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Ryan Raftery’s Anna Wintour Musical Returns to Benefit the Trevor Project!

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Our good friend Ryan Raftery is bringing back his hit musical Ryan Raftery is the Most Powerful Woman in Fashion for only two special performances at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City.

The shows will be on April 27 & 28 at 7PM, and all profits from the performance on the April 27 will go to the Trevor Project. Fundraising will be complemented by an online auction of fashion-related items, including a $1000 gift certificate to Bergdorf Goodman Men’s AND Anna’s signature Chanel glasses donated by Ms. Wintour herself! 100% of the proceeds from the auction also go to the Trevor Project.

From the press release:

The show plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on April 27 and 28 at 7pm. There is a $25-$75 cover charge and $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.

Anna Wintour has ruled a $300 billion industry for twenty-six years – her power and influence cannot be denied. But the day she places the infamous Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on the cover of her magazine, the backlash is harsh and for the first time, her credibility is called into question. Through popular music and an astounding measure of creative license, Raftery returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below to tell the story of one fateful day in the life of the most powerful woman in fashion.

The show premiered in 2014 to much fanfare, with coverage in the New York Times, WWD, New York Magazine, Paper, I-D and international features in Grazia France and UK’s Daily Mail. The show has played several cities in the U.S. and has plans to travel to London in the coming year.

Direction is by Jay Turton with musical direction by Brandon James Gwinn – also starring Miranda Wilson and Romelda Teron Benjamin as Andre Leon Talley.

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April 8th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

#BornThisDay: Director / Choreographer, Michael Bennett

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Bennett working with the cast during a rehearsal for A Chorus Line

April 8, 1943Michael Bennett

I have appeared as a performer in over 100 stage musicals, but I am what directors and choreographers label: An Actor/Singer who “moves well”, which is quite distinctive from a dancer. So, I had no business showing up with my rather pedestrian dance skills for the audition for the first West Coast production of A Chorus Line in LA, sometime in early 1976. But, you know, I just wanted to touch a bit of showbiz history.

I did not speak to the intense looking Michael Bennett at that audition, but I studied him as he sat whispering with his assistants after I did a terrific time-step, but I was cut at the double pirouette. Then I had to wait for hours as my boyfriend, a professional dancer, continued to make the cut with each increasingly difficult level of choreography. I stood in the back of the theatre and watched until it was sternly suggested I wait in a hallway with the other cattle.

James Kirkwood, co-writer of A Chorus Line:

“Michael would do anything… anything to get a show on. The cruelty was extensive, and not just in his professional life. He was truly amoral.”

Yet, Bennett did it all. He was a director, producer, writer, choreographer, and a dancer.

Born Michael Bennett DiFiglia in Buffalo, he started dance lessons when he was three-years old. By the time he was 12-years-old, he was well-versed in Tap, Ballet, Modern and Folk Dancing. Just before he graduated from high school, he was cast in a company of West Side Story directed by his idol Jerome Robbins, who had staged the original Broadway production. He spent a year touring in Europe with the show.

Back in the USA in 1961, Bennett danced in the chorus in Subways Are For Sleeping, Here’s Love and Bajour, none of them hits. In 1967 he helped stage numbers, without credit, for How Now, Dow Jones on Broadway and Your Own Thing Off-Broadway.

Bennett did receive billing as choreographer for A Joyful Noise (1966), but it closed after just 12 performances. Henry, Sweet Henry (1967), a delightful musical based on the film The World of Henry Orient (1964) was also a flop, but it earned Bennett his second Tony nomination.

His biggest influence as a choreographer and director was the city of New York where he was surrounded by the arts and he could feed off the energy of the city. Originally, Bennett’s biggest strength was tap dancing, but he seemed to be a natural at all genres of dance and he had an unavoidable gift for performance.

Bennett especially admired the work of Robbins, and adopted the same aggressive choreography in his own jazz-style dances. His choreography and staging was always thrilling and spirited, but Bennett’s work was distinguished by focusing on the plot and characters of the production. He did not have one distinct style of dance; he was noted for his phenomenal ways of staging a production, using innovative slants, twists and intersections in the movements, plus props like hats and mirrors in never-before-seen ways. Bennett used intriguing tactics in the creation of his shows.

Bennett knew the life of a Broadway dancer. He performed in the chorus of Broadway musicals beginning in 1961. In the mid-1960s he was a featured dancer on the NBC pop music series Hullabaloo, where he met fellow dancer Donna McKechnie, who became his partner and muse. They would work together many times and she continues to protect his legacy.

After choreographing a couple of duds, Bennett persisted and he staged three successful productions, including his fabulous original choreography for Promises, Promises in 1968, based on Billy Wilder’s film The Apartment (1960). With a pop score by Burt Bacharach, the show was a hit and ran for 1,281 performances.

In 1969, Bennett choreographed the Andre Previn/Alan Jay Lerner musical Coco, with a game Katharine Hepburn as fashion designer Coco Chanel. The show opened with what was, at the time, the largest advance sale in Broadway history. It ran more than 300 performances before moving on to Los Angeles. It brought Bennett another Tony nomination, but it lost money and is considered another flop.

Yet, Bennett had already moved on. He collaborated with Hal Prince on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s landmark musical Company in 1970. Bennett:

”What I did in Company was to choreograph the characters. I think that a lot more of the show was choreographed than most people who saw it realized. I believe that one of the best things I’ve ever done was the opening number. It was heightened reality. I don’t think anyone has demanded of nondancers as much movement as I did in Company.”

Company earned him his fifth Tony Award nomination. A year later Bennett won his first two Tonys, as choreographer and co-director for Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies. It ran for over a year. It is one of my top musicals and it continues to have a cult following; but it was a commercial failure.

In 1973, Bennett was asked by the producers to take over the troubled Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields musical Seesaw, which I saw in its opening week and just adored. Bennett replaced director Ed Sherin and choreographer Grover Dale, demanding absolute control over the production, plus he received additional credit in the program as “having written, directed, and choreographed” the musical.

