Tune & Minnelli Share A Birthday

2 talented directors share a birthday. I can't help reflect on what a difference it must have made in one man's life to have been in the closet & the other to have been able to be openly & unmistakenly GAY.

The life of Vincente Minnelli, the director of classic MGM musicals like Meet Me in St. Louis, Gigi & An American in Paris, was as peculiar as the dream ballets that became his trademark. Born Lester Anthony Minnelli in 1903, he grew up the only child in a family of traveling performers in the Midwest. His mother, Mina Mary LaLouche LeBeau, played the ingénue in stock melodramas, while his father, Vincent, conducted the Minnelli Brothers Tent Theater orchestra.


In young adulthood, shy, stammering Lester Minnelli, who had had a penchant for trying on his mother’s clothes, read a biography of the flamboyant painter James McNeill Whistler & decided to reinvent himself as a worldly aesthete, working as a window dresser in Chicago before making his name as a designer of lavish theatrical sets in New York. It was there that he became “Vincente.”

Once he moved to Hollywood as a director in MGM’s stable, Minnelli quickly built a reputation as a fearsome perfectionist, despite his passive, retiring personality. A closeted gay man, Minnelli had been known to sport “light makeup” & yet, he married 4 times , most famously, to Judy Garland & he fathered 2 daughters, including the perpetually re-self-inventing Liza Minnelli.

_________________________________________________

There is 6’6’’ & Texan, with the improbable name-Tommy Tune who is an actor/dancer/singer/choreographer/director, & the winner of 9 Tony Awards, the only person in theatrical history to win in 4 different categories & to win the same Tony Award 2 years in a row.

Tune danced onto the Broadway scene in the chorus of Baker Street in 1965 & hasn't stopped since. I saw him in Michael Bennetts’s Seesaw in 1973, for which he received raves & his first Tony (Best Featured Actor in a Musical). He directed his first show, the off-Broadway production of The Club in 1976. he directed & choreographed The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, A Day in the Hollywood/ A Night in the Ukraine (his 2nd Tony- Best Choreography), Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9, Nine (his 3rd Tony-Best Direction of a Musical), My One & Only (his 4th & 5th Tony-Best Choreography, Best Actor in a Musical). Stepping Out, Grand Hotel (Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Musical), & Will Roger's Follies (Best Choreography, Best Musical).


Tune has an art gallery in Tribeca . In his 1997 memoir Footnotes, he writes about what drives him as a performer, choreographer & director, offers stories about being openly gay in the world of theatre, his partners David Wolfe & Michael Stuart, about his days with Twiggy in My One & Only & meeting & working with his many idols.

I find him likable & remarkably talented... & tall. He turns 72 today.

Broadway Baby

Happy Birthday, Bernadette Lazzara! Of all the Broadway Divas: Betty, Barbara, Patti, Chita, Kristin, Audra, Chita, Carol…or even Angela, the one with the most special place in my heart & on my stereo is Bernadette Peters. I first saw her in George M! in 1968 & I absolutely fell in love with the voice, the va va voom curves, the cinnamon curls, the dramatic chops, & the crack comic timing. But, it is really about the voice. She has been working on stage for 59 years: Curley McDimple, Dames At Sea, George M!, On The Town, Mack & Mabel, Sunday In The Park With George, Song & Dance, Into The Woods, The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun, & Gypsy!.

Bernadette does amazing work for animal rights with her organization with Mary Tyler Moore- Broadway Barks & is the author of a popular children’s book of the same name.


I have seen her many times in musicals & in concert. My personal favorite was Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway in 1999. Peters sings with her whole body. Not just a few arm gestures for punctuation, as many excellent singers offer, but the music seems to travel from her toes to the tip of her nose as she bends, reaches & throws her head back to let out the final notes.


She turns 63 today & she looks terrific. A perfect example of the advantage of staying out of the sun. But again, for me it is all about the voice:

Street Fashion Frida Gustavsson

At the moment New York Fashion Week continues. Wind blows across New York Fashion hiçde beautiful models should not be surprising.
Street fashions guest own corner, a beautiful model, Frida Gustavsson. Frida lenses mounted within the Street in New York fashion week, with the beauty and elegance is remarkable.
Street Fashion Frida Gustavsson, details;

• plenty of long pants
• filling high-heeled shoes
• boyfriend jacket
• black and white shirt knitwear
• shades of brown bag

PostSecret

The name should be enough to strike some curiosity. Recently in my Art 100 class, we had to do an assignmen called a Post Secret, which for those who may not know, is basically a post card designed by you and you put stuff you would normally not tell anyone on it and design it. In my class, we got to get up and read them, a couple guys started laughing in a friendly way when I got up and read mine. Here is some of the stuff I put on mine:
1. Hippie, tree-hugger, peace lover are just 3 of my common nicknames
2. I proudly admit that I find Mick Jagger to be drop dead gorgeous and that if I were his age I'd marry him in a New York second! I proudly admit, I'm 20 years old and I think Mick Jagger is the sexiest man alive!
3. I have a super huge thing for Italian, Asian and English guys, I guess it's because of the accents
4. I love all things 1960s: peace signs, tie-dye, hippies and more!
5. Ballet and soccer are 2 things I wish I was better at.
6. I'm scared to death of spiders, I'm arachnaphobic
7. I'm afraid to express myself because of what others may think.
My PostSecret has tie-dye all over it and a couple pictures of Mick Jagger not surprisingly. Sorry, but there is something that is very physically attractive about him that I seem to like, there is something about him that sort of turns me on.

