By Romeo San Vicente
Cher and Chastity take a 'Family Outing'
She believes in life after love "and" life after endless concert touring. Not content to take it easy and sit around the house in sweats, Cher is coming into your home – most likely sans multiple costume changes – to talk about coming out. Logo, the new lesbian and gay cable channel, will launch its slate of programming on February 17, and included in the line-up of queer films will be a fresh batch of original homo shows, one of which, "Family Outing," will be hosted by Cher and Chastity Bono. "Outing" will focus on the coming-out stories of celebrities and other people in the news, and delve into the consequences of that decision with friends, family, and the press. Romeo is excited, but not getting his hopes up for a weekly mother/daughter duet of "I Got You, Babe."
Joan Jett's return to the Runaways
For queers of the '70s who loved rock and roll instead of folk music or disco, the Runaways were an immensely important band. Lesbians especially found icons in tough girls Joan Jett and Lita Ford, and now that legacy is getting a media boost with the release of "Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways." Directed by former Runaway member Victory Tischler-Blue (then known as Vicki Blue), the movie compiles archival fan-shot footage, offset by Blue's memories of joining the all-girl band that spent their teen years touring the world and being alternately revered as pioneers and reviled as a corrupt record industry's jailbait-exploitation project. The movie is touring film festivals right now, with hopes for a wider distribution deal to follow. And that would rock.
Showtime's police story spreads the 'Hate'
Romeo knows what you're thinking: "Who needs another cop show?" And normally that sort of complaint would be right on the money. Leave it to Showtime, though – home to "The L Word" and "Queer as Folk" – to know not only where its bread is buttered, but also how to take the tired cop-drama concept and make it fresh. The cable channel is developing "Hate," a new series set in the hate-crimes division of the New York Police Department, to be executive-produced by Oscar winners Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen ("American Beauty," "Big Fish"), as well as openly gay filmmaker Paris Barclay. Barclay also co-wrote and directed "Hate"'s pilot episode, so queer story lines are virtually guaranteed. All that's left is for Showtime to say, "Book 'em!" to a whole season.
Stephin Merritt's 'Fairy Tale'
Gay songwriter Stephin Merritt may be an unfamiliar name, but if you've seen the trailer for the upcoming Richard Gere/Jennifer Lopez movie "Shall We Dance," you've heard Peter Gabriel singing "Book of Love," a song by Merritt's band, The Magnetic Fields. Theater audiences will soon have a chance to learn Merritt's name, as the prolific and critically acclaimed musician is working on the songs for a stage musical called "My Life as a Fairy Tale," about the life of Hans Christian Andersen, to be directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. The Danish author of "The Ugly Duckling" and other classic fairy tales, Andersen is widely believed by scholars to have been gay or bisexual, although it's unknown at the moment if that bit of biography is relevant to the story. Either way, the music is sure to be lovely.
