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BOY CULTURE REVIEW: ***1/2 out of **** stars

My friend Michael invited me to An Evening with Lucie Arnaz at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn last night. My first thought had been, "I wonder how expensive flights are to Brooklyn?" But I went anyway, joining him, Greg and Tom for a long ride on the 2 and a trip down memory carril.

The court in front of the theater looked a little bit like Night of the Living Dead, which I say affectionately; some of Ms. Arnaz's (Mrs. Luckinbill's—she's been married to Boys in the Band actor Laurence Luckinbill for 33 years) fans were inherited from her late parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, so are not as mobile in their seventies and beyond as Arnaz is at 61.

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: ** out of ****

The other evening, I caught Murder Ballad, a new musical living at the Union Square Theatre that stars Will Swenson (Hair), Caissie Levy (Ghost: The Musical), John Ellison Conlee and Rebecca Naomi Jones. This represents a second life for the work, which knocked (some of) 'em dead at the Manhattan Theatre Club's The Studio at Stage II.

The bottom line is that while the cast is killin' it, I'm afraid the show itself is offed by its own music.

CHECK OUT THE "WORK UNFRIENDLY" SHOTS AT MY TUMBLR.

My pal Jason had to remind me about Broadway Bares: Solo Strips at XL tonight, which I attended following a friend's book-signing. It was pretty crowded, probably because there was only one show this time.

I bought an inseam's worth of raffle tickets from the one on the left. I lost, but still won.

The audience contained plenty of Broadway Bares-backers, including many who'd shucked their clothes in the past for the same cause: To raise cash for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Andrew Glaszek and Matthew Steffens were among those scouting the competition. (Okay, okay: Supporting friends. Okay, fine: Ogling friends.)

 

Above, a gallery filled with sexy bodies and skin, skin, skin

The program was as lean as its stars, featuring short but sweet (more like fast and dirty) performances of the variety that used to get ladies with bad reputations hauled off to the hoosegow just a few decades ago. But as always, the men of Broadway Bares managed to be racy without getting distastefully raunchy. Maybe it's because, as Broadway professionals, they never forget to SMILE.

Born in a trunk, in search of a hunk

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: *** out of ****

Just over a week ago, I was able to catch The Nance, a unique show that blends musical performances with affecting drama in a way Smash can only dream of. The Nance isn't perfect, but it has a lot to recommend it, starting with an unsurprisingly pitch-perfect performance by Nathan Lane in the title role.

Lane & Stadlen: Brokeback B.C.

In the '20s and '30s, a "pansy craze" gripped entertainment; male comics flounced and flirted in sketched, brazenly imitating gay stereotypes in a way that flouted common decency...doesn't it sound great??? It was, and the best of these nances were the ones who weren't acting, but who were instead acting up, flaunting their then-illegal sexualities and getting paid for it.

 

A gallery of Bette/Sue

As you know, I loved I'll Eat You Last, starring Bette Midler. She's since gotten rave reviews like the one in the Times, and I've been told that the only tickets left are premium. (Worth it.)

Below, check out a snippet from the show in which Midler, as the late superagent Sue Mengers, discusses Gene Hackman. (Gotta love a show that relies on Gene Hackman, Julie Harris and Ali McGraw!)

Keep reading for the clip...

He shoots, he scores!

West Phillips knows how to shoot a model. (Work Unfriendly)

Teens' sexualities relatively unaffected by porn?

Does Zac Efron in a tight T-shirt affect adult sexuality?

Bette Midler's I'll Eat You Last is a "delectable soufflé."

Key Delaware senator will be voting for marriage equality.

ENDA introduced in Congress.

Ryan Lochte fans turn out to support What Would Ryan Lochte Do?:

I love him, jeah, jeah, jeah! What Would Ryan Lochte Do? airs Sundays @ 10PM on E!

Steven Soderbergh raised on The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Join the Concrete Hero Urban Obstacle Challenge to fight AIDS.

How marriage was won in Rhode Island.

"Have Your (Cup)Cake & Read It, Too! -- The Great Gatsby edition.

Channing Tatum & Joseph Gordon-Levitt remaking Guys & Dolls?

Madonna was "impressive" recording "Like a Prayer."

