Friday at 3:30 pm
Geez…everything is this weekend.
The Kentucky Derby and “May the 4th Be With You” and Cinco de Mayo and….
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!!!!!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Friday at 2:32 pm
Sadly, local producers Qurb Live/Magazine have pulled the plug on the upcoming production of the next Peaches Christ show, THE FIRST WIVES FIGHT CLUB which had been scheduled for several shows in Canada as well as their usual stops at Seattle’s Egyptian Theatre on April 18th and Portland’s Aladdin Theatre on April 16th. Low ticket sales for those shows are apparently the cause; the original San Francisco and Los Angeles performances produced by Peaches herself will go on.
The Peaches Christ shows produced locally by Qurb have traditionally been very popular in Seattle and Portland. Parodies of popular films, the shows all star Peaches Christ (who writes/co-writes all the shows) and feature top name drag stars, usually alumni from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the main roles. Bob the Drag Queen, Bianca Del Rio, Kim Chi, Willam and local stars BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon have all headlined shows in the past.
“First Wives Fight Club” may have been a tougher sale due to the fact it was a mash-up of two separate films that may not have had as much appeal as other productions that were parodies of more popular/better known to younger audiences films like “Mean Girls”. There’s also the question if this show’s headliners had the necessary star wattage to sell tickets. All three have numerous fans, but Ginger Minj and Raja (who won “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in Season 3 so…8 years ago) can’t exactly be called A list names and the third star of this production was Brook Lynn Hytes, who is on the currently airing Season 11 of RPDR and really hasn’t earned a huge fan base. The old adage is, you need a hot title or hot stars to sell a show and this production suffered from a lack of both as well as a lack of a marketing plan to get fans to buy tickets.
This might also raise the question: are audiences getting burnt out by the quantity of big national drag shows that come through town? Has the big drag show peaked? Are too many “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars vying for the same audiences? Or, can only A+ names (Bianca, Katya, Alaska, Trixie, Bob) guarantee a success?
Wednesday at 4:04 pm
FINALLY, we have a debut date for Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City the long awaited television return to the beloved characters created by San Francisco writer Maupin in his 9 volume “Tales” series that originally began as newspaper serial in the 1970s. Three television series were broadcast in the 1990s but this is the first adaptation of the material since then.
Netflix has released new images and a teary trailer for the new series which will consist of 10 episodes and they will drop just in time for Pride Month….Friday, June 7th.
Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City stars returning actors Laura Linney (Mary Anne Singleton), Olympia Dukakis (Anna Madrgial), Barbara Garrick (DeDe Halcyon Day) and Paul Gross (Brian Hawkins) from the first series that aired on PBS in 1993 and was produced by Britain’s Channel 4. That 6 episode series garnered huge ratings for PBS but protests over public funding of a show featuring gay content led to PBS reluctantly backing out of producing further installments. Channel 4 went on to partner with cable channel Showtime to do two more series, both produced in Canada.
Also starring former “Looking” actor Murray Bartlett as Michael “Mouse” Tolliver (the third actor to play the role) and Ellen Page as Shawna, the adopted daughter of Mary Anne and Brian. And, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Bob the Drag Queen will also play a character named “Ida Best”.
Friday at 7:06 pm
Left to right: Asukaa Jaxx (credit unknown), Egan Orion (photo: Alex Garland) and Christopher Peguero (Photo via Facebook)
It’s considered an “off” year for elections on the national level but many cities, counties and states have local elections in the odd numbered years between even numbered federal election years and that’s certainly true in Seattle as 7 out of 9 seats on the City Council are up for election this year.
To make matters more interesting, four of the 7 seats up for grabs will be open seats. District 2’s Bruce Harrell, District 4’s Rob Johnson, District 6’s Mike O’Brien and District 7’s Sally Bagshaw have all announced they will not be running for re-election. District 1’s Lisa Herbold, District 3’s Kshama Sawant (which includes Capitol Hill, the traditional LGBTQ neighborhood in Seattle) and District 5’s Debora Juarez have all announced they will seek another term this year.
