NEW YORK, March 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Stoli® Group USA, LLC in partnership with the Key West Business Guild, is returning to New York to kick off the world’s largest annual LGBTQ bartending competition, the Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic. Now in its fourth year, the competition will feature more contestants, participating cities and charitable donations than ever before.

In addition to recognizing the talents of the industry’s top LGBTQ bartenders, the Cocktail Classic celebrates the role that gay bars have played in the movement towards equality as original community centers. The competition will culminate in Key West, FL, a diverse and accepting city with a thriving LGBTQ community.

The world’s largest annual LGBTQ cocktail competition, The Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic, returns for its fourth year, showcasing the creativity and talent of mixologists and bartenders in the LGBTQ community. Seventeen regional finalists will compete for the 2017 Cocktail Classic Champion title at the Grand Finale during Key West Pride 2017.
The world’s largest annual LGBTQ cocktail competition, The Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic, returns for its fourth year, showcasing the creativity and talent of mixologists and bartenders in the LGBTQ community. Seventeen regional finalists will compete for the 2017 Cocktail Classic Champion title at the Grand Finale during Key West Pride 2017.
The Fourth Annual Key West Cocktail Classic finale is generously being hosted and judged by actor and musician, Jai Rodriguez, and past as well as returning celebrity judges include president of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Stuart Milk; writer and Emmy Award-winner, Bruce Vilanch; American Idol’s Latoya London; fashion designer and nightlife personality Andrew Christian; and Key West’s drag queen star, Sushi.

“Every year we look forward to bringing together the people, charities and business that make up our extraordinary LGBTQ community,” said Patrik Gallineaux, Stoli’s National LGBTQ Ambassador and Brand Manager. “While our mission is to recognize the most talented and innovative bartenders, community will always be at the heart of Cocktail Classic. It has been a privilege to support and grow together over the years.”

A maximum of six LGBTQ trade staff and/or allies from 17 cities across North America will be selected to create an original cocktail using Stoli Vodka as their primary ingredient. A panel of judges and 100 eligible audience members will evaluate each cocktail based on taste, balance and presentation, as well as each bartender’s authenticity, knowledge, and creativity in presentation and performance.

The finalist from each regional competition will win a six-day, all-inclusive trip to participate in a week of events and celebratory entertainment culminating in the grand finale during Key West Pride 2017. In addition to being named the 2017 Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic Champion, the winner of the final event will ride in the Key West Pride Parade as Honorary Grand Marshall and receive:

$12,500 grand prize for a pre-selected charity of his/her choice;
a victory celebration and charity check presentation at champion’s home bar hosted by Stoli Vodka;
and an all-expense paid exclusive Stoli Vodka destination event
The first runner up to the 2017 Champion will also receive $2,500 for their chosen charity.

“Stoli’s work through the Key West Cocktail Classic is an example of how companies can use their resources to make a difference both large and small,” stated Matt Hon, Executive Director of the Key West Business Guild. “From the charitable monetary donations to general awareness, the Cocktail Classic has significantly impacted our local community by becoming a destination event for the city of Key West. In 2016, we saw tourism and revenue increase by 20-percent on the island during Pride!”

The 2017 Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic Tour Schedule:

Kick Off: New York, NY: Boxers – March 1
Dallas, TX: Round-Up Saloon – March 6
San Diego, CA: Rich’s – March 22
Los Angeles, CA: The Abbey – March 25
Denver, CO: Hamburger Mary’s – March 27
Atlanta, GA: Swinging Richards – March 30
Miami, FL: Score – April 5
New Orleans, LA: Oz – April 12
Philadelphia, PA: Franky Bradley’s – April 18
Washington, D.C.: Nellie’s Sports Bar – April 24
Chicago, IL: Sidetrack – April 26
Dayton, OH: MJ’s on Jefferson – May 1
Boston, MA: Club Cafe – May 4
Toronto, ON: Gladstone Hotel – May 11
Portland, OR: CC Slaughters – May 16
Vancouver, BC: Numbers Cabaret – May 18
Northern California (San Francisco): Club 21 – May 22
Finale: Key West, FL: Bourbon St. Pub– June 10
Last year’s Champion, Rocky Collins from the Round-Up in Dallas proudly competed for DIFFA/Dallas and which raises funds for organizations that support education programs, treatment and direct care services for people living with or impacted by HIV and AIDS. Rocky also won a matching $5,000 donation to the Wesley House Family Services in Key West, an organization he represented on behalf of the Key West Business Guild. Rocky’s winning cocktail and presentation best embodied the spirit of the Key West community and the heart of the competition. Named ‘The Key West Kitty Kat,’ Rocky’s original Stoli cocktail is made with 2 oz. Stoli Vanil, 2 oz. coconut simple syrup, 1.5 oz. pineapple juice, 0.5 oz. key lime juice, coconut cream, grenadine, cinnamon and garnished with a pineapple slice and served over ice.