The work involved taking the troubled Seesaw on the road by the usual way of developing musicals: rehearsals, out-of-town tryouts, previews, and then a Broadway opening. All this was seen by Bennett as not efficient and he came up with a better, more organic, way of putting together a brand-new musical.

Bennett devised a show about the lives of chorus boys and girls, but rather than commission a script, he let the story come together from a series of group therapy style workshops in which the dancers shared their feelings and frustrations about their careers. Hours of audio tapes eventually led to the creation of a musical theatre landmark and Bennett’s most personal triumph, A Chorus Line, which opened downtown at Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre in 1975. The reviews were over the top, the audiences were ecstatic. The musical transferred to Broadway where it would run for 15 years. It won nine Tony Awards (two for Bennett), the NY Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. It kept the Public Theatre running on the black.

With McKechnie (L),  co-choreographer Bob Avian (C) and Papp (R) at the Tonys, Photo by Bob Deutsch

In the early 1980s, Bennett worked on various projects, but except for the beautiful, heartbreaking musical Dreamgirls (1982) none of them reached the stage. Bennett seemed to have been especially gifted at making magic out of backstage musicals like Dreamgirls, Follies and A Chorus Line. For this show, Bennett shared his Tony for choreography, his eighth, with Michael Peters.

Riding high professionally, Bennett’s addictions to booze, cocaine and Quaaludes (my own favorite drug in the 1970s) began to interfere with his work and brought havoc to his relationships, personal and professional.

McKechnie and Bennett had married in December 1976 and then divorced four months later. His relationships with men included affairs with several noted dancers.

In 1986, in failing health, Bennett moved to Arizona with his final boyfriend, dancer Gene Pruitt, so he could receive treatment for that new disease. He gave his final curtain call on July 2, 1987, taken by HIV related illness at just 44-years-old. Bennett left most of his estate to funding research to fight the plague.

He performed in, choreographed, or directed 20 Broadway musicals in his short time on our pretty spinning blue orb. I have it on good authority that Michael Bennett was a real son-of-a-bitch… but a genius son-of-a-bitch.

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#LGBTQMustRead: “At Swim, Two Boys”

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At Swim, Two Boys (2002)

by Jamie O’Neill

Set against the turbulent backdrop of WW I and the Easter Rising, At Swim, Two Boys is one of the great gay a love stories. Two 16-year-old boys: smart, studious, Jim Mack and a laborer, Doyler Doyle, make a pact to practice swimming in the sea for a year so that on Easter Sunday of 1916 they will be able to swim out to a beacon of Muglins Rock. Unknown to them, it is also the time of the Easter Rising and Irish Rebellion.  As their friendship develops, so do other, deeper, intense feelings. But, it is also much more than a love story. Mr. Mack, Jim’s father, is a shopkeeper who has dreams of moving up in society. He also has a history, with time in the army and broken friendship, with Doyler’s father. Eve MacMurrough is a tough, revolutionary woman, and way ahead of her time. Anthony MacMurrough is a lout who doesn’t have a purpose in life.  All of their stories, along with many more characters, collide when Irish nationalism, sexual orientation, Catholic guilt, alcoholism, class identity, socialism, wars, unwed pregnancy, unionism, and loyalty push and pull them in directions they couldn’t imagine.

I’ve read this book twice. At first, I thought I was going to give up because of the Irish colloquialisms. In the first few pages it seems like it will be hard to read. O’ Neill writes in first person, stream of consciousness, with a great big nod to James Joyce and a dash of Oscar Wilde. But, stick with it. Once you get the rhythm, you will get lost in the story. One of the reasons I re-read it was because I missed so much at first, before I became used to the writing). O’Neill brings so much into the story, rich with symbolism and foreshadowing, that every single word on the page matters. The language transformed me into the moment, as if what I was reading on the page was happening around me; I got lost in this book. He uses imagery that is vivid and alive, weaving story lines that tackle hard topics. The fully formed characters with their own motivations and flaws interact with each other and the world while being pushed and pulled in unexpected ways.

Some of the characters are predatory or cruel, but they have redeeming qualities which adds to their realism. This book made me cry, the harshness of life during that era is a constant presence throughout the story. It is a gem; a literary work that is so beautiful and moving while also being gritty and realistic. And very, very romantic. The love story between Jim and Doyler is so innocent and awkward and moving, I fell in love with the boys myself.

This is definitely one of the best gay-themed books ever written. It is an essential LGBTQ read, and perfect for our own times.

“Grey morning dulled the bay. Banks of clouds, Howth just one more bank, rolled to sea, where other Howths grumbled to greet them. Swollen spumeless tide. Heads that bobbed like floating gulls and gulls that floating bobbed like heads. Two heads. At swim, two boys.”

Jamie O’Neill is an openly gay writer who lives a rather Salinger-like existence, rarely talking to the press, in a cottage in Gortachalla in County Galway, Ireland.

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#TheGoodNews: NBC Orders Even MORE “Will & Grace” Episodes For Next Season!

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Yes, just like us, NBC wants even MORE Will & Grace. It was originally picked up in January for 10-episode limited installment, now the order is getting expanded and will return with 12 new episodes.

The all-new, ninth season of Will & Grace — reuniting its stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes grew out of the surprise election-themed reunion mini-episode released last September. Done without NBC’s involvement, it triggered talk of a series revival. (WOW sure reported on it breathlessly!)

The original series creators and executive producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan as well as director/executive producer James Burrows are all on board. Mutchnick was behind the Will & Grace reunion mini-episode, bringing the cast together and getting the original set re-assembled in the basement of the lot where the NBC series filmed. He and Kohan wrote the script, with additional punch-up work by Will & Grace alums Gary Janetti and Bill Wrubel.

