they helped save the lives of 6,000,000. Gripping, moving, inspiring, at times emotionally draining, it is a story that demands to be told. Required viewing for every gay man, particularly those under the age of 30.

    And finally to a great piece of television, shown just this last month on BBC4. Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves, is an award-winning Swedish three parter, based on novelist Jonas Gardell’s trilogy about the impact of AIDS on the gay community in Sweden in the early 1980s. Subtly and sensitively acted, and beautifully filmed, this was great television, the last of its three episodes almost unbearably moving, so much so that I watched it through a film of tears. If you missed its network TV showing, then do not hesitate to buy it on DVD, but make sure you have a box of tissues at the ready.

  • Happy New Year from THEGAYUK

    We just want to thank you all for being part of THEGAYUK this year – and look forward to growing further with you in 2014.

    It’s been an amazing journey – and we’re so excited to take TGUK in 2014!

    Lots of love

    Jake + Graham and the entire TGUK Team

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