For more information about the Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic including how to apply, rules, guidelines and the full schedule of events, visit http://www.out.com/keywestcocktailclassic.

About Key West Business Guild
The mission of the Key West Business Guild is to promote LGBTQ travel to Key West through marketing and the promotion of specialty events; to support gay-owned, gay-managed, and gay-friendly businesses; to strengthen the Gay community’s position within the local community by supporting relevant LGBTQ issues. The KWBG was founded in 1978 by 8 local gay business owners and has grown to approximately 400 members, which work together to continue efforts to brighten the rainbow over the island, an island now known as Gay Key West. Promotion of events, such as Key West Pride, Tropical Heat and Womenfest, has made Key West a year-round LGBTQ travel destination. For more information visit www.kwbgonline.org.

About Stoli Group, USA
Stoli Group USA, LLC is a U.S. importer and marketer of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in New York City. Stoli Group USA is a subsidiary of SPI Group based out of Luxemburg, one of the world’s most dynamic wine and spirits organizations. Formed in 2013, Stoli Group USA’s current portfolio of brands includes the Stolichnaya® brand of premium vodkas and Stoli Ginger Beer, ultra-premium elit®Vodka, Louisiana-distilled Bayou® Rum, artfully designed KAH® Tequila, Achaval-Ferrer from Argentina, and Arinzano wines of Spain.

Media Contact:
Patrick Rizzuto
Golin for Stoli Group, USA
T. +1 212.373.6015
PRizzuto@golin.com

The post Stoli® Vodka Honors the Legacy of LGBTQ Bartenders in the Movement for Equality, Kicks Off Fourth Annual Key West Cocktail Classic Competition first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct 27, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The City of West Hollywood in conjunction with Eleven, Revolver and Micky’s nightclubs will host the first ever Go-Go Dancer Appreciate Day by holding a Go-Go Festival and Street Party on Saturday, October 29, 2011 from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Larrabee Street near Santa Monica Boulevard between Eleven and Micky’s. Several other West Hollywood area businesses will also participate in Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day by holding special in-store events.

The Go-Go Festival and Street Party will offer guests a visual array of Go-Go dancers, choreographed performances of the Evolution of Go-Go; DJ Paulo Ramirez; and contests with prizes for Go-Go participants. The contests will be open to the public for any wannabe Go-Go dancers along with professional Go-Go dancers and will include categories such as Hottest Jock, Best Bootie, Twink, Best Package, Muscle Stud, and Amateur Go-Go Boy. To enter the contest, visit www.wehogogofest.com . A Grand Prize of $1,000 will be offered and celebrity judges include Bruce Vilanch, Leslie Jordan and Mayor John J. Duran. In addition, Eleven will host a choreographed show called “Evolution of Go-Go.”

The City of West Hollywood has a long history of being on the cutting edge of new artistic and musical endeavors. The Whisky A Go-Go, the first live music venue and the only surviving one to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, opened its doors in 1964 and soon after launched a trend that would ultimately become the norm in clubs all over the world by suspending cages with Go-Go dancers from the ceiling of the club.