     


     





This is basically just some of the stuff I put on there. I'm not afraid to admit that someone as young as me finds that someone as old as Mick Jagger drop dead gorgeous, I mean, if I were his age, I'd marry him. I'm not like some women who would marry someone that looks as loving as him for money, totally not me, I'd marry him because he looks sweet, very loving, and looks like he enjoys having a good time. My teacher started laughing in a friendly way when I said that I thought he was cute and still has a nice body, well, he does! He's 67, and has the body of a 30 or 40 year old man? Normally it would be considered disturbing to find someone as old as him cute, but he is!

Natalie Portman in Red carpet

What Is Your Personal Favorite Tear Jerker?

"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories."

Deborah Kerr in An Affair To Remember



Could It Be That It Was All So Simple Then?

Tim was an acquaintance-friend, not quite in my circle, but dating one of my best friends. He was cute, bright, & talented. I knew him for a while before we had a long-ish conversation where I discovered that his father was the esteemed & popular big band leader & arranger- Paul Weston & his mother was the beautiful Jo Stafford, one of the great jazz singers of the 1940s & 50s, with a pure & understated voice.

I was, & remain, a huge fan of Jo Stafford’s & I think Tim was taken aback a bit when I gushed. I actually dragged him back to my apartment to show him my collection of LPs of his parents’ music.


He was kind enough to invite me over to the house in Beverly Hills. He owed me nothing & we were not really close. It was a lovely gesture. I brought one album for Jo Stafford to sign. She was very lovely & quite funny. She & her husband had a great act throughout the 1950s, as Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, a bad lounge act. Stafford, as Darlene, would sing off-key in a high pitched voice; Weston, as Jonathan, played an untuned piano off key & with bizarre rhythms. They won a Grammy in 1961 for Best Comedy Album for Jo Stafford & Paul Weston Present: The Song Stylings of Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, on which the pair intentionally butchered some of the best popular music. The couple continued to release Jonathan & Darlene albums for several years, and in 1977 released a final single, a cover of The Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive with I Am Woman on the flip side. A very funny couple.

During my short visit with the Westons, their neighbors from behind their Beverly Hills house dropped by to talk about what to wear to the Academy Awards the following week. This handsome couple were nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, for a little number that they called- The Way We Were, sung by their good friend Barbra Streisand who was also nominated for Best Actress. I was just a little starstruck, but I was able to tell Marilyn & Alan Bergman that I would be seeing them at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the following Monday (the awards were held on Mondays then, the day that theatres were traditionally dark, I guess so actors in Broadway or touring shows could attend).


My good school chum & fellow actor in the theatre program- Gina had offered me a ticket. Her father- Arthur Piantadosi was Secretary of the Academy that year & a 7 time nominee (he became an Oscar winner, for Best Sound for All The Presidents Men). They were not attending the awards & had a single ticket up for grabs. I wore my tux from Private Lives, which was still in production at the time. I was frantic about getting some makeup stains off the white dinner jacket. I got myself to the Chandler Pavilion, parking a mile away, & I was seated a row away from Paul & Linda McCartney & Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward (who was nominated). The nominees that year:




Best Picture:
THE STING, American Graffiti, Cries & Whispers, The Exorcist, A Touch of Class


Actor:
JACK LEMMON in Save the Tiger, Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Al Pacino in Serpico, Robert Redford in The Sting


Actress:
GLENDA JACKSON in A Touch of Class, Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist, Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty, Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, Joanne Woodward in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams


Supporting Actor:
JOHN HOUSEMAN in The Paper Chase, Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly, Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger, Jason Miller in The Exorcist, Randy Quaid in The Last Detail


Supporting Actress:
TATUM O'NEAL in Paper Moon, Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Candy Clark in American Graffiti, Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon, Sylvia Sidney in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams


Director:
GEORGE ROY HILL for The Sting, Ingmar Bergman for Cries & Whispers, Bernardo Bertolucci for Last Tango in Paris, William Friedkin for The Exorcist, George Lucas for American Graffiti

My new good close personal friends- The Bergmans did win that night.  I deeply wanted Streisand to win. I still love The Way Were  & the moment where Barbra moves a lock of Robert Redford's blond hair with her gloved hand still destroys me. Babs lost to Glenda Jackson in a stunning upset. I still have my ticket/pass to the ceremony.

