Jon Lawrence Rivera & Jon Imparato (Director & Producer of "March"): "It's Only 16 Cars, People"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 10/22/2020
Author Mark Malkoff (Love Johnny Carson): "Johnny Was a Comfort"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis is joined by author Mark Malkoff to talk about his book Love Johnny Carson about the iconic Tonight Show host and what made him an American institution. Mark talks about how he first became obsessed with Carson as a kid, conducting 400 interviews for his book, celebrities whose careers were made by Carson like Bette Midler, David Letterman and The Potato Chip Lady and what Carson was like off-camera. He also talks about Carson's career before the Tonight Show, his problems with drinking, his progressive attitudes around race and homosexuality and why Dana Carvey's SNL...
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Writer-Performer Mike Albo (Hologram Boyfriends, Unitard): "It’s Hard to Find Someone Who Is Ready To Sit There"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer-performer Mike Albo to talk about his new audio original Hologram Boyfriends as well as his upcoming appearance as one-third of the comedy troupe Unitard at the Cavern Club Theater in Silver Lake (March 20-22). Hologram Boyfriends, from McMilan audio, is a series of personal essays about love, sex and connection before and after the advent of the smartphone. Mike talks about why he wanted to the examine the topic, the process of writing and recording it and how once he committed to do it, all these weird things started happening to him. He also talks why...
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THE YEAR IN MOVIES 2025 Part 2 w/ Queer Review Senior Film Critic Glenn Gaylord and actor-writer-film lover Drew Droege
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Once again, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review and star of the YouTube channel Glenn Hates Everything and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of 2025. Part 1 was last week. Here's Part 2 and the films discussed include: Song Sung Blue, Hamnet, Blue Sun Palace, Before We Forget, It Was Just an Accident, The Parenting, A Nice Indian Boy, Sirat, Friendship, A Night Like This, Pee-wee As Himself, Lurker, Marty Supreme, The Naked Gun, Wicked: For Good, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Sentimental Value, F1, Superman,...
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THE YEAR IN MOVIES 2025 Part 1 w/ film critic Glenn Gaylord and actor-writer-film lover Drew Droege
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Once again, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review and star of the YouTube channel Glenn Hates Everything and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of 2025. The films discussed include Ella McCay, Twinless, Weapons, Plainclothes, The Baltimorons, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Materialists, Rent Free, The Secret Agent, Sorry Baby, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Bring Her Back, The Long Walk, The Plague, One of Them Days, The Mastermind, Rebuilding, Wake Up Dead Man, The History of Sound and One Battle After Another. Drew...
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The Fivesome from the play FOURSOME play "You Don't Know My Life!"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis is joined by the director and cast of the new play Foursome, which is currently running at the Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is about two couples who head to a mountain cabin for a New Years getaway and let's just say...the play isn't called Foursome for nothing. The show's director Tom DeTrinis as well as the cast, which includes Matthew Scott Montgomery (who is also the show's playwright), Jimin Moon, Adrián Javier and Calvin Seabrooks join Dennis for a game of You Don't Know My Life! featuring these two Foursome-inspired questions: You’re...
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Singer-Actor David Hernandez ("Beautiful 2.0"): "It's Always a F%$#-ing Shane"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis is joined by singer, actor and American Idol alum David Hernandez to talk about his new single and video "Beautiful 2.0," which features trans artist Mila Jam. David talks about his inspiration for re-recording the song, which he wrote and released in 2016, working with his former Harlem roommate Mila Jam, and how he feels much more comfortable on camera now than he did in 2016. He also talks his stint on American Idol in 2008, his favorite memory from the show, being on the same season as fellow out singer David Archuleta, how it blew up his life and the Idol...
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Playwright Robert Axelrod ("Lifeline"): It Is Hard Work To Help People"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Robert Axelrod to discuss his new play Lifeline, which is a dramedy about a group of new volunteers at a suicide hotline. It was inspired by Robert's own experience as a volunteer for The Trevor Project hotline. Robert talks about what it was like to volunteer there, the extensive training volunteers go through and he recalls some of his more memorable conversations. He also talks about the importance of collaboration and why he loves to be the dumbest person in the room. Other topics include: the moment he got bitten by the playwriting bug, the...
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Playwright Justin Tanner ("My Son The Playwright"): "I’m A Nicer Person Than I Ever imagined I Was"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Justin Tanner whose one-person show, "My Son, the Playwright," is currently running at the Rogue Machine Theatre in Hollywood. Justin talks about his motivation for writing the play, in which he plays a version of his father in Act 1 and a version of himself in 2004 in Act 2. He also talks about how he memorized the 14,000 word script by using a the robotic voice feature in Final Draft as well as an Allison Janney-inspired method involving the first letter of each word. Dennis and Justin also discuss the challenges and opportunities of writing plays...
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Audio Book Narrator Ron Butler (Baldwin: A Love Story): "I Ended The Book, Saved The File and Cried"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Ron Butler who has narrated hundreds of audiobooks including the current bestseller Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs, which is about the life and loves of the iconic queer writer James Baldwin. Ron talks about how the project came to him, how he approached doing Baldwin's voice and getting so emotional at the end of the process that he cried. He also talks about how the business of audiobook narrating works, from how he gets paid to the prep work that happens before to the sexy little home booth he bought for himself right before the pandemic. Other...
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The Cast of ADAM & STEVE ESCAPE FROM MAGA play You Don't Know My Life!
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
For this episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by the cast of the new film Adam and Steve Escape From MAGA for a rollicking game of You Don't Know My Life! Writer-Director Craig Chester is joined by his cast mates Nora Burns, Nadya Ginsburg, Ned Van Zandt, Madeline Reed, Mélisa Breiner-Sanders, Cary Curran, David Ilku and Michael Musto to answer these two questions: As your film demonstrates, last year was a total shitshow...but what's something good you experienced in 2025? AND You're writing a magazine article entitled My Actor's Nightmare based on an incident from your life. What happens...
info_outlineDennis connects via Zoom with director Jon Lawrence Rivera and producer Jon Imparato, two of the creative forces behind the new play "March." "March" is not a Zoom-happening. It's an actual live theatrical experience presented in the parking garage of the LA LGBT Center to an audience watching safely from their cars. The play is set in a post-Trump, dystopian, anti-queer future and focuses on three LGBT characters running and hiding and fighting for their lives. Jon and Jon talk about what made them crazy enough to mount a live show during a pandemic, how they crafted the script from the performers' real life experiences and why it was important that the show be hard-hitting and political. Other topics include: the thrill of presenting a new play live at a time when virtually no one else in the country is, the challenge of directing actors whose faces are covered by masks and shields and that time an audience member's car broke down in the middle of the show. https://lalgbtcenter.org/culture-education/on-our-stages