Already, over 3 dozen names have declared themselves to be running for those seats, including at least 3 members of the LGBTQ community that we’re aware of.
For the open District 2 seat being vacated by council president Bruce Harrell, Seattle City Light employee Christopher Peguero is facing six other candidates to represent south/southeast Seattle including Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Georgetown and Rainier Beach. It’s an area that’s not only ethnically the most diverse in Seattle, but also one of the most traditionally blue collar.
Friday at 5:02 pm
At Wednesday night’s sparsely attended community meeting (Where were y’all?) for Seattle Out & Proud to discuss how their 2018 events went (“Swell!) they also released a teeny, tiny bit of information on plans for Seattle Pride 2019.
Held at Swedish Hospital’s Glaser Auditorium, the meeting featured the entire board of SO&P but primarily featured president Kevin Toovey and vice-president Jeff Cornejo leading the evening’s discussion which mostly focused on outlining the success of last year’s events including SO&P’s biggest annual event, the Seattle Pride Parade which featured over 225 groups and 60, 000 people registered to march.
Other successes including lowering the cost of non-profit registration fees and the sponsorship program which paired up corporate for profit groups with non-profits and created unique partnership opportunities.
Here is the obligatory moment to post that Seattle Out & Proud is responsible for the production of our city’s annual parade (and some other events like the Volunteer Park Pride event formerly known as the Pride Picnic) while the big Pride Saturday festival on Capitol Hill and the Pride Sunday festival at Seattle Center after the parade are produced by an entirely different/separate group (Seattle PrideFest) largely due to the fact Seattle is very dysfunctional…
Friday at 4:00 pm
The Swallow is set to become White Center’s latest LGBTQ bar sometime this year. Photo: via Instagram
And, it’s official: the gentrification of oddball Seattle suburb, White Center is officially underway with the news that it’s about to get its SECOND LGBTQ night club. Michale Farrar and Nathan Adams opened The Lumber Yard Bar, 9619 16th Ave SW, in January of 2018 and has subsequently established itself as a popular meeting place for LGBTQ patrons on the Southwest side of Seattle and the King County area between Sea-Tac and the city.
But, The Lumber Yard is about to be joined by a second LGBTQ venue. Recent social media posts and scuttlebutt have indicated that former Pony Bar co-creator Marcus Wilson is opening a new venue called THE SWALLOW at 9608 16th Avenue SW in a space previously occupied by a bar called “Company Store” which recently closed.
And, searching the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board new applications list for King County turns up a March 5th request from a business named “Salty Sailors” for a “Nightclub” license at that address with Wilson and two other men, Barry Smith and Thai Tran listed as applicants.
Thursday at 3:55 pm
OK, my little Scooby Doos and Nancy Drews….WHERE is Melania going to visit this Monday on her first visit to Seattle?
We’re guessing it’s not Amazon.
KOMO TV (and others) have the poo that First Lady Melania Trump will be making her FIRST out of town official trip (after two years of being the first lady…) this Monday and Tuesday (March 4th and 5th) visiting Oklahoma and Washington State on Monday then Las Vegas on Tuesday. It’s all part of her First Lady project, in Melania’s case it’s her vague BE BEST! initiative to fight cyber bullying.
Because she is the most bullied person….EVUH.
Wednesday at 11:43 am
The last two weeks have played havoc with area venues and producers who put on shows and events in Seattle and Western Washington. Heavy snow, ice, wind and slush have made travel dangerous and difficult and there have been reports of damage to some facilities.
Over this past weekend from Friday February 8th through Monday the 11th, dozens of events and performances were cancelled all over the greater metro area resulting in serious amounts of lost revenue for area businesses and non-profit arts groups. While the 5th Avenue Theatre and Issaquah’s Village Theatre both went on with performances for their currently running shows (Rock of Ages and I Do, I Do respectively) most smaller theaters canceled performances. And, the weather kept former Queer Eye star/RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Carson Kressley from making his scheduled appearance at Queer Bar on Friday, the 8th. That appearance has been rescheduled for March 22nd.