Mutchnick also has a new comedy pilot at NBC, Relatively Happy, as a potential companion. Will & Grace won, 16 Emmys, including best comedy series, and is credited with paving the way for LGBT characters on TV, featuring the first openly gay leads on a primetime network series.

(via Deadline)

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#RIP: “I Remember the Factory”, by Glenn O’Brien

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Glenn O’Brien died yesterday at age 70. His last Instagram post was on the 30th anniversary of Andy Warhol‘s death, this year.

“Andy Warhol died 30 years ago today. I remember thinking “who’s opinion will I care about now?” and I still don’t know. I hope to become more like like him every day. He was and always will be my (dear) boss.”

This was published on O’Brien’s website in 2012, on the 25th anniversary of Andy’s death.

I Remember the Factory
(after Joe Brainard)

I remember Andy saying, “They’re really up there,” and “Geee, that’s so grreat.” And “Oh, he’s such a beauty” and “She’s such a beauty.”

I remember Paul calling half the people who came up to the Factory “drug trash.” And saying “Get those drag queens out of here.”

I remember Richard Bernstein being the only person who ever smoked pot at the Factory. (Until Jean Michel 20 years later.)

I remember having to take some German journalist through the Factory and he thought it was a commune and asked where we slept. After a while he said, “We fuck now?”

I remember Louis Waldon coming up and asking Andy for $10,000 to put a zinc bar in some place he’d bought in Europe.

I remember Ondine coming up to visit. He didn’t look like Ondine anymore. Somebody said he was a mailman. He didn’t say anything brilliant.

I remember Viva saying how cheap Andy was and he’d regret it when her book came out.

I remember how much Andy hated it when somebody wanted to shake hands.

I remember Paul yanking out hunks of hair from his head while talking on the phone.

I remember answering the phone, “Factory,” and Andy saying, “Why don’t you just say studio?”

I remember Fred on the phone saying, “Hughes, as in Howard Hughes.”

I remember Lou Reed calling me up and playing me a tape of a band from Boston he wanted to produce. All their songs were about him.

I remember Andy offering me a part in “Women in Revolt” and being really excited until I found out that Jackie Curtis was going to give me an enema.

I remember the day Billy Name came out of his darkroom after staying in there a year. He left a note for Andy that said, “I’m not here anymore but I am fine.” There were a lot of astrology books in there.

I remember Bob Dylan’s bodyguards grabbing Andy’s film at Mick Jagger’s birthday party because there was a joint on the table. Andy was appalled.

I remember Interview writer Donald Chase doing such a good Bette Davis imitation that he fooled everyone on the phone including W.H.Auden who went to his grave thinking Bette Davis was his biggest fan.

I remember Rene Ricard being the only person who still called Andy Drella.

I remember Richard Bernstein calling the back room of Max’s “The bucket of blood.”

I remember Danny Fields talking about the “abstract expressionist alcoholics” who sat in the middle room of Max’s. I remember Paul telling me not to hang out with Danny. I remember hanging out with Danny anyway. He discovered the Stooges and the Ramones.

I remember when Mickey Ruskin put hairy wallpaper over the red walls of the back room at Max’s. We all thought it was to slow the cock roaches down.

I remember wishing Lisa Robinson would put a sweater on over her see through blouse.

I remember Nelson Lyon using the word “fruitcake” to Andy and Andy not blinking.

I remember Bob Colacello saying Robert Mapplethorpe deliberately peed in his jeans. He thought that was exciting.

I remember Dylan coming up with John Sebastian’s ex-wife, wearing a straw hat and a wife beater.

I remember Anjelica Huston coming up to the Factory with Joan Buck. She was nineteen.

I remember Nick Ray coming up wearing an eye patch. Paul said he was on drugs. We all wondered if he needed the patch. It seemed like it was on the other eye last time.

I remember nights hanging out with Donald Cammell and his girlfriend Miriam whose job was to pick up another chick, and finally getting Donald to show me his dick because I was tired of hearing how big it was. It was.

I remember Andy asking me why I didn’t get rid of Fran Lebowitz and asking me if I really thought she was really funny.

I remember Candy saying that she had songs written about her by Lou, Ray Davies (“Lola,”) and Mick Jagger (“The Citadel.”)

I remember David Bowie coming to the Factory to do a mime act for Andy and sing “Andy Warhol.” Paul wanted to throw him out but I told Andy he was famous in England. After the song Andy didn’t know whether to be insulted or not.

I remember Geri Miller saying she wasn’t a virgin but was she saving her ass for her husband.

I remember being kind of afraid of Taylor Mead but being not sure why.

I remember Ronnie talking about shooting speed and thinking “Maybe I didn’t get here too late after all.”

I remember Andrea Whips Warhol getting up on the table in the back room of Max’s at “Showtime!”

I remember asking Uschi Obermayer to marry me. Even though I was married. I gave her a plastic engagement ring. I think she turned me down because of Keith.

I remember Ed McCormack getting so drunk he went home with Eric Mitchell and the next day he said he thought maybe his ass hurt.

I remember Eric Emerson getting stopped for drunk driving wearing full angel wings, glitter and leather shorts.

I remember Cindy Lang talking about Johnny Thunders big dick.

I remember hiring Susan Blond to sell ads for Interview because she had a squeaky voice. And I made her bleach her hair blonde because of her name. It didn’t last.

I remember looking at beautiful pictures of Steven Mueller from Lonesome Cowboys and thinking maybe he should lay off the Budweiser.

I remember Donna Jordan’s nipples and bleached eyebrows, Jane Forth’s no eyebrows and Patti D’Arbanville’s ass. I remember Jane being sixteen.

I remember Andy telling me that Jack Smith really invented the word “superstar” and asking me if Jack needed money.

I remember unfriendly looks from Gerard who was on the outs. He got over it. I remember Andy saying “No more poems in Interview.”

I remember Maria Schneider coming up right after Last Tango in Paris and making a big point of making out with her girlfriend.

