Bette Midler

Tyson Takes a Trip to Bountiful; Imelda Dominates Here Lies Love; Midler Meddles as Sue Mengers

Where there's a will...

Why So Many One-Person Shows Right Now?

Holland Taylor as Ann Richards. Alan Cumming as Macbeth. Bette Midler as Sue Mengers. Fiona Shaw as the Virgin Mary. Why such an avalanche of solo outings on Broadway (though to be fair, Cumming has two medical workers watching him and occasionally murmuring something)? Easy: The economy! There's ... More >>

Bette Midler As Superagent Sue Mengers: My Review

Lounging on a sofa in a sparkly blue caftan in a picture-perfect Beverly Hills mansion while chain smoking and waiting for the phone to ring, Bette Midler plays campy 1970s producer Alan Carr in the new Broadway one-person show I'll Eat You Last. Oh, sorry, she's playing campy 1970s superagent Sue M ... More >>

Barbra Turned Down Cabaret, Klute, and Julia

I was uptown last night when Barbra Streisand arrived to be honored with her Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Chaplin" award, and she and hubby Brolin looked like buttah. Also lovely was this New York Times piece yesterday, in which the greatest star answered readers' questions with her usual plu ... More >>

World's Largest Gay Club To Open On June 15!

With the Liberace Museum, Siegfried & Roy, Bette Midler, and many other glitzy attractions, Las Vegas has had a gayish appeal for decades. But I always felt there should be an actual gay club--one that was loud and proud and not on some back road, filled with raunchy rednecks. And here it comes!

How Bette Midler Became "Bathhouse Betty"

Way before she was Sue Mengers (the colorful agent she's playing in a new Broadway play), Bette Midler was known for camping and vamping it up for toweled gays at the Continental Baths in between their bouts of horizontal mambo dancing. Well, Malcolm Ingram's new documentary about the place, Contin ... More >>

A Big Year For Drag And Transgender On Broadway!

As I've pointed out, it's been an amazing season for beefcake, but it also happens to be a banner time for cross dressing. La Cage and Priscilla have clearly paved the way for lots more theatrical dolling up as the opposite sex (instead of with the opposite sex, lol). We have two men playing women ... More >>

Edward Hibbert Is Performing Live!

You know him as Gil Chesterton on Frasier, an Obie-winner from Jeffrey, a Broadway scene-stealer in The Drowsy Chaperone and Curtains, and from so many other credits. He's witty, wise, and a snappy dresser. And he's doing a live cabaret show which sounds like a must-see for urbane New Yorkers and ... More >>

Three One-Woman Shows In A Row Are Coming!

I generally loathe one-person shows because they often fail to be all that dramatic, usually consisting of a long-winded famous person pretending to be another long-winded famous person, taking an occasional breath only when the phone rings. But the three one-woman shows that are coming sound like ... More >>

Parental Guidance

Two Exciting New Stars On The Scene

I regularly leave the house so you don't have to, and in doing so on Tuesday I encountered two bright lights sparkling up the NYC night. At Codependent Tuesdays at the gay bar Therapy, Natalie Joy Johnson does a weekly show that is zingy and throaty and campy and fun. Natalie--who did the tour of ... More >>

My Favorite Child Stars Of All Time

Before you chime in with "But you forgot...": No, I didn't. These are my personal favorites. Feel free to tell me yours.

Janis Joplin's Story Is Finally Coming To The Screen

Hard-bluesing, hard-boozin' wailer Janis Joplin's story has long seemed like a natural for the big screen, but any realization of that has always sputtered out like an empty bottle of Southern Comfort. Bette Midler did some kind of riff on it in 1979's The Rose, but it was very loosely based. And ... More >>

Live: The Songwriters Hall Of Fame Awards Roll Back To The '70s

43rd Annual Songwriters Hall Of Fame Awards Marriott Marquis Thursday, June 14 Better than: Disco roller derby. If you closed your eyes and listened to the parade of songs and familiar voices emanating from the Marriott Marquis' luminary-packed sixth-floor ballroom last night, you might have tho ... More >>

I'm Talking Madonna And Bette This Saturday! Join In!

The panel is called "Love Thy Diva: Madonna & Bette Midler," and it's described thusly: "Madonna impersonator Vivian Belle, Bette Midler impersonator The Divine Grace (above), and Clay Cane, radio host of Clay Cane Live on WWRL 1600AM and entertainment editor at BET.com, critique, analyze and cele ... More >>

Michael Kors Made Liz Taylor Cry--And Other Fascinating Stories

Last night, mega designer Michael Kors spilled some fully baked beans to fashion biggie Fern Mallis at the 92nd Street Y. Christian Freedom was at the event and jotted down every terribly chic word:

SOTC's March Madness: Welcome To The Lightning Round Of 16

This week, our search for New York's quintessential post-1955 musician is about to get hectic, with the winner crowned as the calendar flips to April on Saturday night. (A rundown of all the matches so far is here.) So for the Round of 16 matchups—four of which will happen today, four tomorrow ... More >>

SOTC's March Madness: The Quintessential New York Musician Tournament

Sound of the City's monthlong tournament to determine the quintessential New York City musician (since 1955, the year of the Village Voice's founding) is taking over our site all March. The full schedule and results (as of March 23) below; you can also follow along with our bracket.