But, the cancellations and rescheduling of shows continues with the announcement that A Sensible Theatre Company has pushed back their February 19th RUSH THE RUNWAY 2.0 show to March 19th. And, Lifelong has just announced today that their hugely popular drag bingo fundraiser, LOVE FEST GAY BINGO has been canceled for this upcoming Saturday, February 16th due to snow damage at the venue, Fremont Studios (which was also the venue for the Rush the Runway event). Lifelong’s press release:
Love Fest Gay Bingo has been postponed, due to the recent snowstorm causing damage to our event venue Fremont Studios. The safety of our Gay Bingo attendees, volunteers and vendors always comes first and until the venue is able to undergo inspection and repair, it is not available to host Gay Bingo.
Tuesday at 5:17 pm
Star Laura Linney and author Armistead Maupin, pictured here from San Francisco Pride Parade circa…the early 90s, reunite for an all-new “Tales of The City” series on Netflix for 2019.
For the many, many devoted fans of Armistead Maupin’s series of “Tales of the City” books which details the lives of a group of gay, straight and everything in between friends living in San Francisco over the course of several decades and nine novels, the news a couple years back that Netflix was ready to produce a brand new television series featuring the “Tales” characters, was very welcome news.
The first three novels in the series chronicling their lives in the late 1970s were produced and aired by PBS/Channel 4 (UK) for the first book/series and by Showtime for the second two books. There have been hopes that the subsequent novels would be produced for television, but nothing came to fruition until the era of streaming television came into play and the news that Netflix was ready to do a modern day series catching up with the lives of the characters in a very different 21st century San Francisco.
There’s been no news when the new series, which began filming in the fall of 2018, would air but today the San Francisco Film Festival announced that the first episode of the new Netflix Original Series Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City would open their 2019 annual festival on April 10th with a gala event at the Castro Theater in the heart of San Francisco’s gay neighborhood. Author and one of the producers of the new show, Armistead Maupin is expected to attend with show runner Lauren Morelli, director/producer Alan Poul and star/executive producer Laura Linney are all scheduled to attend the screening with a party to follow at the Regency Center.
Tickets are currently on sale for members of the San Francisco Film Festival (note this is not Frameline, the city’s annual LGBTQ film festival which happens in June). The public can begin buying tickets Wednesday, February 13th at 10am. Go HERE to try and snag them.
Monday at 3:23 pm
SEATTLE – Here comes the most outrageous drag show of the year. HATERS ROAST – The Shady Tour Feb 18, 8pm at Moore Theatre starring Jinkx Monsoon BenDeLaCreme Latrice Royale INC.Willam Trinity Taylor Monét X Change LADY BUNNY FOREVER! and hosted by the hilarious Darienne Lake Click here now for best available seats https://
According to the most recent social media posting from Murray & Peter, this is the line-up for the HATER’S ROAST: THE SHADY TOUR happening at the Moore Theatre on Monday, February 18th (which is also President’s Day). Our own local-ish gals Jinkx and Ben De La Creme will be on hand as well as very frequent visitors like Latrice Royale, and Willam but also Monét XChange and Trinity Taylor plus non-RPDR gal, The Lady Bunny and new hostess Darienne Lake filling in for the originally announced Ginger Minj. But, Ginger got an acting gig and needed to bow out for a number of shows so she got replaced by Darienne for the whole tour….(which annoyed Ginger Minj fans and led to a brouhaha on social media…why can’t people just be NICE!!!???)
They make it clear this is gonna be a raunchy insult comedy show…if you’re a tender soul who can’t handle that kind of humor….stay home and knit socks for children in nature. Technically, it is an all ages event, but let’s be honest….if your kid is under 13 or so, this really isn’t the place for them.
Tuesday at 4:29 pm
A lot of people in the country murmured to themselves, “who the hell is Pete Buttigieg?” last week after the out gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana made the bold announcement he was “exploring” the option of running for President of the United States in the 2020 election.
