Born On This Day- August 7th... John Glover

I first made note of a pair of new actors- John Glover & Meryl Streep in small parts in just 2 scenes in the film Julia(1977). They both made quite an impression in essentially tiny roles. I have watched Glover’s career with interest & have enjoyed his performances, most often playing villains, in film & on TV.

Glover has done extensive stage work on Broadway, Off-Broadway & in regional theatre. Highlights for me include an Emmy nominated turn in An Early Frost, one of the first movies to deal with AIDS & in Annie Hall, in another tiny role, he utters to Diane Keaton, the very funny line: "Touch my heart. With your foot."

He has had reoccurring roles on Frasier, Murder She Wrote, Law & Order, Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, & as Lux Luther's father Lionel on Smallville.

Glover received a Tony nomination last year as Lucky in Waiting For Godot. For me the apex of his long career was playing 2 roles, twin brothers, in Love! Valor! Compassion!for which he won the Tony & repeated the role in the film version. I really admired & was touched this very fine performance.

Glover lives in NYC with his longtime partner- sculptor Adam Kurtzman. Glover turns 68 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Neil Patrick Harris!

He avoided the fate of most child actors; he did not slide into drugs or obscurity. He has not been featured on Where Are They Now or Celebrity Rehab.

Instead, he is nominated for Emmy Awards for convincingly playing a ladies' man on How I Met Your Mother. He beats even the great Billy Crystal for best award show host of all time; just let him host the Oscars. Please?!? He is brave & fearless… how about that rap at the end of the Tonys on Sunday night? He plays a very demented version of himself in the Harold & Kumar movies, including the upcoming A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. NPH sings, dances, does magic, he has a sly sense of humor, & spot on timing. Along with his impossibly cute partner- David Burtka, he is the father of 8 month old twins.

NPH turns 38 today. Is he a gay hero. I think so, he lives his life with his head held high & with a certain elegance. I simply love him to pieces. On Sunday, Gay Pride Day in Portland, we are going to see him in a film version of his stage turn in Sondheim's Company from this spring.

Born On This Day In 1564... Will.I.Am Shakespeare

In my 45 years of working on stage I only played in a few works by The Bard of Stratford-On -Avon, all of them small roles: Prince of Aarogon in The Merchant Of Venice, Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Andrew Auecheek in Twelfth Night, Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream & 3rd witch in the Scottish Play. Among the list of roles I never got to play, at the top would be: Malvolio, Shylock, & Caliban... I was probably short on talent & short on chances in my short lifetime. 

More has been written about William Shakespeare than any other writer, & it is still being debated whether Shakespeare was Shakespeare. Entire books have been dedicated to the subject, on both sides of the issue. The 3 strongest possibilities for the true identity of the Bard: Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, & Christopher Marlowe were all homosexual.

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, apparently not intended for publication. 126 of these sonnets address the poet's love for a young man. I, of course, claim him as one of the gays: handsome, dressed well, preferred to live, work & travel with male companions rather than be home in Stratford with his wife, wrote & acted in plays, & enjoyed cocktails, gossip & shopping. But the real tip off is when he outed himself at the Tony Awards when he thanked his boyfriend with this acceptance speech:

A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion:
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
& for a woman wert thou first created;
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
& by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love & thy love's use their treasure.

Born On This Day- February 3rd... Talented Nathan Lane

The Husband & I channel surfed on to the The Birdcage the recently, a movie that I don’t actually think is very good, but whenever I chance upon it, the movie seemingly gets my full attention.

This got me thinking about Nathan Lane… & he ended up with my career! I wanted to establish myself as the "go to" guy for comic musical roles. I wanted to make my home on the Broadway stage, but not be afraid to venture into films, some Disney voice work would be nice & maybe do a sitcom at some point. I wanted to make room for all those Tony Awards on my mantle. When I was firmly established as a comic leading man, I would come out of the closet & hope for the best. I wanted to play opposite Matthew Broderick in one of the biggest hit musicals of all time, & follow that with turns in a Beckett classic & a new Mamet play. I wanted to be Terrance McNally's muse & have him write roles just for me like: The Lisbon Traviata, as Mendy- a gay man with an obsession with the opera singer Maria Callas, Bad Habits, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, the Tony-winning Love! Valour! Compassion!, & a film version of Frankie & Johnnie. I would have even been unapologetic when I starred opposite Bette Midler in the Jacqueline Susann biopic Isn't She Great.

I never got to star opposite Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family on Broadway. Oh well, Nathan Lane is the toast of Broadway, & I am the toast of Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, with a big ol' chip on my shoulder. I hope he is happy as he turns 55 today!

Born On This Day- September 24th... Tony Award Winning Cuite- John Logan

When he accepted his Best Play Tony Award this spring for RED, I thought- “hmmm… what a little Irish type hottie, & talented to boot. I wonder if he is family? Am I wrong or does this guy seem gay”, which makes sense at the Tonys, but John Logan is also the screenwriter responsible for such butch work as: Any Given Sunday, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Aviator… oh, there is a tip off after all- Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.

Logan: "I would much rather go see the new Stephen Sondheim show than go to a football game anymore. The 1st movie I wrote- Any Given Sunday, is about football players, the most he-man demimonde you can explore. I would walk into meetings with studio executives, & their jaws would drop about the fact that I'm clearly not a he-man, I make no bones about being anything but gay, & my personal interests are sort of arty.”


Logan & his partner of 19 years- Marty Madden, live in Malibu. Logan: “The reason I am successful today is due to his support. When we met I was a starving playwright. He supported me for years, with absolute faith that it would all work out. The nature of our relationship is the 2 of us together, walking our dogs, having dinner, or sitting on the sofa watching TV. We so rarely do things like get dressed up & go out to ceremonies like the Academy Awards, that it's really fun. It's like a really cool date with Marty.”