Dipset (13) Clashes With Bette Midler (5) As SOTC's March Madness Gets Heated

​Sound of the City's search for the quintessential New York City musician enters Round Two this week. Today, all the remaining contenders in the Uptown division battle it out in the Round of 32. Keep up with all the action here. As if predestined by the Moirai, Bette Midler and the Diplomats will ... More >>

Kool Herc (12) Takes On Bette Midler (5) As Round One Of Our Quintessential New York Musician Tournament Continues

The Round of 64 for Sound of the City's own version of March Madness--in which we determine the quintessential New York musician--launches this morning with a series of polls. Up for debate this time: Hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc and the brassy yet divine Bette Midler. Check out the arguments in favor ... More >>

Guess Who Went To The Continental Baths?

The Continental Baths was the steamy 1970s gay sex haven at the Ansonia Hotel, which came complete with a performance space for rising stars like Bette Midler to entertain the toweled gays in between orgasms.

The Song "Some People" Through The Years

Surely you know the song "Some People" from the musical Gypsy. Oh, you're straight and under 50?

Madonna's Lesbian Friends (And Gaga) Comment On Her Performance

Face it. She did fine at the Super Bowl. She led us through a pop-culture carnival involving gladiators, acrobats, cheerleaders, guest stars, lip-synching, a stumble, and a Wicked Witch of the West exit, followed by the rousing message of "Buy My Album," I mean, "World Peace." (And after she fero ... More >>

BRING YOUR BFF

Be the diva you were born to be

You Know You Are Watching a Garry Marshall Movie When...

Middlebrow hero

The Best Wedding Songs Of All Time

​Not songs to be sung at weddings--I'm not here to write about "Color My World," thank you--but songs about weddings. Here are my all-time faves: (8) "Wedding Bell Blues"--sung by the Fifth Dimension The raw urgency and desperation of this one always amuses me. As she sings it, Marilyn Mc ... More >>

The Three Best Live Performers I've Ever Seen!

​Yes, the new kids have a lot of sparkle and chutzpah, but they don't yet have the seasoning to become the master performers I've personally handpicked for immortality. The three greatest concert givers I've ever seen are: *Patti LaBelle A Patti concert is a religious experience, her fans w ... More >>

First Gay Bar in an Atlantic City Casino: I Was There!

​It's on the 13th floor of Resorts' Ocean Tower, but here's hoping that won't be an unlucky roll of the dice. Resorts' LGBT marketing man Joel Ballesteros sent a bunch of us there this weekend for the gala opening, which started with a performance of the old-school drag revue "Believe--Divas ... More >>

Danielle Grabianowski

Cats & Dogs (and Pigeons and Christina Applegate)

The Gayest Movie Ever

​ I just caught the trailer, and you'll have to believe me on this. It's Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Among the talents used in this animated film are: Bette Midler, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes (reprising his role of Mr. Tinkles), and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth from 30 Rock). ... More >>

Big Business

Tonight! Plastic Ono Band (For Real This Time), Wavves, Lightspeed Champion, and Bear Hands

​Today, Yoko Ono is busy assembling the year's most disparate backing group. After yesterday's "dress rehearsal," her reincarnated Plastic Ono Band will be performing at BAM, with guests ranging from Eric Clapton to Sean Lennon to ... the Scissor Sisters? Also included in the lineup are Mark R ... More >>

Danielle Grabianowski

Buy Paul Rudnick's New Book!

​If you don't know who Paul Rudnick is, I'll come over and personally take away your gay card and your Britney collection too. He's a well known playwright (Jeffrey) and screenwriter (Addams Family Values, In & Out), and now the effortlessly witty author has a book out--an essay collection ca ... More >>

50 Cent's "40 Day" Still Happening on Sunday in Queens, Sans Performance; Q-Tip Still Totally Outraged with the Mayor

50 Cent's "40 Day," the long and irrationally feared weekend block party thrown for the residents of the South Jamaica Houses in the area around which 50 grew up, is still scheduled for this Sunday, sans a performance. Mayor Bloomberg himself quashed the idea of 50 performing in Queens, after a se ... More >>

50 Cent To Turn Queens Schoolyard Into A Blood-Soaked O.K. Corral, According to This Not-At-All-Alarmist New York Post Article

​The fact that on any given night in New York City a rapper is playing a concert with a minimum of horrific violence and without sparking "a wave of fear" in the surrounding community does not seem to have registered with the New York Post. Ahem: Superstar rapper 50 Cent is secretly planning ... More >>

Eva Mendes' Underwear Scene and Madonna's Strap-On!

And inside the women in Towelhead. Plus Rockwell paints a fucked-up Casanova.

Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me

Mad about crap

The American Idol Finale: A Running Diary

Perfect Worlds: Art House

Batteries Not Included: Stepford Remake Needs an Upgrade

NY Mirror

NY Mirror

War of the Gardeners

Bugging Out Over Green Spaces

Alias in Wonderland

Buffalo Gals and Mustang Sallys

Music

Love and Anarchy

Garden-Variety Politics

Councilmember Spigner Weeds Out Queens Lot

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