We’re also guessing they murmured that silently to themselves since they probably didn’t know how to pronounce “Buttigieg”.
Note: it’s apparently “But-uh-judge”.
The 37 year old is a graduate of Harvard University, a Rhodes scholar, a former Naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan and married to husband Chasten Glezman since June of 2018.
Friday at 3:50 pm
The wanking gift for everyone who enjoys wanking to images of almost nude British white boys who all kinda look alike once you get their knickers off…
Sigh….they’re so vanilla.
So, I guess Warwick isn’t very diverse? Or, are British men of color too intelligent to strip down in that tepid climate?
Tuesday at 2:29 pm
Netflix has announced more casting news for the eagerly awaited brand new series of TALES OF THE CITY, the continuing story of a group of LGBTQ and allied friends living in San Francisco from the 1970s through today, and based on the 9 novel series by Armistead Maupin. The first three books in the series were successfully adapted for television in the 1990s but none of the latter 6 novels have been adapted.
The new “Tales” will be set current day but feature characters from the first book set which is set circa 1975/76…we’re not sure how that works since that first book was centered on a group mostly in their mid 20s which would put most of them around 68 or so today. Yet, actors in their late 40s and early/mid 50s are playing those roles in a 2018 setting, so……
THE MAGIC OF SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF I CALL ON YOU!!!!
Beloved original actors like Laura Linney as series lead, the naive Mary Ann Singleton and Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis as transgender land lady Mrs. Madrigal, the owner of the apartment building at 28 Barbary Lane where most of the main characters live and Barbara Garrick as lesbian heiress DeDe Halycon Day were announced months ago along with newcomer to the series, Ellen Page as Mary Ann’s estranged bisexual daughter.
Tuesday at 1:45 pm
Seattle Area Support Group’s annual Xmas tree lot will not happen in 2018. Photo via SASG’s Facebook page
Well, it almost made it to 30 years…sadly, the Seattle Area Support Group (SASG) has announced that their annual and highly beloved holiday/Xmas tree sale fundraiser will not happen in 2018. After SASG lost their longtime home at 17th & Thomas on Capitol Hill (due to their adorable home being torn down…) The owners of the former SASG House, Group Health Cooperative allowed them to continue the Xmas tree lot at the same location beginning in 2014 but Group Health got taken over by Kaiser Permanente and things have…changed. Kaiser told SASG in May of this year that it wouldn’t be possible for SASG to continue with the sale and since locations in gentrificated Seattle are hard (and expensive) to come by, the tradition is ending.
Which sucks.
SASG’s Executive Director Joshua Wallace released the news Monday in a letter posted on social media. Apparently, the loss of the fundraiser will NOT impact the group’s finances, which is good. But, if you feel compelled to send them a little donation now and then (at sasgcc.org ) then please feel free to do so!
The letter making the announcement:
Friday at 4:15 pm
Don’t let the very hetero banner image fool you…the one the makers of the scandalous new documentary SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD have been using to promote the film. It features a 1950s photo featuring the very handsome subject of this film, Scotty Bowers, a former marine turned gas pump jocked turned hustler to the stars and two female actresses looking very heteronormative.
But, Mr. Bowers, while he did service and procure for, the most beautiful and famous women in Hollywood and Society over his 50+ year as a hustler and “go-between” for sexual services, he was most utilized as a sex worker hired by the beautiful and famous MEN of Hollywood and High Society during that time….stars like Walter Pidgeon and Rock Hudson and Cary Grant and Charles Laughton and…
Scotty Bowers was a mostly well kept secret outside those circles though he was eluded to in many biographies of those stars as “the gas station hustler/pimp who serviced everyone AND their car” during Hollywood’s Golden Era, Mr. Bowers himself didn’t “out” himself until the publication of his tell all memoir, “Full Service – By Scotty Bowers with Lionel Friedberg” appeared in 2012 and quickly became an infamous New York Times’ bestseller. Gossip fans of Old Hollywood loved the juicy book which either confirmed many rumors about top stars or shocked with all new revelations while more old school fans were horrified with many expressing disapproval AND disbelief of the frank disclosures about their beloved icons.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
Wednesday at 3:26 pm
Photo: Michael Strangeways for Seattle Gay Scene
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, this year’s annual Greater Seattle Business Association (aka, the GSBA) cocktail fundraising event is a bit different. It involves a whole week of boozing it up instead of the usual one night drinking signature cocktails event they usually have.
