Filmmaker-Actor Todd Flaherty (“Chrissy Judy”): “You Have To Feed The Hungry Ghost”
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 04/20/2023
Olivia DuFault, Elena Luo and Griffin Kelly (For Want of a Horse): "This Has Ruined Me For Other Plays"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by three of the artists behind the Echo Theater Company's new play For Want of a Horse; playwright Olivia DuFault, director Elena Luo and actor Griffin Kelly. The play is about a romantic and sexual triangle between a married couple and Q-Tip (played by Kelly) who happens to be a horse. Olivia talks about the New York Magazine article that first inspired her to write the play, the range of emotions she felt reading it and what it's like to receive emails after the show from people who identify as zoophiles. Elena talks about what drew her to the project as a director,...
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Actor-Writer Michael McHale (Searching For Robert Hennessey): "I Would Just Look For Magical Things All The Time"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer Michael McHale to talk about his one-person show Searching For Robert Hennessey, which recounts the decades-long search Michael went on for his biological father after his single mother told him the man's name on his 18th birthday. It's an odyssey that involves making out with a guy he met at the Eagle and discovering they may be related, spending years in--and then escaping from--a Christian cult, being diagnosed with HIV/AID and never giving up the hunt, although he wanted to many times. Michael also talks about what it was like to grow up in...
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Singer-Author Mike Maimone (Guess What? I Love You): "When I Have To Sing Sweet Caroline, A Part Of My Soul Escapes Through My Nose"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by singer-songwriter and author Mike Maimone to talk about his new memoir--as well as its companion album--both called Guess What? I Love You, which documents the most extraordinary year of his life. A few years back, Mike met the well-known Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman on Scruff and within a few messages, they both knew it was something real. A whirlwind long-distance romance ensued and soon they were getting a place together in Nashville, where Mike then lived, and talking about their dream wedding. But within a year of that first Scruff...
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Playwright Gabe Rivas Gomez (Level Up!): "I Should Not Let My Words Get In The Way Of The Play"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Gabe Rivas Gomez, the writer of the visually stunning and very moving new play Level Up! which is about a trans tween named Desi whose quest to be who she really is takes her into a spectacular and dangerous video game world. Gabe talks about where the original inspiration came from, finding the trans actress to play Desi, Mathias Brinda, several workshop productions ago and watching her grow up before his eyes and the technical challenges of trying to depict a video game on stage. He also talks about producing this show at a time when trans youth are under attack...
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Bookends filmmakers Noam Ash & Mike Doyle ("It Was Like Adult Summer Camp")
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by the duo behind the new gay comedy Bookends, writer-star Noam Ash and director Mike Doyle. Bookends tells the story of an aspiring writer named Nate whose life in Manhattan falls apart and he ends up moving in with his grandparents--played by Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham and Caroline Aaron--in their retirement community. Noam talks about how the story was inspired by his own experience living with his grandparents, what he learned from the experience and what his grandparents--who both passed away in their 90's before the film was shot--would think of the finished...
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Dennis Hensley's Happy & Gay Crossover Episode: Oscars Schmoscars
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis recounts the recent MisMatch Game: Bad Luck of the Irish Friday the 13th Edition, shooting pre-Oscar interview with host Conan O’Brien, attending the early morning taping of Live with Kelly & Mark at the Dolby Theater on the day after the Oscars, and have the first-ever table reading of his first-ever play Trade-Offs and crying through much of it. At the cinema, Dennis catches the new movies Nirvanna the Band The Show The Movie and Project Hail Mary, both of which he loved, and revisited an oldie Grease 2, which is...
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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...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom from Provincetown, Massachusetts by Todd Flaherty, the writer-director-producer-editor and star of the new film Chrissy Judy. The film is about two struggling drag performers in New York City whose ride-or-die friendship is tested when one of them moves to Philadelphia to be with his boyfriend. Todd talks about why he wanted to explore the theme of gay friendships, having virtually no experience in drag before making the movie, what it’s like to direct yourself in sex scenes and how his making the film grew out of the frustration he was feeling as an actor in New York. He also talks about how he made such a visually-striking, self-assured film with only himself and two other crew members; his brother Brendan as cinematographer and his sister-in-law on sound. Other topics include: his favorite film festival memories, why he chose to make his character Judy a occasionally irritating hot mess rather than a likable every gay, the entrepreneurial hustle of being a filmmaker, living in Provincetown year round, going to a taping of Saturday Night Live, appearing with Marisa Tomei and Bill Irwin in the upcoming film Best Place and P-town fox that was so desperate to be in show business that he crashed the set. Instagram: @toddflaherty