In the mid-1960s and the 1970s, the Sunset Strip became a major center for the counterculture as Go-Go dancers did their thing at the Whisky and other clubs along the Strip. In 1968, the first Groovy Guy contest was started as a marketing tool for the then newly-formed Advocate magazine and as a way to unite the Los Angeles gay community. By 1970, the contest had become so famous that The Advocate featured a Groovy Guy float in the first gay pride parade down Hollywood Boulevard and that summer’s contest was held at Ciro’s Restaurant (now The Comedy Store). The Groovy Guy contest ran in one form or another through 1991.

By the early 1970’s both the female and male Go-Go dancing phenomenon was part of West Hollywood culture and dancers have been appreciated on stages big and small at clubs across the City ever since.

Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day will consist of the City working in conjunction with local businesses to stage an amateur Go-Go dancer competition on Larrabee Street north of Santa Monica Boulevard. Clubs along the Sunset Strip will also participate and businesses Citywide will be hold special events and offerings on Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day.

For more information, please contact Michelle Rex, Deputy to Councilmember John D’Amico at (323) 848-6460 or mrex@weho.org. For Twitter, please follow #wehogogo.

SOURCE: City of West Hollywood

For City of West Hollywood
Michelle Rex
Deputy to Councilmember John D’Amico
(323) 848-6460
mrex@weho.org

The post WEHO Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day … first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

James Franco and Bruce Vilanch officially are friends again.

In an email to TheWrap Tuesday afternoon, Vilanch said of the little feud: “It’s all over. We’re on a honeymoon.”

Previously:

James Franco has made up with Bruce Vilanch.

The two had been in a mini-feud since Monday, when Vulture reported that Vilanch, a long-time Oscar writer, apparently panned Franco’s performance as host.

Franco responded with a Tweet — which he has since deleted — reading, “Bruce, he let me down,” and a link to a photo mocking Vilanch. In that Twitter picture, Franco wrote, “James Franco f—– up the Oscars. Trust me, I know comedy. I mean, come on, I write for Bette Midler!”

Now, all is well.

Vilanch, who told TheWrap’s Steve Pond, “I still want to have his baby,” apparently sent an email to Franco explaining his comments.

“I was trying to defend you,” Vilanch wrote.”Believe me, I would never diss you. that’s not my style. you should never take the gutter press too seriously.”

Franco apparently liked what he saw, printed and posted Vilanch’s email, and linked to it on Twitter. This time, he wrote over it, “Thanks Bruce. Sorry for reading stupid blogs.”

No word on whether Vilanch will be with child.

The post Franco And Vilanch Make Up – All Is Right With The World first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

“Trevor LIVE closes a historic year for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community as the tragic losses of young people have caused a resounding national outcry calling for an end to the bullying aimed at LGBTQ young people,” said Charles Robbins, Executive Director of The Trevor Project. “This event honors vanguards Kathy Griffin and Levi Strauss & Co. who are helping to usher in positive cultural change in this country. Their contributions to the LGBTQ community have always been significant, but especially recently, when young people looking for role models needed them, Kathy Griffin and Levi Strauss & Co. made their voices heard.”

WHAT:
“Trevor LIVE,” an evening of irreverent comedy, music and awards benefitting The Trevor Project, providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

WHEN:
Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010

WHERE:
The Hollywood Palladium
6215 W Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA

WHO:
Honoring: Kathy Griffin, Trevor Life Award and Levi Strauss & Co., Trevor Hope Award

Performances by: Wayne Brady, The Dan Band, Taye Diggs & Idina Menzel, Neil Patrick Harris & James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Telly Leung, Sarah Silverman, and Tracie Thoms

With Celebrity Guests: Jessica Alba, Will Arnett, Skylar Astin, Kristin Bauer, Meredith Baxter, Cat Cora, Rachael Harris, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Anna Kendrick, Jane Lynch and the cast of Glee, Joe Manganiello, Dave Navarro, Amy Poehler, and Brittany Snow

Live Auctioneer: Andrea Fiuczynski, President of Christieâ€s Los Angeles

TICKETS:
Individual and group tickets for the dinner and show or the show alone are available at http://bit.ly/TrevorLIVEtickets. Individual ticket prices start at $100 (show only), with Titanium tickets (priority dinner seating, Celebrity VIP reception and Gift Bag) at $1,500.