I remember Andy saying at parties, “This is such hard work.”

I remember thinking Jackie Curtis was really ugly as a woman until I saw her as “James Dean.”

I remember the door being guarded by a stuffed Great Dane that supposedly once belonged to Cecil B. DeMille. I remember Vincent sitting at the reception desk reading every movie mogul biography.

I remember wondering what it was that Paul saw in Shirley Temple.

I remember asking Susan Bottomley if she’d like to have dinner some time and her saying “no.”

I remember Peter Beard with no socks in January picking up a hot frying pan in his bare hands.

I remember Jed and Jay Johnson wearing platform shoes.

I remember having a big crush on Ingrid Boulting and not knowing what to do when she was friendly to me.

I remember Paul calling the underground filmmaker Stan Brakhage “Stan Footage.”

I remember Luchino Visconti dancing with Fred at a black gay bar by the UN.

I remember dancing with Helmut Berger at Le Jardin.

I remember wondering about if Joe Dallesandro was just Paul Morrisey’s house guest.

I remember Nelson Lyon calling Fred and Bob “the head waiters.” I remember having dinner with Nelson and Candy and she complained about having a pain. We told her to stop complaining. She was dead in three months.

I remember Andy accidentally leaving his tape recorder in the Interview office so he could hear what Bob and I talked about.

I remember Andy shooting me in my underwear at the Interview office for the “Sticky Fingers” cover. He paid me a hundred buck. Fred kept saying, “Can’t you make it any bigger.” Then three businessmen walked in the door and said, “Isn’t this the architects office?”

I remember Richie Gallo, a performance artist who called himself the Lemon Man and danced around in an executioner’s hood picking up lemons.

I remember Vincent and me taping Neke Carson painting Andy’s portrait with a brush up his ass. Neke called it Rectal Realism.

I remember Brigid’s cock-prints book.

I remember Mickey Ruskin sitting at the door of Max’s saying “Sorry fellows, it’s couples only tonight” when un-hip people showed up.

I remember Valerie Solanas calling up and asking for Andy.

I remember Andy taking me to Rauschenberg’s studio and he was drinking whiskey. In the morning.

I remember going out to cash my paycheck and coming back and there had been a stickup at gunpoint. Everybody locked themselves in the back room but they forgot Joe Dallesandro’s baby and when they threatened to shoot the baby Fred gave them a hundred bucks and they left.

I remember when we got a security cameras and double doors.

I remember Andy saying “I’m not here” every day.

–Glenn O’Brien, 2/28/12

Wearing Warhol’s glasses. Photo, Todd Eberle

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DragCon is a Family Affair: Dragtastic Dad from the Floor of RuPaul’s DragCon

#RIP: Remembering Glenn O’Brien

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“The great Glenn O’Brien just left us I’m sad to say.

Part of the forest is cleared, never to see another like him, absence, farewell, mercy, a loss reverberates in the art firmament.

With him a temple of flying buttresses has ripened and faded into air, taking history with him.

A density of life, lightness of being, virtuoso of style, a wearer of the mask of Warhol who could speak ascertainable truth in this master mask. This cosmic sun that shined astringent, phosphorescence … farewell.

I loved you from afar, not made of the same mat of clouds, noisy leaves, epitaphs and night-winds. You have nothing left to burn; benediction, wit, toasts, holding the chandelier in the cantinas of the art world.

There are things I could say.” –art critic, Jerry Saltz

“He was committed to keeping alive the Warholian spirit of New York as a fast, dynamic, and infinitely possible place. He was one of the last real New Yorkers in that way: a hustler dressed to the tens like a one-man Rat Pack, a street poet with a million dollar art collection, a philosopher king at the front row of a fashion show. I think he believed in the dream of a young, street-wise New York in his mid-sixties more than I did in my early thirties.

Glenn was so good he could be bad and get away with it—like he was flirting with you as well as hearing your confession. (Years later, when I had to interview Kate Moss for the magazine, her agent responded to my performance with, “You did okay, but you’re no Glenn O’Brien,” to which I wanted to shout, “No, I’m not, there is no other Glenn!”) Glenn demanded a lot from our staff for the new iteration of Interview because the magazine meant so much to him—in a way he was returning to his first battlefield, the hallowed publication that put him on the map. Being true to the legacy of Andy Warhol was also vital; Glenn hung a photo of Warhol in his office, and a year later, when egos got in the way and everything turned sideways, Glenn stormed out of his office for the last time with that photo of Warhol under his arm, a symbolic, Elvis-has-left-the-building goodbye).” –writer, Christopher Bollen, New York magazine

“My years at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine as its Executive Editor conflated with a few of his when he was writing his Glenn O”Brien’s Beat column He was a real cultural presence in New York. Deeply stylish. I was a bit intimidated by him even though he was always nice to me. The way he carved out his career in the New York media world on his own terms was always an inspiration to me.

Glenn was the first editor of Interview from 1971 to 1974. After his departure, he continued to write for the magazine and returned as editor several times, with a nearly 20-year association with the title. He was a music critic for the publication in the punk era. He later wrote The Style Guy column for GQ, was Editorial Director of Brant Publications, hosted the access cable show TV Party, is credited with inventing the term “editor-at-large,” was Creative Director of advertising at Barney’s, edited Madonna’s Sex book, wrote several other books, was an early champion and collector of Jean-Michel Basquiat among other artists, and wrote a column for ten years for ArtForum.” –writer, Kevin Sessums

Interviewing Basquiat for his “TV Party”

“Heartbreak. Glenn O’Brien died this morning.

