Bette Midler

A Whole New Role For Joan Rivers

This Friday night on Thirteen, Joan Rivers goes from Fashion Police to theater critic, sharing the Theater Talk panel with esteemed arbiters Ben Brantley and Peter Marks. And cohost Susan Haskins tells me Joan has quite a bit to say about I'll Eat You Last, the one-person show with Bette Midler as ... More >>

Living For Bette Midler

The chance to see Bette Midler in a legit play has excited me. Any legit play. Yes, I'd see her in anything--except maybe Scenes From a Mall (though wait a minute, I did see that, so never mind, I even saw Parental Guidance, above!). She's one of those commanding, radioactive performers whose pers ... More >>

The Best Non-Nominated Performances This Year

Not to take anything away from the fine nominees for this year's Oscar's acting categories, but there were five people--all men, it seems--who I feel were robbed of a nod, and I'm here to graciously present them with La Daily Musto nominations to make up for that. You're welcome, guys. They are:

O, UNHOLY NIGHT

Top your tree with Jackie Beat

Allison Janney and Ari Graynor Go Sexy In New Films!

Two actresses we love steam it up in new films

Legendary Gay Bathhouse Explored In Film!

The Continental Baths was the legendary home of toweled men, anonymous sex, and rising entertainers, starting in 1968, when being gay held more oppressions than today but also, strangely, more sexual outlets. And it deserves a movie for its landmark status as a place where gays could come out, get ... More >>

Radio Hits One: Kelly Clarkson, Lionel Richie And Countrified Pop Tunes

After Kelly Clarkson went to No. 1 on Billboard's Country Songs chart last year with the Jason Aldean duet "Don't You Wanna Stay," I wondered hopefully if the Texas-born pop star would finally go country with her next album. So I was a little disappointed a few months later, when she debuted the bla ... More >>

Chimichangas, Zoloft, Angie Bowie, And Mae West

Last night, I saw Chimichangas and Zoloft, a play by Fernanda Coppel about two Mexican-American families with some secrets, sexual awakenings, laughs, trickery, and deep depressions. Gayness or bisexuality pops up in three of the five characters, which is not as rampant as I'd like, but it's a pret ... More >>

Kool Herc Gets Honored; Niagara Bar Lets Loose

Kool Herc's Birthday/Sutra; Normalized Dance Night/Niagara Bar Thursday, April 26 Better than: Reading about how NYC's nightlife is dead. Last month, in the spirit of March Madness, SOTC created a tournament with the aim of crowning the quintessential New York musician. Popularly dubbed the Godfat ... More >>

VOTE NOW: Will John Coltrane Or Blondie Make It To The Finals In Our Quintessential New York Musician Search?

As March comes to a close, so does our month-ish-long battle royale between 64 New York musicians, all of whom were put in the mix to decide which one best embodied the spirit of the city. Each of the divisions—Uptown, Queens, Downtown, and Brooklyn—has now crowned a winner, and for our ... More >>

Sherry Vine's Favorite Variety Shows Of All Time

Drag star Sherry Vine -- the Elizabeth Taylor of downtown and the Gaga-spoofing YouTube queen -- is hosting a variety show for Here TV called She's Living for This. Well, I'm living for Sherry's favorite variety shows of all-time, and she generously obliged me with them since we both love a high-co ... More >>

The Grammys' 53 Record Of The Year Winners, In Order

53. Phil Collins, "Another Day in Paradise" [1991] 52. The 5th Dimension, "Up, Up and Away" [1968] 51. Olivia Newton-John, "I Honestly Love You" [1975] 50. Celine Dion, "My Heart Will Go On" [1999] 49. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, "A Taste of Honey" [1966] 48. Bobby McFerrin, "Don't ... More >>

Gypsy Gossip From One Of The Herbies

It's never too late to get insight into Gypsy, the classic 1959 musical about cerebral stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and the mother who destroyed her and made her a star at the same time. I recently ran into Peter Riegert, who played Herbie opposite Bette Midler in the 1993 TV version of the show.

The Screen's Hottest Hottie In Every Way

​Michael Fassbender has made searing impressions in Hunger, Inglourious Basterds, and Jane Eyre, and he's also managed to heat up everything from an X-Men movie to Centurion and beyond. Plus he's coming up in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, in which Fassbender is the founder of Analyti ... More >>

Bette Midler and Helen Mirren: Separated At Birth

​​ Whenever I think of sassy camp queen Bette Midler, I always think of magisterial Oscar winner Helen Mirren. Well, maybe not. But someone obviously does. You see, Bette just hurt her back and had to drop out of playing Phil Spector's lawyer in the HBO movie about the convicted kille ... More >>

Q&A: Darlene Love On Her Wig Collection, Her Pentecostal Past, And Phil Spector

by Andrew Hamlin Alan Hamlin​After singing lead on so many Phil Spector -produced standards--"He's A Rebel," "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),""He's Sure The Boy I Love"--Darlene Love was recognized for her stellar pipes last month, when she was granted a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of ... More >>

James Taylor

Live: Tom Waits (And A Punk-Rock Neil Diamond) Dominate The Rock Hall Induction Ceremony

The 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Monday, March 14 Better Than: Whatever was happening at Death by Audio tonight that Bruce Springsteen didn't show up to, for whatever reason. First off, let's tell you what you want to hear: Tom Waits stole the show ... More >>

On Mariah Carey's Agreeably Bizarre Yuletide Sequel Merry Christmas II You

The Resurrection of Alice in Chains

Grunge's grimmest cautionary tale rises triumphantly (if uncomfortably) anew

Oh, Yoko Ono

BAM throws a cheerfully random, surreally star-studded tribute to the Plastic Ono Band

John Travolta "Bearding" Dish From The '70s

​Party Animals, Robert Hofler's excellent new book about flamboyant '70s producer Alan Carr, is chock full of info and insights. Grab a copy and you'll learn how: *Bette Midler refused to be an Oscar presenter after not getting nominated for "her over-the-top performance" in Beaches *Novice ... More >>

Once Grand, The Women is Now Just Another Chick Flick

Gay Pride in the Outer Boroughs

Fringe benefits on the city's fringes

Will Rihanna Go Hollywood?

Uptown Saturday nights are more fabulous all the time. Meanwhile, back at the Tonys . . .

Get Some Class.

Make a change in your life.

A New Crisis for Britney's Sister?

Watching a career sore. And hearing amid the praise for Day-Lewis: 'Huston. We have a problem.'

NYC 2030: Bloomberg Sees Green

Beelzebabs

A harrowing look at Satanic motifs in the canon of Barbra Streisand

All This Useless Beauty

Absence of presence: Arty Last Days misses out on Cobain's populist passion

Against Interpretation

Rod Stewart finds a brand-new batch of catchy and literate songs he can put his mark on

Queen of Mean

Jackie Beat tears you a new one, and you like it; Detroit's disco d sells out

Film

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Listings

Familiar and Fabulous

How many queens does it take to fill Radio City Music Hall?

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Music

Vibrators

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Mix It Up

Does Leather Go With Lace? Why Not?

The Vulgar Classes

Rough Trades and the Wages of Sin

Japanimation's All-ages Show

Much Too Vulgar a Display of Power

Woman's Work

Williamsburg Steeler

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