By Romeo San Vicente
He enjoys being a girl
Matthew McConaughey finally knows where his bread's buttered. After the some would say puzzling success of fluffy hits like "The Wedding Planner" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," he seems to be on his way to an Americanized Hugh Grant-style romantic comedy career. Now the hunky Texan's own j.k. livin (a cute "Dazed and Confused" reference) production company will create another bit of fluff for him, this time with a cross-gendered twist. McConaughey will star in "Dear Delilah," about a womanizer who also ghost writes a romantic advice column of the same name. He'll be the cad who learns about what women really want in what sounds like a bit like "Tootsie," but minus the skirts and all that time in the make-up chair. At least Romeo "hopes" he won't appear in drag.
Can't stop the show tunes
Impatient theater queens still have to wait a while (think fall 2004) for the big, six-hour PBS documentary on the history of Broadway. But serious devotees will get an entirely different documentary to quell their hunger this coming April. Newly formed distributor Dada Films will offer writer/director Rick McKay's "Broadway: The Golden Age" as its first theatrical release in selected markets (i.e., big cities). "Broadway," which has already won 10 film festival awards, includes chats with Bea Arthur, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Hume Cronyn, Derek Jacobi, Gwen Verdon, Elaine Stritch, Stephen Sondheim, and Chita Rivera, to name just a few. And if it doesn't make it to a theater near you, don't fret. The DVD is going to be packed with extras. Get those jazz-hands ready, kids.
Tony Kushner's unused vacation days
Talk about a man who likes to work. Most people would be perfectly happy to have their Tony-winning "Angels in America" brought to HBO, then in turn have HBO commit to bringing their latest play – the musical "Caroline, Or Change" – to Broadway. But not playwright Tony Kushner. He's finishing up his next play, "Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy," a sure-to-inspire-controversy piece in which Laura Bush and the ghosts of dead Iraqi children are featured characters. And Kushner's also continuing work on "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures," starring Stephen Spinella (of "Angels"' original Broadway cast) and set for a Los Angeles premiere in 2005. All of this in addition to the Eugene O'Neill biopic script Romeo told you about a while back. That one's still untitled, but if his latest stage work is any indication, the name might not fit on the marquee.
Reaching your lesbian 'Potential'
Thank goodness for daring dyke producers like Christine Vachon. Moviegoers with nonmainstream tastes can count on her Killer Films production company to bring them stuff like "Camp" and "Party Monster" that Hollywood wouldn't touch with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole. And now Killer is taking on Ariel Schrag's autobiographical comic book series, "Potential," about a young queer girl's high school misadventures with love, grades, and clothes – a "Ghost World" for baby dykes, if you will. Schrag herself is the screenwriter. Alhough no other details – such as cast or production schedules – are available yet, the film promises to be something to look forward to: more riot grrrl, less "Tank Girl."
