Since 1995 the Michigan LGBTQ Comedy Fest has brought some of the best names in LGBTQ entertainment to Detroit. This 23-year tradition remains unbroken in 2019 with four comedians — Karen Williams, Peter Smith, Sandra Valls and Mimi Gonzalez — slated to perform on Saturday, March 2, at the Courtyard Detroit-Dearborn at 8 p.m.
Diverse media representation has made great strides in recent decades, but most LGBTQ people can attest to the fact that they're still not regularly seeing themselves included in mainstream entertainment. And when it comes to streaming platforms, the LGBTQ category is usually limited to a small amount of content that leaves little to no room for a variety of storytelling. That fact was not lost on ally Alia J. Daniels either, a Michigan native who transplanted to Los Angeles to finish Loyola Law School and start a career in entertainment law. She said she and a group of friends noticed the sparseness in LGBTQ content on mainstream apps in 2015.
As a multi-faceted, medium-diverse artist, it's likely that many fans of Clyde Petersen's work might know him from a specific project — like "Boating With Clyde," a digital interview series that happens on the waters [...]
It’s a new concept. A nude art show aimed at attracting an audience of queer folks of color. FreQshow, which will be co-produced by artist and local style icon DL Perrett and Imagine This Productions, [...]
Multiple everyday choices are a part of regular life, but there are a few among those many that stand out and those few are usually the ones that have life-changing consequences. In "If/Then," the Broadway [...]
Even now, Adam Devine just wants to dance with some bodies. So, as Josh in "Isn’t it Romantic," the comedian known for flexing his funny-guy chops in Comedy Central’s "Workaholics" (which he also co-wrote) and [...]
International Erotic Art Exhibition Detroit Saturday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 16 Russell Exhibition Center Russell Industrial Complex 1600 Clay St., Detroit Tickets start at $40. For more information, go online to dirtydetroit.com. As soon [...]
In an amateur stage production it's not unusual for there to be a few hiccups throughout the show. In fact, even Broadway-caliber performances don't always make it through without a hitch. That is, after all, why "the show must go on" has become such a famous saying both in and out of show business. But in the comedy "The Play That Goes Wrong," that concept is blown way out of proportion when the Cornley University Drama Society does its best to put on a 1920s murder mystery play. Cast members have to deal with stuck doors, forgotten lines, collapsing floors and, according to cast member Ned Noyes, "many things you'll never see coming going wrong, too."
By Romeo San Vicente Sarah Paulson flies over the cuckoo’s nest Ryan Murphy, the man who currently owns most of television, has another show coming. It’s called "Ratched," and you’ll need to reach back [...]
New relationships are the universe’s way of giving us yet another chance to get it right in the love department – and since none of us are getting younger, it’s wise not to squander it by making the same mistakes over and over. This time around, along with changing toxic behaviors that may have sent your significant other running for the nearest therapist or liquor store, consider cleansing a few areas of your life, tangible and otherwise. Here are a few places to start.
Because according to Trump’s America only white het men can exist, now would be a good time to reintroduce Wanda Sykes. She is a black person and a woman and a lesbian. And if [...]
By Romeo San Vicente Fossil hunting with Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan You already know Kate Winslet and you’re finally figuring out who the staggeringly talented Saoirse Ronan ("Mary Queen of Scots") is, even if [...]
Keke Palmer is not a girl, not yet – oh wait, she is a woman. It happened so fast, but here we are: With her squeaky-clean Nickelodeon and Disney Channel days behind her, Palmer disappears [...]
By Romeo San Vicente Is it because we’re all swimming together in the toxic Trump pool that makes every new addition to the LGBTQ cultural canon feel like an act of rebellion? Probably. But even [...]
Oh, sure, Dan Levy gets excited. Really, he does! The sparkle may not be written on his face – cherubic, distinguished, writerly; one with features much like his actor-dad, Eugene Levy – but inside you [...]
Damn that bulging carpometacarpal joint. Without it, Margaret Cho’s kink play could’ve been trouble-free, but nope – that thumb joint has been “the bane of my existence since 1991,” she tells me. That’s right: I [...]
It's the stuff of nightmares, learning that a loved one has died long before their time. For Orpheus, his beloved Euridice died because of a snake bite, but for composer Ricky Ian Gordon, his partner [...]
FERNDALE – Cast members of the national touring production of "The Phantom of the Opera" — coming to Detroit Jan. 24 to Feb. 3 at the Detroit Opera House — will perform a special concert to benefit Affirmations and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
New Year’s Eve is a time to reflect, cleanse and get pumped for starting anew, but that happy train could crash and burn if you don’t avoid these countdown-to-disaster no-nos.
Someday, if we’re lucky, we might get a full performance of Nicholas Hoult in a fluffy wig, his cheeks powdered and painted pink, with heeled feet, all the while vivaciously lipping Beyoncé’s “Hold Up.” Give [...]
The Jim Toy Community Center’s Lesbian Book Club LezRead provides more than just an opportunity to read and discuss queer literature. Over the past 16 years, the club has offered queer women of all life [...]
BY PATRICE NOLAN WATERFORD — Before the musical "The Book of Mormon" debuted there was "The Book of Liz," a play by humorist and author David Sedaris and his sister Amy, who is an actress, [...]
ANN ARBOR, – Theatre NOVA’s holiday tradition continues in 2018 with 'The Elves and the Schumachers,' a brand-new play from the team that brought fans “The Year Without a Panto Claus” and “Sugar Plum Panto.” [...]
Name a 24-year-old Oscar nominee more qualified to take the throne as a crown-donning, queer-friendly queen than Saoirse Ronan. The "Mary Queen of Scots" star’s own life is rich in queer-adjacent roles and gay besties, [...]