He was the editor of Andy Warhol’s Interview when I met him in 1972– young , handsome, with the features of a medieval knight, all wit , knowledge , erudition and a sly , skeptical take on the world . He never behaved with anything less than the honor , dignity , panache and courage of a knight through the years that followed.” –writer, Joan Juliet Buck

“No much time left for those of us remaining from the old scene. Goodbye Glenn. You were the wittiest and smartest cookie in the Downtown jar (like one Warhol enjoyed collecting perhaps?) It was an honor and extreme pleasure to call you a friend. I am so glad we took the bullet train to Kyoto together back in 1985 (when we were both in Tokyo doing Kiri Teshigahara’s And Steven Pollock’s Art in Action show.) An unforgettable week in Japan. See you in that great majestic golden temple in the mist.” –performance artist, musician, Ann Magnuson

Wearing Warhol’s glasses. Photo, Todd Eberle

“To celebrate Andy Warhol’s 80th birthday, Glenn commissioned me to photograph Andy’s personal effects from and items from the “Time Capsules” at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh when he edited Interview. He almost put on one of the many of Andy’s wigs, but found them too creepy, so he put on a pair of Andy’s glasses instead.” –photographer, Todd Eberle The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, April, 2008

We’ll let him have the last word. Glenn’s last Instagram post, @lordrochester, 6 weeks ago…

“Andy Warhol died 30 years ago today. I remember thinking “who’s opinion will I care about now?” and I still don’t know. I hope to become more like like him every day. He was and always will be my (dear) boss.” –Glenn O’Brien

Well, they are having some TV party somewhere tonight.

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#LGBTQ: This Woman Is SHOCKED By “Disney’s Alarming Heterosexual Agenda”. Watch

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The controversy over Disney inclusion of a gay character in the new live action version of Beauty and the Beast has boiled over all over social media. Well, this woman for one is NOT having their straight agenda forced down her throat, so to speak.

I’m a loving person, this isn’t about not loving heterosexuals, I love them. I just don’t want to be at an amusement park WITH THEM. Walking with them or going on a ride with them. I mean, can you imagine…?

Watch.

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April 9th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

#BornThisDay: Designer, Marc Jacobs

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April 9, 1963Marc Jacobs was born in NYC, the son of a pair of theatrical agents. He was raised in the Majestic on Central Park West, one of my favorite buildings in Manhattan, by his grandmother who taught him how to knit. She also had the charming habit of telling shop owners that her grandson would someday be “the next Calvin”. She was right. Like Calvin Klein, Jacobs would grow-up to be noted for his youthful American sportswear presented to the public in provocative advertisements. Unlike Klein, whose designs embraced a new, clean, classic minimalism, Jacobs’ work looked forward with a nod to what was happening on the streets.

Jacobs spent his formative years shuttling between school and Studio 54. After his graduation from the High School of Art And Design, he entered Parsons School Of Design, where in his senior year, he created a collection of hand knit sweaters (made by his grandmother) which won him the Perry Ellis Golden Thimble Award.

After graduating, he designed under his own label, creating an irreverent homage to 1960’s hippie clothing. Now he designs smart clothing using rich materials for very rich people.

While still in school, Jacobs won Design Student Of The Year 1984 from Parsons. Since those early years Jacobs has won awards, awards and more awards, including: Perry Ellis Award For New Fashion Talent, the highest tribute possible in the American fashion world, and Women’s Wear Designer Of The Year by the CFDA.

That same year, a 21 year old Jacobs met 30 year old Robert Duffy, who became his business partner and BFF. With Duffy as Jacobs’s creative collaborator, and business partner, they formed Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc.

In spring 1992, Jacobs, working for Perry Ellis, famously showed his “Grunge Collection”, not understanding that the Seattle music scene’s look was anathema to fashion. Punk had been anti-fashion, but Grunge was no fashion at all. Besides, Grunge was already becoming something else. I know. I lived in Seattle in the 1990s and by the time that I had gathered my flannel shirts from the Goodwill bins, it was over. Jacobs took some hard knocks in the press and from the industry. Kurt Cobain was photographed wearing a black T-shirt that read “Grunge Is Dead”. Courtney Love:

“Marc sent me and Kurt his Perry Ellis grunge collection. Do you know what we did with it? We burned it.”

Jacobs was very publicly fired from Perry Ellis. In 1993, he launched his own line, this time with real success. His clothing still carries a rock vibe. Jacobs Duffy Designs launched their own licensing and design company: Marc Jacobs International Company. In 1994, Jacobs produced his first full collection of menswear. In 1997, Jacobs was appointed creative director of the venerable Louis Vuitton, where he created that company’s first ready-to-wear clothing line. Jacobs has collaborated with many popular artists for his Louis Vuitton collections, including Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami and Kanye West.

In the fall of 2013, Jacob left his position as creative director for Louis Vuitton after 15 years. Marc Jacobs International announced that it would spend the next three years preparing for an IPO. A new line of cosmetics was launched. A new CEO was installed. New designers were hired to reinvent Marc By Marc Jacobs, which was started in 2001 as a less expensive alternative to his women’s wear line.

In Spring 2014, Marc By Marc Jacobs folded. Jacobs then joined Instagram, even after he had announced that he was appalled by the whole social media thing.

Jacobs had been involved romantically with some hot Brazilian who was identified as a “chocolatier”, but who might be a porn star, the terms are interchangeable to me, but most certainly he has not had a Brazilian wax. My sources tell me that Jacobs is currently single, although I used to follow him on Twitter where he posted photographs of the dude, along with his very cute dog, Neville, on a Caribbean beach early this year. Now I follow Neville on Twitter and Instagram. I like dogs more than people.

In 2014, Jacobs paid just over $2 million for an Ed Ruscha piece at auction, so I suppose he is doing alright.

Today, Marc is the head designer of Marc Jacobs, which absorbed the items and price points formerly available at Marc By Marc Jacobs, and he also serves as the creative director of Marc Jacobs International in its entirety.