WOO HOO!!!!
A WHOLE WEEK OF CRAFT COCKTAILS!
It’s happening NEXT week (August 27 through the 31st) at five area venues known for their good drinks…though, none of them are actual gay bars, they’re all members of the GSBA.
Thursday at 5:27 pm
WOW!
The Seattle Police Department Blotter has the scoop on last night’s huge bust at Belltown’s Foundation Nightclub that we reported on earlier today. Working with Homeland Security, the sting resulted in the arrest of 12 individuals and the seizure of :
“829 grams of cocaine, over 1,000 grams of MDMA, 400 ecstasy pills, 800 Xanax pills, 190 grams of ketamine, 13 grams of DMT, 176 grams of GHB, 1200 Molly capsules, and additional prescription drugs, as well as two handguns and more than $60,000 in cash…”
A dealer bragged to an undercover officer about his close ties to the club’s owners and coached officers on how to dose women using GHB, frequently used in “date rape”.
Tuesday at 3:33 pm
SOOOOO, you could have colored us SHOCKED when it was announced that Netflix had given the green light to a new narrative television show to star mega drag diva RuPaul. It’s not that RuPaul isn’t talented; obviously the drag star/singer/actor/producer and Emmy Award winning host of the hugely successful competitive reality show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” currently filming its 11th season is VERY talented.
But, Ru hasn’t had many opportunities to showcase actual acting skills…small roles here and there and most of them fun cameos like appearing in the Brady Bunch movies back in the 90s.
But, the new show is called AJ and the Queen and it’s a 10 episode series featuring RuPaul as “down on her luck” drag queen Ruby Red who travels across America with an 11 year old sidekick named “AJ” in a busted ole RV. Naturally, they will get into kooky adventures and Ruby will perform musical numbers in every episode.
It’s “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” meets “BJ and the Bear” (old 70s tv show; RuPaul LOVES shitty pop culture from the olden days) meets…I dunno….”Punky Brewster”?
Friday Fun Includes DOZENS Of Holiday Shows Opening! goo.gl/fb/QYfxy7
Mayor Pete Is Heading To Seattle Next Week goo.gl/fb/f6dDkU
First Trailer For “AJ & The Queen” Drops goo.gl/fb/mhgEvm
Legendary Cartoonist Howard Cruse Dies goo.gl/fb/Dk2nae
Brooke Candy Debuts “Nymph” goo.gl/fb/eHAxrZ
It Got Raunchier: Seattle’s Terry Miller Set To Direct Sexy Film For Men.com goo.gl/fb/4xVfe8
Kim Petras Has A Cheeky Response To Homophobes goo.gl/fb/ccVnF8
Join George, Clarence, and ZuZu for “It’s A Wonderful Life” LIVE On Stage goo.gl/fb/f6rHFx
Alanis Morissette, Garbage & Liz Phair Kick Off Pride Month In Seattle goo.gl/fb/WWUxR7
World AIDS Day Is Sunday December 1st goo.gl/fb/TRJpHr
It’s Saturday November 30th…Do THINGS Not Involving Shopping or Turkey! goo.gl/fb/xCNUf8
Record Breaking $1.6 Million Raised For LGBTQ Scholarships goo.gl/fb/gLxAHc
Victory Fund Endorses 39 LGBTQ Candidates for 2019 and 2020 goo.gl/fb/zPP8Vb
Kesha’s Dancing To Her “Own Dance” goo.gl/fb/h7qCfm
Friday Includes Lots of Drag And A Lizzo Love Fest goo.gl/fb/MFeujY
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