Long before Ellen, Boy George, “Will & Grace,” and RuPaul, there was Bruce Vilanch.  You may know him from writing the most memorable moments on the Academy Awards, or from touring as Edna in “Hairspray,” or from being front and center on “Hollywood Squares,” or from writing for Bette Midler. 

No matter how you know him, and even if you don’t know him by name, one thing is certain — Bruce Vilanch always leaves you smiling.

To this gay boy growing up in a Boston suburb, that weirdly wonderful creature who regularly popped up on television brought endless joy – and promise. It proved that somehow, somewhere, there were more people like me; that I could fit in, thrive, work, and more than anything else, have a fabulous time. 

It seemed like it was a party wherever Bruce showed up. “Donny & Marie,” “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour,” “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” and “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” 

Was it as much fun as it seemed? Vilanch sighs. “Even sex sometimes isn’t as fabulous on the inside as it seems from the outside!”

He regularly uses his gifts to benefit causes close to his heart. He’s been a tireless advocate for gay rights, raised countless dollars for the fight against AIDS and regularly participates in Pride events – you name it and Bruce has done it. When I ask what drives him, he says, “Renting my body was not an option.”

I remember being part of the invited audience for the dress rehearsal before he hit the road in “Hairspray,” slipping into Edna’s slippers. The first person in his dressing room afterwards was his beloved mother, Henne – who was immortalized in the 1999 documentary about Vilanch, “Get Bruce!” Bruce was still in full makeup (see photo).  Henne gushed, “You were WONDERFUL.”  She turned to me and said, “Isn’t my son wonderful?”  He certainly is!

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?   

I’ve never been in. Before Stonewall, the concept of being publicly out didn’t exist. And I’ve been around since before Stonewall. Shocking, I know. In addition, I was always fooling around with girls, until I realized that any woman I wanted to make a life with deserved more than a guy who would be trolling around looking for other guys. I chose to live an authentic life. When they say homosexuality is a choice, that’s the choice they’re talking about.

Who’s your LGBT hero? 

If I have to pick just one out of the herd, I guess it would be Noël Coward. He lived the life he wanted to live and nobody seemed to make a bother about it. Plus he was funny as shit.

What’s Los Angeles’ best nightspot, past or present? 

I am of the Studio One/Rose Tattoo era. I was too late for the Coconut Grove in its prime and now I don’t last as late, so I can’t enjoy Reflex in its prime, which is about 5 a.m.

Describe your dream wedding. 

It’s a thrupple. I’m not sure who the other two guys are, but one of them dresses left and the other dresses right and I’m the centrist.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about? 

I’m a tribal Jew, so I’m concerned about my tribe. Working on AIDS-related causes for so many decades has made me more interested in other minority health issues, and being on the board of the LA LGBT Center has certainly gotten me involved in that. Of course, I am dogged about the arts and censorship and preservation and restoration.  And I worry — Tiffany Haddish — she really ready?

What historical outcome would you change? 

I try not to indulge in magical thinking. Magical drinking is enough.

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime? 

Probably Woodstock, but that’s just because I am a boomer. I wasn’t really a hippie, I wasn’t really a rocker, I wasn’t really a stoner, but the idea of half a million people hiking into the woods to hear music and to tell the previous generation that there was a new world hatching is still pretty memorable. 

On what do you insist? 

Pleasure. And free WiFi.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet? 

Probably a postcard eulogy of a friend.  They’re thick on the ground now…again.  But this is not because of a plague. This is Mother Nature and Father Time, who are both non-binary.

If your life were a book, what would the title be? 

There was a documentary about me called “Get Bruce!” Maybe the book will be “Had Bruce!”  With a much larger cast.

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do? 

By that time, I will be married to a Martian.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world? 

An ethical dimension. 

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders? 

Xanax. Just when we thought we had climbed the mountain, they moved the mountain. I don’t blame them for being depressed and a bit shell-shocked. Still, our enemies eat a lot of sugar and have boundless energy, and we have to shut down divisive politics amongst ourselves and confront the common orange evil. 

What would you walk across hot coals for? 

A swimming pool, and in a big hurry.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most? 

Anyone who tells you if you disagree with them, you are worse than Hitler. And that’s an awful lot of gay people. We’re woefully intolerant of each other and rather than finding common ground, we carpet bomb. This isn’t new, but it is especially annoying in the era that began on November 9, 2016.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie? 