Logan on being out: “In American history there's been nothing but tragedy to come from anyone being ashamed of who they are or denying who they are for any reason whatsoever. If I were a movie star, where my career would be ruined if I came out of the closet, maybe I would feel some justification for hiding, but I don't think so. I know people who are in the closet & it is killing them. Any human being who denies the central aspect of who they are, which is love, is not going to be a happy person.


I think it is of paramount importance that anyone in the public eye who has done anything of note that might get respect in, say, Georgia or Texas, stand up & say, ‘This is who I am. & I still wrote The Aviator, & I still worked on Gladiator, & I still worked on The Last Samurai, & I still worked on Any Given Sunday. & I'm still working. & no one I work with has a problem with that’."


Logan has written 14 plays including: Never the Sinner, Hauptmann: Speaking in Tongues, Scorched Earth, & Riverview. His new adaptation of Ibsen's The Master Builder appeared on the West End in 2003. He is a member of the Victory Gardens Theatre Playwright Ensemble. Logan's work as a screenwriter includes Sweeney Todd (Golden Globe award), The Aviator (Oscar, Golden Globe & WGA nominations); Gladiator (Oscar, Golden Globe & WGA nominations), The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday, & RKO 281 (WGA award, Emmy nomination).


About RED:
Master American expressionist Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art, a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant. In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing.

Next up- The Miraculous Year, an HBO series created, written & executive produced by John Logan. Kathryn Bigelow, Best Director Oscar winner for The Hurt Locker will direct.  The series is a character driven, contemporary look at the arenas of art & theater: "an examination of a New York family as seen through the lens of a charismatic, self destructive Broadway composer." I hope I am being considered  for the lead. John Logan is quite the little underachiever.

I Want To Thank All The Little People

I always liked them, especially the big 4: The Oscars, The Tonys, The Grammys & The Emmys. I started with the Academy Awards when I was 5 years old & have rarely missed watching them in the past 50 years. When I was a youth, I would practice accepting awards by holding a large & heavy candle holder while giving my much practiced speech to the bathroom mirror. It would seem a bit self aggrandizing for a kid to start practicing to accept a major award, but my tastes were rather modest. My most coveted prize was a Tony for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, but I was up for taking whatever anyone would give me. I would even be willing to share Best Original Screenplay with my buddy like Matt Damon.

I am not sure when I was so won over by The Golden Globes, but this award show seems like the best party in Hollywood. The Oscars are polite, stiff & sober. I like the stars sitting at tables & drinking booze on empty stomachs. In their better days, the Oscars took place at a gala dinner, spawning classic newsreel footage of the stars breaking bread & looking like a big happy family. Now they appear like surly group of a lined up for questioning at the Kodak Theatre. The Globes extend the golden age of Hollywood.

The acceptance speeches seem looser & there is the wonderful chance that something may go wrong, or something untoward will be uttered. I also like the TV & Film folks are pulled together & the line between the 2 media is blurred. Who knows who these Hollywood Foreign Press voters are? The mystery of the membership makes the awards even more fun & less serious than the Oscars. & I really enjoy this awards evening because of the treasured memory of Back in 1981, the Globes reached a peculiar zenith when the mega-untalented Pia Zadora took the Newcomer of the Year prize for her performance in Butterfly, a movie that hadn't even been released. By the association's own rules, that should have made her ineligible. As it happened, Zadora's husband, zillionaire Meshulam Riklis, jetted members of the association into his casino in Las Vegas shortly before the voting & threw them at a lavish lunch with tasty gift bags. He also spent a bunch of money on advertising to lobby for his wife's award. I like the idea that if I really wanted to win a Golden Globe, my rich Daddy could buy me one.

Tony Awards Wrap-Up

After 42 years of watching, I have noted that The Tony Awards are very GAY. I did before the broadcast, & now I love him even more after his excellent job of hosting the Tony Awards last night, but NEIL PATRICK HARRIS has a birthday this month & will get his own Post Apocalyptic Bohemian birthday blog post. But I need to say it- he was handsome, charming, funny & a natural for being the host of the Tonys.

I have been watching the Tony Awards since the first national broadcast in 1967. That evening was hosted by Mary Martin & Robert Preston. The nominees for Musical were The Apple Tree, Walking Happy, I Do! I DO!, & Cabaret. This was the only way a young musical comedy queen in Spokane Washington could see numbers from the big Broadway musicals & I found each broadcast thrilling. During the day of the airing of the Tony Award show, I would listen to my Original Cast albums of that season's shows & practice accepting my award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (I was too humble to see myself nominated for Best Actor) in the mirror, using a large brass candlestick as my Tony award. I would reserve the new color TV for just me & my parents would allow me to stay up for the show.

Last night's broadcast had some highlights for me: seeing Liza acting so very Liza, hearing the sound of Bret Michael's head hitting a lowering set piece, the numbers from West Side Story & Hair (the Hair selections raised the roof all the way to Portland Oregon), Gavin Creel looking yummy, the 3 Billy Elliots accepting their joint award for Best Actor in a Musical, my good close personal friend- Angela Lansbury winning her 5th Tony, seeing Nicole Kidman , Marcia Gay Harden, Stockard Channing, & Anne Hathaway looking stunning, but most of all I loved me some Neil Patrick Harris, especially doing the musical wrap up of the awards at the end of the evening. How did he memorize lines about things that had just happened a few minutes earlier? I am more impressed than ever by this bright, funny, talented & super sexy man.