He has never had more control over himself, his body, the way he lives his life or presents his brand. When he was 47-years-old, the designer revealed his dramatic transformation by going from schlump to hottie. I could look like Jacobs if I followed his example of consuming only vegan food and working out with a personal trainer for three hours a day, seven days a week. Again, proving my theory that it is easy to be beautiful when you are very, very rich. In addition, that wealth allows you to date porn stars.  He still smokes Marlboro Lights. An addict since being a teenager, Jacobs now says that he is done with drugs, including heroin and cocaine, after a stint in rehab in 2007.

Somewhat indiscreet on social media, Jacobs “accidentally” leaked a picture of his naked butt on Instagram last month, after which he responds with a Tweet saying:

 “Yeah… I’m a gay man. I flirt and chat with guys online.”

This past fall, Jacobs somehow spilled the beans on Instagram about hosting an orgy, if 10 guys is considered an orgy, that was organized on his Grindr account. I appreciated that he didn’t deny or apologize. Instead he wrote:

“Why not? I don’t have any hang-ups about those things. I don’t really care. Who’s kidding who? I’ve talked about having hair transplants, I’ve talked about my drug problems, I’ve talked about my drinking problems, I’ve talked about sex. I just think it’s so much better to be honest about those things. I always find it very dubious and I don’t really trust people who deny human instincts.”

Marc Jacobs International’s Twitter information includes the caption: “It’s yours to try”. What a perfect slogan!

Last year’s arresting Marc Jacobs Spring 2016 advertising campaign was described as a fashion story by Jacobs:

“I see it as series of connected events; a visual narrative. It is a personal diary of people who have and continue to inspire me and open my mind to different ways of seeing and thinking. The spectrum of individuals photographed represent a celebration of my America. The people featured in our campaign personify this collection of fashion through their individuality. They embody and celebrate the spirit and beauty of equality.”

The campaign featured Human Rights Activist/Filmmaker Lana Wachowski, and fabulous celebs: Sandra Bernhard, Bette Midler, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, and World Of Wonder favorite Milk, from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Jacobs lives in Paris and NYC. His Paris studio is just steps away from the Louvre and Notre Dame. I can just imagine how he will be spending his birthday.

Jacobs Spring 2017 has an eclectic 1970s Glam-Rock theme

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Critics Slam & Praise Damien Hirst’s New “Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable” –But What Do YOU Think?

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Hirst at the foot of his massive 54 foot tall sculpture, “Demon with Bowl”

Two weeks ago I previewed artist Damien Hirst‘s new exhibit debuting in Venice at Palazzo Grassi, on the Grand Canal, and the city’s old customs house, Punta della Dogana (both are owned by billionaire French businessman François Pinault) Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable is now open to the public and it comes with an “unbelievable” backstory…

The remains of a ship, sunk some 2,000 years ago off the coast of East Africa. The property of a remarkable collector —a freed slave, no less—named Cif Amotan II, the vessel was carrying a vast art collection containing artifacts from every civilization then known, transporting it to a museum island where they would be placed on show. The ship went down, and she and her marvels remained undisturbed until their rediscovery in 2008. Her salvaged cargo, the conceit has it, is the treasure we see before us.

But that idea falls apart under the weigh of the concept and also by the purposeful inclusion of items like a coral encrusted robot, Mickey Mouse and headless sculptures that look more like mannequins.

Nevertheless, each piece in the show offered in an edition of three:

• One made to look like it is a treasure just dredged from the deep (a “Coral,” in Hirst’s parlance)
• Another made to look like the salvaged relic restored for display by modern-day curators (a “Treasure”)
• And a third which is presented as a reproduction of the pseudo-historical object (a “Copy”).

(According to the New York Times, Hirst’s galleries have been offering the works with price tags ranging from $500,000 apiece to more than $5 million…)

Needless to say, because it’s Hirst, the knives were out and the reviews have been scathing but also rapturous, what you usually get. Love him or hate him. Artnet‘s review said,

“On one level, the cost of the thing and the effort of putting it together are all so much petty distraction—the showy money-related stuff that we all get so obsessed with around Hirst, and which we shake our heads at disapprovingly, but find impossible to ignore. He was ever the showman. But then again, questions of cost, value, ownership, control, and reputation are precisely the fast-shifting territory that “Treasures” is exploring.”

But New York magazine art critic, Jerry Saltz posting pics of the show on Facebook was not having the money talk,

“I think that the Hirst show will be a huge Popular success. In that sense the work is eminently successful. Few artists have this ability.

Without bringing money into the argument – because that’s always where I have to start de-friending cynics who reduce EVERYTHING to fucking money, wha wha wha – You try to produce a large show that will be able to capture the imagination of 10s of thousands of viewers.

I’ll pay you ten-bucks if you can do it.”

The Telegraph‘s reviewer, Alastair Sooke, was NOT impressed,

“In gallery after gallery, we are presented with object after expensively produced object: severed Medusa heads in gold, silver, malachite, and crystal glass; painted-bronze imitations of giant clam shells; a red-marble bust of a sexy, Egyptian-style princess, embellished with agate and gold leaf; a jade Buddha; a blue bust of Neptune carved from lapis lazuli.

There are bronze bells and gold monkeys, curvy ‘Grecian’ torsos like dismembered Barbie dolls, a unicorn’s ‘skull’, and a jewelled scorpion finished with pearls, rubies and sapphires.

Many of these trinkets, knick-knacks and baubles have been issued as multiples, replicated in different materials and on various scales, like products for the schlocky end of the art market.

After a while, they start to blur into one another, like interchangeable props: costly decor for Hirst’s reckless, sprawling production.

Perhaps, when the exhibition closes in December, Amotan’s “treasures” should be returned, discreetly, to the bottom of the sea.”

But The Guardian‘s Jonathan Jones was utterly convinced…

“Is this going to be any more artistically rewarding than a trip to the Harry Potter studios to see the sorting hat? But Hirst’s wizardry proves to be the real thing.