“Get Bruce!” of course, OK, that wasn’t even nominated for a GLAAD Award, even though part of the movie was my acceptance speech when I personally won a GLAAD Award. Aside from that, I am very partial to an indie drama called “Parting Glances,” which was the first AIDS movie that I can recall. If you don’t think you can handle it, know that the young Steve Buscemi is one of the leads and that alone should get you to Netflix and chill.

What’s the most overrated social custom? 

“How are you,”  “Thoughts and prayers,”  “Sorry for your loss,” referring to rich kids as “children of privilege.”

What trophy or prize do you most covet? 

The World’s Largest Penis, which is not the same as the World’s Largest Dick, which I have already been called.

What do you wish you’d known at 18? 

That pizza wouldn’t make me happy for more than a minute.

Why Los Angeles? 

I’m deeply shallow.

The post Long before Ellen, Boy George, “Will & Grace,” and RuPaul, there was Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

“Silver Foxes,” a gay male reboot of the sitcom “The Golden Girls,” is one step closer to production.

The series, from writer duo Stan Zimmerman and James Berg who have collaborated on “Gilmore Girls” and “The Golden Girls,” has been picked up for production by production company Super Deluxe.

According to Variety, the 30-minute comedy will follow two, mature gay men and one man’s much younger lover as they rescue their other friend who has been forced back into the closet at his assisted living facility. They bring him back to their Palm Springs home where the four get into plenty of hijinks.

Berg and Zimmerman were inspired to make a sitcom based on older gay men’s lives after viewing “Gen Silent,” a documentary about older LGBT people living in nursing home and retirement communities.

Zimmerman revealed in June that there was already a table read with Leslie Jordan, George Takei, Bruce Vilanch, Todd Sherry and Cheri Oteri. Official casting has not yet been announced.

The post Gay male ‘Golden Girls’ reboot picked up for development first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and The Industry drew acclaim last year for their co-production of Young Caesar, Lou Harrison’s depiction of Caesar’s love for another man. The production was directed by Yuval Sharon, The Industry’s founder/director, and the LA Phil’s Artist-Collaborator. The digital album was recorded live with the LA Phil New Music Group at Walt Disney Concert Hall and will be digitally released February 2, 2018, on The Industry Records.

Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times described the performance: “Sharon, in conjunction with his opera company, The Industry, mounted a fanciful, visually stunning, endearingly mercurial, marginally risqué, momentarily over-the-top and ultimately touching production. The LA Phil New Music Group, conducted by Marc Lowenstein in the final Green Umbrella program of the season, was sensational, revealing layer upon layer of sheer musical gorgeousness capable, from the first bars, of lifting the spirits.”

Harrison’s magnum opus explores the early life of Julius Caesar with a sublime and sinuous, percussion-rich depiction of his love for another man. The Industry’s new 90-minute performance edition fuses Harrison’s original gamelan-inspired orchestration with his later, lush orchestral writing.

Young Caesar has suffered a turbulent fate in large part due to its unabashed subject matter: the patrons of the 1971 Pasadena premiere withdrew their support in protest of the openly gay story, and an aborted production for the Lincoln Center Festival in Harrison’s lifetime has left the opera in crucial need of a high-profile presentation. Subsequent revisions up until Harrison’s death in 2003, including the addition of three rapturous arias from his late musical style, has made this opera a summation of Harrison’s musical ideas throughout his career. That the opera has struggled so long to receive a performance worthy of its place in Harrison’s output — and of his role in shaping 20th century American music — is one of the vital reasons for this recording.

Leading the LA Phil New Music Group in this new recording is conductor Marc Lowenstein. The cast includes Bruce Vilanch (narrator), Adam Fisher (Caesar), Hadleigh Adams (Nicomedes), Nancy Maultsby (Julia), Delaram Kamareh (Cornelia), and Timur Bekbosunov (Dionysus), and also features dancers, along with men of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Young Caesar

The recording was produced and mastered by Jesse Lewis, a Grammy award winning producer who has worked with artists such as the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma, Los Angeles Philharmonic, A Far Cry, Brooklyn Rider, ETHEL, Roomful of Teeth, and The Knights.

Included with the digital download is a robust 25-page booklet illustrated with images from the live performance. It includes a synopsis, and essays by: Yuval Sharon (director), Robert Gordon (librettist), Marc Lowenstein (conductor), and critic John Rockwell.

Please note this recording contains mature content.

Experimental opera producer/director Yuval Sharon, the LA Phil’s new Artist-Collaborator, directs Lou Harrison’s sublime and sinuous, percussion-rich depiction of Caesar’s love for another man. After its scandalous 1971 premiere at Caltech, this new performance edition fuses Harrison’s original gamelan-inspired orchestration with his later, lush orchestral writing.

