GLAAD Awards Exclusive Interview: Michael R. Jackson on writing A Strange Loop “I felt misunderstood, unseen & unheard”

A Strange Loop became the most Tony Award-nominated production of the season today, receiving 11 nominations including Best Musical. On Friday night the show's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, composer and lyricist, Michael R. Jackson, gave a powerful and moving performance of Memory Song from the musical on stage at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Ahead... Continue Reading →

May 9, 2022 1

Theatre Review: A Strange Loop (Lyceum Theatre, New York) ★★★★★

Before the lights go down at the Lyceum Theatre, a recorded announcement by A Strange Loop's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, composer and lyricist—Michael R. Jackson—politely reminds us to keep our masks on and to switch off or silence our mobile devices. Theatre etiquette which he says, as a former usher, he finds particularly irksome when ignored.... Continue Reading →

May 2, 2022 3

Dr Emily Garside on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s love letter to musical theatre & Jonathan Larson’s legacy with tick, tick…BOOM!

Lin-Manuel Miranda's hugely creative film adaptation of tick, tick...BOOM! has been, it now seems safe to say, a huge success. Fittingly for the story of Jonathan Larson, a man who referred to himself as 'the future of musical theatre', it is an inventive movie musical that shows what the genre can be and has the... Continue Reading →

November 25, 2021 1

The Queer Review meets the cast & filmmakers of Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! “it’s a love letter to theatre”

In case you hadn't already heard, Broadway is back, baby, and on Monday it was abuzz, not with the opening of a new show, but with a celebration of the legacy of one of musical theatre's most beloved artists, taken far too soon, Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning Rent creator Jonathan Larson. The event at... Continue Reading →

November 19, 2021 3

Outfest 2021 Exclusive Interview: filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz on Boulevard! A Hollywood Story “how many queer stories are buried in boxes, sitting in people’s attics & basements?”

Jeffrey Schwarz, the Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker behind Vito, I Am Divine, and Tab Hunter Confidential, returns to Outfest this month for the world premiere of his latest feature, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story. The fascinating film unearths the little-known attempt by actress Gloria Swanson to stage an original Broadway musical based on the movie she is... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2021 1

Film Review: Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square ★★★

In a year when it's often been a challenge to see the light, not only did Dolly Parton help bring some joy to lockdown with a surprise appearance on the RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 finale, she also soothed our souls with the hopeful single When Life Is Good Again, and most significantly, as has... Continue Reading →

November 20, 2020 1

Exclusive Interview: Stage Mother star Allister Macdonald “not only is it such a queer story, but it was so queer making it”

One of the standout performances of Thom Fitzgerald's uplifting comedy Stage Mother, which opens in select US theatres and on demand this Friday August 21st, comes from queer Canadian actor Allister MacDonald who portrays a talented San Fransisco drag queen with an inspired name, Joan of Arkansas. MacDonald appears in the movie alongside Oscar-nominee Jacki... Continue Reading →

August 19, 2020 0

I Meh With You – Film Review: Valley Girl ★★1/2

A couple of years ago, I went with a group to see Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Despite the thuddingly bad writing, we’d giddily wonder what ABBA song the filmmakers would shoehorn into the next musical number. I remember my pal Dennis seeing those platform soles stepping out of a helicopter and loudly exclaiming,... Continue Reading →

May 23, 2020 0

Theatre Review: Jagged Little Pill (Broadhurst Theatre, New York) ★★

Well, ARE you thinking of me when you fuck her? I was definitely thinking a lot about Alanis Morissette as I watched Jagged Little Pill, the big Broadway jukebox musical based on her record-breaking debut album (and a few other songs). Mainly I was thinking this is what happens when a great rock album gets... Continue Reading →

March 15, 2020 1

Theatre Review: Moulin Rouge! (Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York) ★★★★★

Some musicals are subtle, moving works of art and some are brash spectacles that dare you to be bored. It's comes as no surprise that Moulin Rouge! is the latter and from the first bass note you’ll have a hard time escaping it’s grasp. Translating Baz Luhrmann’s camp, frenetic film to the stage was always... Continue Reading →

March 15, 2020 0