It takes a kind of genius to push kitsch to the point where it becomes sublime. Hirst’s hero Koons has done something like it with his giant reflective balloon dogs. Here, the kitsch doesn’t so much grow on you as wrap you in its tentacles and drag you down into its underwater palace. After one implausible fake of an unknown pharaoh’s portrait, I was disgusted. After a roomful, followed by rooms full of everything from Roman dinnerware (purportedly) to a massive coral-covered statue of a multi-armed woman fighting a writhing many-headed Hydra, I was intoxicated.

It is not just a random mass of stuff, but a subtle meditation on the practice of collecting, on museums and why we go to them. Throughout the exhibition, sculptures in rollicking bad taste alternate with glass cases that evolve Hirst’s oldest, most quintessential idea – putting things in vitrines and cabinets – into a profound image of the act of collecting. These cabinets contain things of apparent antiquity and historical meaning, arranged – as they might be in a very beautiful museum – by a fastidious curator. What are the principles of arrangement? How have the treasures of the Unbelievable been classified? How do we classify and know anything at all, and what drives people to do it?”

Artist Ashley Bickerton, a long-time friend of Hirst’s was there.

“I think what some of the negative reviewers all seem to be missing is the humor of this show. It’s flat out Vaudevillian. I can’t say I loved everything in this massive sprawling and exhausting show, but pretty much loved every one of the coral encrusted works. I really think they rank up there with his best stuff.”

I haven’t seen the show myself, but I think the idea is pretty brilliant. I like Hirst and as a conceptual artist, I think there’s never been anyone like him. The art of the idea is just that –like Duchamp’s urinal (whose 100th anniversary display is today) and Warhol’s soup can, the object is not the thing. It’s an artist’s mind game created to make you think. This is nothing new, but somehow people inside and outside the art world still get hung up on it. But more that anything, they get hung up on Hirst’s success. In 2008, he made $200 million in his riskily orchestrated Sotheby‘s sale, he sells his own and other’s editions on his own website, he left Gagosian and came back, and he’s opened his own museum… among other superlatives.

But take a look for yourself and start trashing or praising or just say, “meh.” The richest artist in the world is always going to take some heat, but he can afford to.

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable runs from April 9 to December 3, 2017 at Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy.

Punta Della Dogana

The post Critics Slam & Praise Damien Hirst’s New “Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable” –But What Do YOU Think? appeared first on The WOW Report.

#LACMA: L.A. Gets A New Museum Design That Crosses Over Wilshire & Has “No Front or Back”

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Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) got a new plan for becoming the largest art museum in L.A. with a new 368,000-square foot complex by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Museum director Michael Govan said the project was groundbreaking in creating a structure with “no back, no front.” The plans are to create a large, continuous gallery elevated high above the museum’s site in a structure that would span across Wilshire Boulevard to the south. It would be lifted above the ground on a series of seven pavilion towers that house public galleries, conservation spaces, circulation, ground level cafes and restaurants, and an amphitheater.

A continuously overhanging roof that runs the length would shield the museum’s collection from southern sun. According to the architect, this design creates conditions that allow patrons to “make personal discoveries” within artworks and the organization of small, oddly-shaped galleries with connections to the outdoors.

The project aims to finish the project by 2023, in time for the opening of a new subway extension along Wilshire Boulevard.

(via Arch Paper)

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#ArtDept: “The Death Of Abel” –Two Perspectives

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We have two pictures at The Art Department this Sunday:

Camille-Félix Bellanger (1853-1923) painted The Death Of Abel (1875) when he was 22-years-old, and Study For The Death Of Abel (2008) by Kehinde Wiley (1977) the great gay American painter. Known for super-sized canvases, Wiley’s work is hot, hot, hot, after his recent show, Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic traveled to The Brooklyn Museum (2015); Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (2016); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (2016); Seattle Art Museum (2016); Phoenix Art Museum (2016); and currently, Toledo Museum of Art (2017).

You would have to live in an airport to hang his art (see photo below for the scale).

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#PigmentWars: The Art (Supply) World Is Still Pissed at Anish Kapoor for Hogging Vantablack

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You’ve heard about the ongoing saga over the rights to Vantablack, the blackest black on the planet, right? The Reader’s Digest version is; British artist Anish Kapoor obtained the exclusive rights to use Vantablack, which was created by British company Surrey NanoSystems. This pissed off a LOT of people.

British artist, Stuart Semple, released his own newest blackest black. Called Black 2.0, Semple calls it “the most pigmented, flattest, mattest, black acrylic paint in the world.” Much like Vantablack, it’s able to turn 3D surfaces into flat-looking holes, but it’s not quite got the staring-into-the-abyss qualities of the original. Or the laser-eating capabilities of the new Vantablack 2.0, which the researchers at NanoSystem have said is

so black that our spectrometers can’t measure it!

It is available to anyone who wants it. Anyone, of course, but Anish Kapoor. You actually have to state that you are NOT Anish Kapoor to order it.

Semple has now created what he calls “the world’s pinkest pink,” along with the “most glittery glitter,” and made them available for anyone to buy —except, of course Anish Kapoor.

But Kapoor managed to get his hands on the pink, and goaded Semple with the Instagram pic, below, shooting him the bird.

So, the pigment wars still rage on. You can get Semple’s black black, pinkest pink and glitteriest glitter, here –provided you’re not you-know-who.

Up yours #pink

A post shared by Anish Kapoor (@dirty_corner) on

(via Dezeen)

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#LGBTQ: Famed Embracing Couple at Pompeii Might Have Been “Gay Lovers”

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Originally thought to be a cast of “Two Maidens”, new research confirms it was actually two men. The iconic Pompeii couple were men, and possibly lovers. In 79AD, Vesuvius erupted and volcanic ash and mud covered the ancient city. It perfectly preserved in body casts, but using DNA analysis and CAT scans, scientists confirmed they were in fact men.

