Bruce Vilanch will be playing two nights, January 11 & 12, at Feinsteinâ€s at the Regency in his new one-man show “Writer on the Verge”. We thought weâ€d call him up to see what the showâ€s all about. Even as he picked up the phone, he was already chuckling and cracking wise: “Is this the Gay Socialite? Any questions? Fire away!”

So, is “Writer on the Verge” all-new?

It is! Itâ€s been a a long time since Iâ€ve done anything in New York. When Iâ€m in the city I tend to do benefits galore and emcee things. So Iâ€m pretty sure all my material will be new to the city. I havenâ€t done a real show in New York for 10 years unless Iâ€m forgetting something. I was at Westbeth for three months but that was almost 11 years ago. There have been many more Oscar broadcasts since then and many more things to tell stories about.

Youâ€re going to be play Feinsteinâ€s; will there be any singing?

I donâ€t think so; if I get the piano player of my dreams, I will sing, Iâ€ve got some material. But to be there and to sing, to stand there in the shadow of so many incredible singers, just because itâ€s a cabaret…I donâ€t think when Jackie Mason played there he broke into song.

No, nor Joan Collins, and her show was terrific.

[Laughs.] She didnâ€t? I thought that was the whole idea. So she just told stories, right? Thatâ€s interesting too, and of course my life is so much more glamorous than hers. [Laughs.]

Yeah, Mitzi Gaynor sang a couple songs, but her show was also mostly stories.

In the ballroom, right? Thatâ€s the big time. Iâ€m in the cabaret, where Iâ€ve been a regular, which I actually love. I worked with Mitzi recently, when she was coming out of her shell — if you can ever believe she was in one. We did an on-stage Q&A in San Francisco, and of course what I learned is you ask Mitzi one question and she goes into material from her act, of which there is no shortage. Itâ€s hysterical and wonderful. I think getting back out there and doing that stuff encouraged her to do a regular evening.

What do you think of the state of gayâ€s in todayâ€s comedy?

I think we rule! Itâ€s ironic on TV certainly the big hit is Modern Family and because of Modern Family there are half a dozen shows in the hopper for next year about “blended” families of different kinds and they all have a gay element in them. So success breeds a lot — this is the logical extension of Will & Grace and Ellen DeGeneres. In television thereâ€s quite a lot of it. In general I think weâ€re going through a transitional period. Now that weâ€re visible, weâ€re showing different textures, a character isnâ€t just a gay character. Heâ€s not in the script because heâ€s gay, writers are now being given freedom to discover layers in gay characters.

And you are acting in a new gay themed film comedy Oy Vey My Son is Gay.

Which is opening Friday in Miami. Miami Beach at last! Iâ€m in Tampa right now and Iâ€m going to go down there for the “gala” opening, “gala” thatâ€s hysterical. Itâ€s been released “on a platform,” opening in different markets one after the other. Itâ€s been opening around the country on different dates. Thatâ€s a fun thing because you get reviewed at least once a week by some new person in another newspaper. Itâ€s like the death of a thousand cuts. [Laughs.] But itâ€s a very funny movie, an old school comedy, about the older generation getting hit by a trifecta: their sons are gay, getting married and adopting a baby. What makes it so funny is the older Jewish parents are played by Lainie Kazan and Saul Rubinek, with Carmen Electra as “the beard next door,” and the cast just goes on like that.

For tickets, click here.

For more reviews and interviews by Jonathan Warman, see his blog Drama Queen.

The post “Gay Socialites” Interview Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

An expert’s advice for aspiring filmmakers: “If a comedy is doing its job, you leave feeling differently about the world,” according to Bruce Vilanch, a six-time Emmy winner who’s written for Bette Midler and just about every big star on the Oscars since 1991.

Vilanch, a Hollywood Squares alumnus, also acts and most recently co-starred with Lainie Kazan, Saul Rubinek, John Lloyd Young, Jai Rodriguez and Carmen Electra in a low-budget comedy called Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! — about an older Jewish couple (Kazan and Rubinek) horrified to discover their adult son (Young) is never going to marry a nice Jewish girl.

“It’s not a movie for radical queers. This is a movie made from the point of view of the older generation, which tends to think in stereotypes and use stereotypes themselves,” says Vilanch, 62, who — stereotypically — is gay, Jewish and a bit flamboyant.

Rodriguez, 31, who plays the Jewish son’s Italian boyfriend, agrees: “The movie, to me, is reflective of other communities than New York. In smaller communities, these are issues still being faced.”

Oy Vey! is directed and co-written by Russian-born Evgeny Afineevsky, 37, also gay and Jewish.

Rodriguez describes Afineevsky as “a persuasive, persuasive man” who convinced him and the other stars to join the project.

Vilanch says Afineevsky spent about 10 years “chasing me around.”

“He had this script,” Vilanch says. “Then I was doing Hairspray [on Broadway] and he kept showing up at the theater. He wanted me to play Uncle Max. If someone wants to pay me to act, well, let me look at this now!”

He plays Kazan’s married (to a woman) gay brother. Vilanch wanted to tone down his outrageous image for the part, but Afineevsky told him to keep his trademark platinum blond bangs: “Because I’m so butch and they didn’t want me to change my look,” Vilanch says.

Afineevsky also managed to bring superstar songwriter Desmond Child on board as executive producer of Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!

“I just loved the title,” says Child, Ricky Martin’s longtime collaborator. “The
title says it all. It sounds hysterical!”

Child co-wrote The Word is Love, performed on the Oy Vey! soundtrack by To Sir With Love singer Lulu.

“It’s one of my dreams to take the property and turn it into a Broadway show,” says Child, 57, who lives in Miami Beach and Nashville with longtime partner Curtis Shaw and their 8-year-old twins. “Hopefully, it will be everyone else’s dream too. It’s a very gay dream.”

IF YOU GO
Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!’ opens Friday in South Florida at Regal South Beach, Sunrise Intracoastal Cinema in North Miami Beach, AMC Aventura at Aventura Mall, Regal Shadowood in Boca Raton and Regal Cinemas in Delray Beach.

Bruce Vilanch will appear at the 12:10 p.m. Friday screening at Regal South Beach 18, 1120 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach. Writer-director Evgeny Afineevsky will appear at all Regal South Beach screenings on Friday.

January 04, 2011 in Arts, Bisexual, Business, Current Affairs, Film, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale & Broward County, Gay, Lesbian, LGBT, Marriage, Media, Miami, Miami & Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach, Music, Politics, Religion, South Florida, Television, Theater, Transgender, Travel, Weblogs, Workplace, Youth | Permalink

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The post Bruce Vilanch Talks “Oy Vey…” first appeared on We Got Bruce!.