Jo Stafford left us in 2008. The Bergmans continue to work. I have watched the Oscar Ceremony on TV since I was 5 years old. I used to hold up a big brass candlestick & practice my acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror: " I thank no one for this award. I did it all myself with talent & gumption..."

Born On This Day- February 27th... Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky

She came into my focus as my mother sat me down at 5 years of age & explained the entire Elizabeth Taylor + Eddie Fisher – Debbie Reynolds = scandal equation. I got it. She remains my mother’s favorite star; they are the same age & were born in the same month. She is a favorite of mine & I think she is the last of the truly great Hollywood Royalty, & very possibly the most beautiful woman of all time. I love her deeply.

Taylor has been a trusted friend to the gay community, & we have loved her right back. She was very close friends & a confidant of gay men: Roddy McDowell, Rock Hudson, George Cukor, Noel Coward, James Dean & most famously to Montgomery Clift. Were there ever any 2 actors at the apex of their beauty, more stunning than Taylor & Clift kissing in A Place In The Sun?



Elizabeth Taylor is a conundrum: truly classy, but perfectly campy, deeply kind, but shamelessly embarrassing, perennially lonely, & serially monogamous. Pills, coke, booze, men, the commercials, the mascara, Studio 54, the guest appearances on soap operas… Elizabeth Taylor & I got through the 1970s together. She gave audacious performances in film adaptations of “gay” plays as Tennessee Williams’s Suddenly Last Summer & Cat On A Hot Tim Roof, & Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I met her once, at the 50th Anniversary of MGM Ball. I was thrillingly treated to a 7 minute conversation. She amazingly asked about me. I explained that I was a Theatre major at Loyola Marymount University & Taylor quizzed me on my curriculum & my stage roles. I told her was a huge fan of her work. She touched my arm & looked at me with the famous violet eyes & murmured: "I always thought that I was a fine actress, but I spent a lifetime feeling that I was held back because I have such a terrible speaking voice. The coaches at MGM attempted to help me & I did improve, but I will never shake the fact the dreadful small voice was what stopped me from being truly great..." She was only in her early 40s, wearing a beautiful canary yellow mini-dress with yellow flowers in her hair. She was smoking a cigarette with a holder. She was faultlessly beautiful. I nearly fainted.

I appreciate that, like me, she has had a taste for expensive pharmaceuticals, rich fabrics & rich men. I tremble at the thought of her 8 tumultuous marriages & the public denunciation by the Vatican as a home wrecker. I love her for her dramatic tracheotomy scar, of which she was never ashamed. I appreciate her love affair with jewelry that inspired a book simply titled My Love Affair with Jewelry… it looks handsome on the shelf with my own volume- My Love Affair with Whiskey. I admire her unswerving devotion to her friends, to gay people, & for gay activism & attention to fund raising for HIV/AIDS. My feelings are simpatico with Elizabeth Taylor. My mother loves us both, we have both lived with incidents replete with slurred speech, jokes about weight gain, inelegant gestures of elegance & displays of dignity in the face of devastation.


On Oscar day today, the Oscar winning actress turns 78  & she is hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for for treatment of congestive heart failure. I send her love & healing white light. A world without Elizabeth Taylor will not be a good place.

Miu Miu Spring Summer 2011 Collection

Miu miu'dan an impressive collection for spring summer. Miu Miu Spring Summer 2011 Collection is ideal for those who can make a difference I think with elegance.

Reading Corner

Over the last few weeks 3C has been heavily involved in a project to redesign our reading corner.

Reading has always been (and will continue to be) one of the most important skills a child can develop. Good reading ability allows a person not just to engage with their learning but, more importantly, gain a sense of enjoyment from an interesting text. Interesting texts come in many forms: a fictional story, an information book, a comic, a football magazine, a music book, or whatever you choose to read for enjoyment.

About a month ago we asked the children for their initial ideas of what they would like their reading corner to become. Here are some of their efforts:

Next we voted on our favourite themes and on key details from our designs. With Mrs. Khan's expert help we organised our ideas and added them to our overall class design. Next we started ripping up paper for our papier mache tree, bush and volcano. After glueing our paper together and covering it with more paper we were ready to begin painting our 3D creations:

Meanwhile, another group of students took it upon themselves to restructure the way we organise our reading books. Completely independently, they decided on catagories for the books, sorted through them to remove unwanted texts, designed labels for the new catagories and even set up special boxes for author studies of Roald Dahl, Roger Hargreaves and Jacqueline Wilson:

Other groups took it upon themselves to create the tall grass background and the jam-jar lanterns:

All our creativity, hard work and effort finally paid off as we reassembled the reading corner. We now have a new, exciting area for everyone to share books and reading experiences with and, hopefully, to gain an even-greater enjoyment of the simple pleasure of reading a good text!

Jennifer Lopez Fashion Style

Jennifer Lopez Named asStyle Icon of the Decade. The successful actress, singer, dancer and fashion designer. Jennifer Lopez was born in Castle Hill.