More of Madonna's so-called "secret project."

From here: Madonna's not-so-secret past wardrobe hits Macy's. All 8 looks.

Haven't collected many items worn by Madonna, but I'd kill for a Keith Haring dress.

Liza Minnelli & another fan get first dibs on I'll Eat You Last

BOY CULTURE RATING: **** out of ****

The first thing I ever blogged was a take-down of Bette Midler.

It's not that I totally detest Bette Midler; the elusive gay gene disallows that. But she was not the fierce (snap!) advocate I felt she should be back then. Then there is the little matter of her frequent, often well-placed (the worst kind!) barbs about that other Divine Miss M, the one who is currently fulfilling her destiny as the wind beneath Malawi's wings.

But when I heard Bette Midler was going to play the very-recently-late Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers in I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, a one-woman show on Broadway directed by Joe Mantello, I was on board. What a perfect marriage of personalities, made all the more perfect artistically because the two women, while outspoken and lewd, are not clones so much as each possesses a "je ne sais fuck you" vibe that makes the casting so fun you don't even have to see the play to get your first delighted chuckle.

But now that I've seen the very first preview, I can say: You do have to see this play, because this is not just a great idea, it's also a great execution.

This Ann Richards is Taylor-made

Ann

Vivian Beaumont Theater, written by and starring Holland Taylor, directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein; open-ended run.

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: ***1/2 out of ****

Holland Taylor has worked steadily for years, first on the stage, sometimes in movies (Romancing the Stone) then on TV (Bosom Buddies and Two and a Half Men are her most famous roles in the medium). She's often played hoity-toity women just shy of "bitch" territory, her comic delivery making them more amusing than infuriating. She knows how to play a character while still allowing her own persona to shine through, one that urges the audience not to take things too seriously.

In Ann, the one-woman show (if you don't count taped offstage commentary by Julie White) she wrote for herself, Taylor gives herself over to the subject, the late, great Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, and it's a performance that is both a revelation and a suitable final act in her long career—not that she has any intention of slowing down. Judging by the legwork it took for her to research Richards and get Ann up, let alone on Broadway in the expansive Vivian Beaumont, it would appear Ms. Taylor is only working harder as the years go by, the sign of a true artist.

But I had the immunity idol!

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been voted off the island after 10 years.

Ann, starring Holland Taylor, charms The New York Times.

Surprisingly, a complete asshole blogs for Field & Stream.

Bee venom kills HIV.

Telling Canadian Bieber to "go back to America" rankles.

Shemar Moore-Moore-Moore...how do you like it, how do you like it?

Juan Williams blames plagiarism on researcher.

Sweden's the best place to be gay, Iran's the worst. Your guide.

Is Keith Urban homophobic on American Idol?

Matthew Fox hypocritically critical of Harry Styles.

Wait, why are small knives okay on planes suddenly???

Gay dads who found son in subway on Anderson Live.

Just because you've always wanted to see the Teen Wolf cast nose-free:

You'll howl with laughter

My autograph-hound pal Rich invited me to see My Name is Asher Lev at the Westside Theatre, based on the beloved Chaim Potok novel about an Orthodox Jewish boy born with artistic talent who must convince his strict parents to allow him to fulfill his potential in spite of his religion. I'd heard it was good so it wasn't hard to convince me to go (for free...thanks, Rich!), but Rich's motives were not the art but his religious pursuit of autographs; in this case, he was looking to snag Mark Nelson from Asher Lev and also Marilyn Sokol, who was appearing in Old Jews Telling Jokes in the same space.

Nelson as adorkable "Ned" in Friday the 13th

Nelson, now in his fifties,  appealed to Rich's horror appreciation, having appeared in Friday the 13th (1980), while Sokol, 75, was a draw for having had the misfortune of appearing in Can't Stop the Music that same year. I think Rich was worried they'd rebuff him at the stage door (some actors resent being remembered for their least accomplished but sometimes most loveable performances), so having me along as a buffer and also having tickets to one of the shows was a way to ensure we wouldn't be seen as those autograph hawkers who hop from event to event stalking stars and expecting them to participate in a cottage industry the profits from which they're not allowed to share.