Hugh Nini & Neal Treadwell ("Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s to 1950s"): The Embrace Heard Around the World
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 12/07/2020
Writer-Director-Actor Leah McKendrick (Scrambled): "If Nothing Is Real, You Have To Be The Real Thing"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by his dance class friend and rising star, writer-director-actor Leah McKendrick to talk about her breakout comedy from last year Scrambled as well as this month's reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which she has a story credit on. Leah talks about how Scrambled was inspired by her own journey of freezing her eggs as single woman in her 30's, how she was able to get the film made, the challenge of wearing so many hats on the project and how audiences would often want to hold and comfort her after seeing the movie. She also talks about her realization that if...
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Filmmaker Fernando Andrès & Actor-Producer Jacob Roberts (Rent Free): "Film Is My Religion"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by two of the men behind his favorite indie of the year so far Rent Free, co-writer and director Fernando Andrès and actor-producer Jacob Roberts. The film is about two queer, down-on-their-luck best friends Ben (Roberts) and Jordan (played by David Trevino) who hatch a plan to live rent free for a year in Austin, Texas--on friends' sofas or whatever they can fanagle--while they save up to move to New York City to pursue their dreams. Fernando talks about his goal of making a buddy comedy set in a bleak contemporary economic landscape focusing on a kind of queer...
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Author & Photographer Frankie Frankeny (Love: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality): "We Need To Go From Fear To Fierce"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Just as we're hitting the 10th Anniversary of Federal Marriage Equality in the US, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Frankie Frankeny, the driving creative force behind the gorgeous and comprehensive new coffee table book Love: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality. Frankie recalls how she first became passionate about the cause of marriage equality decades ago, doing entensive research for the book and discovering stories she never knew before and her hope that the book will be available in schools so queer kids can learn their history in a way that her generation never did. She also talks...
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Documentary subject Kellie Maloney (Knockout Blonde): "I’ve Mixed The Good Of Frank With The Good Of Kellie And Became A Much Better Person"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom from Portugal by former U.K. boxing manager Kellie Maloney to discuss the new documentary about Kellie's life and transition Knockout Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story. The film, which is now available on VOD, documents her previous life as successful boxing promoter Frank Maloney through her transition to Kellie in 2014 and its aftermath. Kellie talks about falling in love with boxing as a child, taking Lennox Lewis all the way to the Heavyweight Champion, how the physicality of boxing allowed her to vent the stress she was feeling inside and that time Frank...
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Broadway producer and author Jeffrey Seller (Theater Kid): "Write That Letter & Make That Call"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this special Tonys week episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller to discuss his book Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir, which documents his journey from a childhood of family dysfunction and always feeling like an outsider to thriving as a Broadway producer with four Best Musical Tonys to his credit (Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights and Hamilton). Jeffrey talks about why he decided to write the book, the elementary school teacher who saw what was special in him, always having the self belief to take big swings and confessing his love to his college best friend, who...
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Frank DeCaro & Jim Colucci (co-programmers of Pride Live!Hollywood): "You Know What Sparks Joy? Clutter!"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined by his friends and past podcast guests Frank DeCaro and Jim Colucci to talk about a brand new arts festival they are co-programming. It's called Pride Live! Hollywood and it takes place June 11th through the 29th at various venues in Hollywood. JIm and Frank talk about the various events on the agenda, including a Norman Lear tribute, a screening and party of Saturday Night Fever with director John Badham and actress Donna Pescow attending, a Golden Girls tribute, the Where The Bears Are documentary A Big Fat Hairy Hit. a Queer as Folk cast reunion as well as screenings...
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Playwright Tom Jacobson (Tasty Little Rabbit): "There Are So Many Stories Out There Waiting To Be Found"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Tom Jacobson whose latest play Tasty Little Rabbit is currently showing at the Moving Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. The play tells the true story of a 1936 Fascist Italian investigation of pornography charges in Taormina, Sicily. This artistic prosecution uncovers a much darker secret of a 1890s love triangle between photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden, an a 18 year-old Sicilian boy and a mysterious Irish poet. Tom talks about how he first learned of the true story, visiting Sicily as part of his research, the riveting "Kissing Contest" scene at the play's...
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Actor Kasey Mahaffy (A Man of No Importance): "We Need You To Be More Grounded"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Kasey Mahaffy who is currently starring as Alfie Byrne, a Dublin bus driver who directs community theater at night, in the musical A Man of No Importance at A Noise Within theater in Pasadena. Kasey talks about relating more to this role than any he's played in the past, how he and the rest of the cast honed their Irish accents, why now is a very meaningful time to be telling this story and what it's like to hear audience members audibly crying while you're trying to play a scene. He also talks about his role in the 2022 L.A. production of Matthew Lopez's...
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Filmmaker Lovell Holder & Writer-Performer Roger Q. Mason ("Lavender Men"}: "Mother’s Got Her Flashlight On All The Time"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Director Lovell Holder & Writer-Performer Roger Q. Mason, the duo behind the provocative and beautifully-crafted new film Lavender Men, which is based on Mason's hit stage play of the same name. The story centers on Taffeta (they/them, played by Mason), the put-upon stage manager of a play about Abraham Lincoln. After one too many backstage indignities, Tafetta cracks and decides to take the whole show over and narrate it as their fantasia and things get wild from there. Roger talks about the film's central themes of why do we, as humans, like what we like...
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Writer-Director Sarah Kambe Holland (Egghead & Twinkie): "I Know There's Somebody Who Needs This Movie"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Sarah Kambe Holland whose new film Egghead and Twinkie flips the gay guy-straight girl trope on its head with the story of a gay girl-straight boy friendship that undergoes some changes after the girl comes out. Sarah talks about starting work on the project at 19, taking inspiration from her own coming out story, shooting a road movie within one hour of Orlando, Florida and having most of her crew be under 25 years old. She also talks about moving to the U.S. from Japan at nine and undergoing serious culture shock, incorporating her own love of animation...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom by Hugh Nini & Neal Treadwell, the real-life couple behind the remarkable new book Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s to 1950s, a gorgeous collection of vintage photos they've collected of male couples in love. Hugh and Neal talk about the day they discovered their first photo, the rush of discovery that comes with every new find, the way their collection quietly grew without anyone else really knowing about it, and what went into choosing the cover photo and the title Loving. The couple also talk about their "50/50" test, which determines whether a photo will be considered for the collection or not, and the one couple featured in the book whose story they actually know something about--it involves a ring and a shoebox and you might cry. Neal talks about the job in cosmetics that allowed him to hunt for photos in different cities and Hugh talks about how the people in these photos didn't face what he calls "the homophobic industrial complex" that emerged in more recent decades. Other topics include: umbrellas as a signifier, the first selfie, how Hugh and Neal first met, their own photo moment at the March in Washington in the 90's and the incredible responses they've gotten from all around the world.