By Romeo San Vicente
'Mad Men' actress climbs 'Family Tree'
Given the lascivious reader comments that followed a recent AfterEllen article about "Mad Men"'s Christina Hendricks ("Dear Lord, thank you for creating this woman…"), it appears that the show's voluptuous leading lady has, with good reason, turned an army of lesbians into those cartoon wolves with popping-eyeballs and unfurling tongues. Which means, of course, that "The Family Tree," a comedy-drama coming this year starring Hendricks, might have an unexpected demographic giving it a bump at the box office. It doesn't hurt that the movie features a lady-lineup of co-stars like Selma Blair, Hope Davis, Rachael Leigh Cook, Gabrielle Anwar, "Heroes"' Madeline Zima and "Life Unexpected"'s Brittany Robertson. But what's the movie about? A mother stricken with memory loss, giving her dysfunctional family a second shot at being happy. So it's not like they're all going to be washing cars in soaked, suds-covered tank tops or anything. And besides, that's a straight guy's fantasy, anyway. Isn't it?
Lily Tomlin produces Leslie Jordan
Is there an odder gay success story than Leslie Jordan's? The character actor got his big break playing the hilarious bitchy Beverly Leslie on "Will & Grace" and, instead of shuffling off into obscurity when the show ended, enjoyed even more ardent fandom from his turn in Del Shores's hit cult comedy "Sordid Lives." Now Jordan's coming to the New York stage in an off-Broadway one-man show, "My Trip Down The Pink Carpet." Based on his memoir of the same name, the Emmy-winning actor will tell his own tales of Hollywood mishaps, drunken behavior and what Sean Hayes is really like, thanks to producers Lily Tomlin and her partner Jane Wagner. The show opens at New York's Midtown Theater on April 14 and runs through July 3. Unless it turns into "The Fantasticks" or something. Then you have all the time in the world to get there.
Christian & Olli are coming to America
OK, so maybe you've never heard of Christian and Olli. And if you haven't, it's because you're either a) Not living in Europe, b) Not eating up all the YouTube clips you can find of the German show "Verbotene Liebe" ("Forbidden Love") or c) an average person who waits for the English-language version to show up on American TV, ignores it, then Netflix queues the DVDs. So here's the short version: two gay characters living together in Dusseldorf are in love. They're young, cute and they make out a lot. What's not to like about that? And now former HBO Vice President Sam Martin has a U.S. version in development that will transplant the story to Portland, Ore. No casting or timeline yet, but how cool will it be to have a show where the gay couple is the A-story and not just the good friends of the leads? Answer: very.
Yves Saint Laurent lives
There have been documentaries about the late, legendary YSL before, but they've all been focused, almost exclusively, on the designer's stunning career in fashion, with little attention paid to the man's equally fascinating personal life. But the most recent film about Saint Laurent, titled "L'Amour Fou," will balance the story for history. The doc, from director Pierre Thoretton, revolves around the auction that followed Saint Lauren's death, and uses archival footage to tell the story of his life with companion Pierre Berge. Picked up for European distribution already, it probably won't be long before American arthouses get to see it for themselves. And when you go, please don't show up at the box office wearing sweatpants and Crocs. You don't want the man's ghost haunting you.