ARTISTS

LA Phil New Music Group

The Industry

Marc Lowenstein, conductor

Yuval Sharon, artistic and stage director

Robert Gordon, libretto

Danny Dolan, choreographer

Christopher Kuhl, lighting designer

Daniel Selon, costume and puppet designer

Kaitlyn Pietras, projection design and illustration

Jason H. Thompson, projection design and illustration

Delaram Kamareh, Cornelia

Shannon Knox, design associate and puppet fabricator

Eva Soltes, creative consultant

Christine Marie, shadow puppetry designer

Emily Franz, puppet fabricator

Heidi Tungsten, puppet fabricator

Adam Fisher, Caesar

Hadleigh Adams, Nicomedes

Bruce Vilanch, Narrator

Nancy Maultsby, Julia

Timur, Dionysus

Andrew Pearson, dancer

Austin Westbay, dancer

Raymond Ejiofor, dancer

Malachi Middleton, dancer

Drew Hinckley, dancer

Men of the Los Angeles Master Chorale

Grant Gershon, artistic director

Digital Release Only:

You can also hear it in full on You Tube: Click Here

The post Bruce Vilanch Narrates The Lush Opera, Harrison: Young Caesar (Live) -Just Released In Digital Form – Please Read About This Incredible Project first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

When you’re talking comedy greats today, Judy Gold is truly worthy of her last name. Whether it was as writer and producer of the Rosie O’Donnell show, starring in two acclaimed Off Broadway one-woman shows (“The Judy Show — My Life as a Sitcom” and “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother”) or just the nearly 25 years she has been doing standup, the comedian delivers a gold-medal performance at every turn.

On Jan. 27, Gold will be teaming with fellow NSFW (not safe for work) comedian Bruce Vilanch for a show at the Ridgefield Playhouse titled “Big and Small.” Gold spoke with us about her upcoming show and getting her start in standup.

Keith Loria: Preview a little of what we can expect from you on the night.

Judy Gold: I’ll be ranting and going off on how much I hate everyone, which seems to be the theme of my act now. It’s going to be a really fun night.

KL: How do you and Bruce complement each other on stage?

JG: I love doing this show. Bruce is like a joke machine. He has worked with everyone and he knows stuff about all of them. It’s really fun to hear about Hollywood from someone who has made other people look funny for so long. We are so different. He tells these incredible stories about Hollywood, and I’m just me. I think we really complement each other and are funny in different ways. We’ve known each other for years.

KL: With such different styles, why did you think the pairing would work?

JG: We’re both gay, both Jews and both large! We’re both from New Jersey and were both very close with our mothers. There’s just a kinship. We just had an immediate connection.

KL: How did you know that comedy was something you wanted to do with your life?

JG: I knew I would never be happy if I didn’t follow my dream. Yet, I come from the most conservative family when it comes to risk taking. My father was a tax attorney, my mother a secretary, my sister is in insurance and my brother is a CPA. To them, my dream was crazy.

KL: You came up through the comedy ranks alongside notable comics like Ray Romano and Wanda Sykes. What was it like back then?

JG: It’s like we were all in the same platoon. We share this bond that can never be broken. When I was on the road in the ’80s and early ’90s, we wrote all day and then we hung out all night. We were each other’s family and standup became so important to me.

KL: How has Donald Trump becoming president changed your act this past year?

JG: It is like the orange elephant in the room all the time. It’s on everyone’s mind all the time. I remember the days when I would watch Jeopardy! but now I have to have MSNBC on every night. It’s turned into a dangerous reality show. My relationships with some people have changed and my audiences have changed. He just brings out the worst of people.

KL: You host a successful blog — Kill Me Now with Judy Gold. What do you enjoy about that experience?

JG: I find people really interesting and I want to know what makes people tick and what makes them different. To be in this horrible show business, you have to be ill in some way because it’s such a crap shoot. I really love finding out the stuff they don’t normally talk about.

The post Judy Gold Discusses Partnering Up With Bruce Vilanch (For Comedy, Folks, Geesh!) And Other Topics first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th.

If you are looking for a good night of laughs, I would assume this is as close to a sure thing as one can get.

Vilanch is wickedly funny, and I assume when in a room of mostly gay men his stories will make for an evening you won’t soon forget.

If you haven’t made plans already you may want to consider checking out this show.  Get your tickets ahead of time since the show is likely to sell out.  Get your tickets online from Club Cafe’s website here.

The post Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th. first appeared on We Got Bruce!.