ABOUT THE TREVOR PROJECT:
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis intervention and suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves young lives through its free and confidential lifeline, in-school workshops, educational materials, online resources and advocacy. For more information, visit www.TheTrevorProject.org.
Trevor LIVE at the Hollywood Palladium is the signature annual event of The Trevor Project and this year has both a new name and a new location. As always, this December event brings together top entertainers and corporate leaders to support the organizationâ€s lifesaving initiatives, including its free and confidential lifeline, suicide prevention workshops, community outreach, advocacy efforts and educational resources. (More at www.thetrevorproject.org/trevorlive)

The post Trevor LIVE at the Hollywood Palladium first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Two-Time Emmy Winner Bruce Vilanch Returns to Host Fire Island Dance Festival Featuring Ailey, Momix, Cunningham, Travis Wall and More

The Fire Island Dance Festival returns to Fire Island Pines for a trio of first rate outdoor performances/parties on Saturday, July 17 and Sunday, July 18, 2010. This year’s festival will feature offerings from eleven internationally renowned dance companies and artists including premier dances by “So You Think You Can Dance” finalist/choreographer Travis Wall (July 17 only) and Stephen Petronio Company. Returning to emcee the event for a second year is two-time Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch.

Fire Island Pines, NY, July 09, 2010 –(PR.com)– Lauded by The New York Times, Out Magazine, (CBS News on) LOGO and The Village Voice, the Fire Island Dance Festival returns to Fire Island Pines for a trio of first rate outdoor performances / parties on Saturday, July 17 and Sunday, July 18, 2010. Now in its 16th year, Fire Island Dance Festival is the premier cultural event on Fire Island and is produced by and benefits Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. Returning to emcee the event for a second year will be two time Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch.

Performing outdoors against a stunning backdrop of the Great South Bay, FIDF 16 will feature an eclectic program of classical and contemporary ballet, and modern dance performed by eleven emerging and world renowned dance companies and artists. This year’s festival will prove to be yet another unforgettable event with performances by: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre principal Marcelo Gomes, Joffrey Ballet Chicago principals Fabrice Calmels and Erica Lynette Edwards, Camille A. Brown, Gallim Dance, Mark Stuart Dance Theatre and San Francisco Ballet principals Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith performing choreography by Christopher Wheeldon. FIDF 16 will also showcase a pièce dâ€occasion by Shea Sullivan, mark premiere dances by Travis Wall (July 17 only) and Stephen Petronio Company and feature a “Legacy Tour” performance by Merce Cunningham Dance Company. MOMIX will present a special performance as part of an exclusive festival kick-off party for Leadership Supporters only on Friday July 16.

Dancegoers are offered a choice of show times. The opening performance is on Saturday, July 17th at 5:00 p.m. (party at 4:00 p.m.). The sunset performance is on Saturday, July 17th at 7:00 p.m. (party following). And the closing performance is on Sunday, July 18th at 5:00 p.m. (party following). Leadership Supporters are included in the special kick-off party on Friday evening July 16th at the Lepage Pavilion at Whyte Hall.

To charge tickets by phone, call 212.840.0770 x268 – Monday through Friday and in person on weekends in the Fire Island Pines harbor or order online on the Dancers Responding to AIDS website.

Corporate Sponsors for Fire Island Dance Festival 16 include: The New York Times, Continental Airlines, GRW Advertising, Absolut Vodka, Steel Gym, NEXT Magazine, PEEQ Media, BV Wines, and Movmnt Magazine.

Founded in 1991, by former Paul Taylor dancers Denise Roberts Hurlin and Hernando Cortez, Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA) is a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS the nationâ€s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre & dance communities, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes and other critical illnesses across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $175 million.

###
Contact Information
Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS
Bobby McGuire
212-840-0770
mcguire@broadwaycares.org
www.dradance.org

The post Two-Time Emmy Winner Bruce Vilanch Returns to Host Fire Island Dance Festival first appeared on We Got Bruce!.