Researchers used the bones and teeth of the bodies to determine the gender and rough age of 18-20 years old. Massimo Osanna, director-general of Pompeii, told the Telegraph:

Pompeii never ceases to amaze. We always imagined that it was an embrace between women. You can’t say for sure that the two were lovers. But considering their position, you can make that hypothesis.

It is difficult to say with certainty.“

A professor at the University of Cambridge, Mary Beard thinks the baseless claims are #FakeNews. (Thanks, Trump.)

There was plenty of same-sex sex at Pompeii, as we would guess anywhere ever. But the idea that this pair of male victims gave any evidence of their sexuality is barking. Who you choose to hug in your dying moments in a volcanic explosion is no indication of your sexual preference, despite what the papers say.

Professor Stefano Vanacore, head of the Pompeii research team, said it was impossible to determine the nature of the relationship between the two men.

When this discovery was made, that they were not two young girls, some scholars suggested there could have been an emotional connection between the pair. But we are talking about hypotheses that can never be verified.

What is certain is that the two parties were not relatives, neither brothers, nor a father and son.”

Well, to assume they are straight is just as much of a guess as to say they were lovers, so, to each his/her own.

(via Gay Star News)

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#SNL: Kendall Jenner’s Failed Pepsi Ad Gets Spoofed. Watch

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SNL took on Kendall Jenner’s pulled Pepsi commercial with a reimagined behind-the-scenes look at a golden-boy director who’s convinced he’s got a killer new ad.

Played by Beck Bennet, the director gets a call from his sister, and runs over the ad with her to say it’s “kind of a homage to the resistance” and “Pepsi brings everybody together. Isn’t that like … the best ad ever?”

Yeah. No. Everyone he talks to off the set gives the idea a BIG thumbs down.

Finally Kendall Jenner (Cecily Strong) emerges from her trailer talking on her cell..

Um, I stop the police from shooting black people by handing them a Pepsi. I know. It’s cute, right?

Yeah. No. Live and learn.

Watch.

(via Huffington Post)

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19 Days Until RuPaul’s DragCon: Q & A with Jaidynn Diore Fierce

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We asked a few of the RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni a few questions about RuPaul’s DragCon, plus some silly questions because who doesn’t love silly answers? See what Gia Gunn had to say…

Get your tickets to RuPaul’s DragCon happening April 29 & 30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center!

1) Since you’ve been to DragCon, what advice would you give to someone coming for the first time?

Wear comfortable shoes!

2) What food do you avoid when you’re in drag?

Onions…

Instagram Photo

3) What is your favorite song by RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race, or any of the queens?

RuPaul’s “Click Clack” and “Freaky Money”

4) Which cartoon character have you always looked to for fashion inspiration?

Patrick Starr. He’s thick in ALL of the right places. And floral prints are stunning.

5) What’s the one thing you would avoid wearing or doing in drag while at RuPaul’s DragCon?

A tuck! It hurts! Just wear a flowy dress. lol

Instagram Photo

6) Which guest judge from any season of RuPaul’s Drag Race would you wait in line all day for a meet & greet at RuPaul’s DragCon?

Jordin Sparks or Meghan Trainor

7) What is your all-time favorite fashion moment from RuPaul’s DragCon?

Me and Laganja working the Runway Tutorial panel!

Instagram Photo

8) What is the most wigs you’ve ever worn for one look?

6 wigs for a GIGANTIC Mohawk I made.

9) What do you like to stock up on most at RuPaul’s DragCon? Makeup? Wigs? T-shirts?

Jaidynn’s Jewels – available at DragCon 2017 – WINK!

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Ranking the Hottest Guys of “13 Reasons Why” In Descending Order of Yumminess

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I’m only six episodes in, so NO SPOILERS, PLEASE. The twisty/turn-y plot still might reveal my soulful crushes to be a bad guys, but – so far  – this is how I rank the show’s plethora of hunks.

Tony: No doubt about it, the mysterious and protective Tony – with his retro hair, retro car, and retro love of cassette culture – is my number one fantasy lover. Played to Bruno-Marsian perfection by Christian Navarro. 

Alex: That platinum hair! Those chew-y pillow lips! His vaguely effeminate mannerism! Former Parenthood star Miles Heizer is simply ADORABLE. I foresee a big future for him!

Zach: Yummy Ross Butler (who’s also a stand-out on Riverdale) might just be the first-ever big breakout Asian teen heartthrob. Fingers crossed.

 

Clay: Superstar-in-the making, Dylan Minette, is beyond charismatic as the befuddled bestie who struggles to make sense of Hannah’s death.

Justin: Sure, bad boy Justin is kind of a dick, but his heartbreaking home life hints to a possible redemption down the road.

Mr Porter: Derek Luke is the glue that kees this school together. Another Daddy I’d like to scoop me up and whisk me off to his boudoir.

Tyler: Creepy but ultimately pitiable Devin Druid is my DL side-piece. Sure, I’m a little embarrassed to be seen with him in the hallways, but, oh, the things I’d do to him in the photography dark room…

Bryce: The lunkhead jock (played by Justin Prentiss) is another secret BF that I wouldn’t want to go public with, but I’m sure he’s fun for quickie in the locker room showers.

and finally, Jeff Atkins: I still don’t know too much about the swoon-worthy jock with the sleepy bedroom eyes, but I like what I see so far.

 

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Aja SLAYED “Holding Out For a Hero” But Never Forget Tandi Iman Dupree’s Epic Performance

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While watching Kimora and Aja on Friday night’s lip-sync for your life to “Holding Out For a Hero” during RuPaul’s Drag Race, I was RUminded of Ms. Tandi Iman Dupree’s AMAZING performance of the same song. This. Bitch. Slayed. This may be one of the best drag entrances of all time. Know your herstory. Tandi performed this awesome routine at the 2001 Miss Gay Black America pageant which, according to Wikipedia, inspired a performance on Glee with the actress performing the splits during her rendition. RIP Tandi Iman Dupree.

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