Racism, gun violence and human rights violations; unless those are issues faced in their daily life, it's unlikely that the average American chooses to face them head-on. Detroit-born artist Charzette Torrence decided to change that. [...]
Set to perform at Ferndale High School at 3 p.m. on Dec. 9, The SingOutDetroit Chorus is getting ready for its holiday concert. "Join us in celebrating the jolly nature of the season. With songs [...]
By Romeo San Vicente 'Moulin Rouge!' now and forever The stage production of Baz Luhrmann’s "Moulin Rouge!" that opened this summer in Boston is going to Broadway in 2019. Producer Carmen Pavlovic broke the news [...]
Actress and social activist Ellen Page recently witnessed history repeating itself while revisiting acclaimed classic "Casablanca." Page noted the 1942 film’s eerie modern-day relevance, “the Nazi presence, but the sort of neutrality of people,” while [...]
Bittersweet Dramedy Explores Bakers, Cakes and Family Dilemmas
In an "open call" to artists interested, MOCAD sent out a press release advertising their Monster Drawing Rally. This is an annual public event that features 100 artists in two one-hour shifts. They will draw in front of a live audience and make their usually private studio processes part of a public performance.
Proudly openly gay for the length of his career, comedian Jason Stuart was the first openly gay male comedian to have his own hour comedy special: "Making it to the Middle." It was taped in the middle of his career, the middle of the country and the middle of his life, and will air again from Here Media for its 10th year anniversary on Dec. 7, on Here TV on cable and streaming services.
DETROIT — The Detroit Institute of Arts presents its 10th annual Community Group Art Exhibition from Dec. 6, 2018, to Jan. 6, 2019, in the special exhibition galleries located next to Rivera Court, with a connected display in the Walter Gibbs Learning Center. The artworks were created by participants in the DIA’s Community Group Program, a partnership between the museum and human service agencies in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
The Scarab Club is currently preparing its Gold Medal Exhibition, an annual unthemed, all-media exhibition, open to all members in good standing. The Annual chronicles year-to-year events and exhibitions at the Scarab Club and includes [...]
After a fierce, Oscar-nominated turn as scandalous skater Tonya Harding in 2017’s "I, Tonya," Margot Robbie is off the ice and holding royal court as Queen Elizabeth I in "Mary Queen of Scots." Exercising a [...]
Bittersweet Dramedy Explores Bakers, Cakes and Family Dilemmas In July 2012, Colorado residents Charlie Craig and David Mullins approached Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips with a request to create a cake to celebrate their upcoming [...]
On Thursday, Dec. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m., shoppers at dolce MODA in Birmingham have the opportunity to support the LGBTQ community center through their purchases. Wine and cocktails will be served during the [...]
The Charles Dickens holiday classic "A Christmas Carol" has come back to Rochester's Meadow Brook Theatre for the 37th consecutive year. Tickets are now available for performances through Dec. 23. Following the story of Ebenezer [...]
Get ready for a Roy Cohn-ucopia Did you miss the Roy Cohn lesson in queer history class? Do you still not know about the closeted, Trump-mentoring, McCarthyite lawyer who hated the LGBT community and [...]
"You’re my first. Be gentle with me. Can we start with, like, a foreplay thing where you can just take it easy on me? Some gentle licking perhaps, and then we’ll get into the heavy [...]
AARP's Purpose Prize is designed to honor extraordinary individuals who use their life experience to make a better future, each year selecting winners who have gone above and beyond to achieve that goal. In the case of one of this year's winners, Marc Sophos, his focus has been on LGBTQ youth. The New York-based journalist is the founder and executive director of Media for the Public Good — a nonprofit that focuses on creating media from underrepresented points of view. Putting his nearly two decades of radio experience to use, Sophos created "OutCasting" a youth LGBTQ public radio program, and the accompanying podcast "OutCasting Overtime." Each episode is created by LGBTQ teens.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on Nov. 20 that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. TDOR was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998.
DETROIT — Aerialists and police radios, a theatrical podcast airing and the first multi-generational performance by an internationally renowned spoken word poet. These are just a few of this year’s performance highlights at the 2018 Detroit Fringe Festival.
Viola Davis taps my hand when she really means what she says. Each time the actress reaches over to make contact, the big bar in the big skyscraper in big Chicago where we are sitting [...]
A pansexual man-avenger returns – this time, with English actress Claire Foy sporting the Swedish computer-hacker Lisbeth Salander’s leather gear and trademark dragon tattoo. Based on the novel from David Lagercrantz, written after original author [...]
Foster’s spinoff delivers a dose of 'Good Trouble' We told you a while back that "Good Trouble" was coming. It’s the spinoff from "The Fosters" that follows Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) [...]
After overcoming a battle with drug addiction and an HIV-positive diagnoses, musician Brennan Villines jumped into the national spotlight with a showstopping performance on Fox's "The Four." Villines imprinted upon viewers not only his musical [...]
Whether belting out a classic like "House of the Rising Sun," putting her own spin on Radiohead's "Creep" or performing a standing ovation-worthy "Wicked" duet with stars like Lea Michele, Ada Vox is bringing it. [...]
By Romeo San Vicente Will Rosie rivet audiences on 'The Talk'? Well, Julie Chen is, of course, out at "The Talk" thanks to horrible husband troubles. But who’ll take over for her? It seems [...]
There’s no Halloween like a Halloween with drag queens, burlesque shows and friendly LGBTQ company. With the season kicking into high gear this weekend, our team at BTL has organized a list of queer-friendly Halloween [...]
Melissa McCarthy knows her way around a woman who doesn’t care what other people think. This is the foundation on which her bawdy and vanity-free slapstick characters are created. Anti-feminine hornball Megan in "Bridesmaids" dialed [...]
