The Bottoming Process playwright Nicholas Pilapil & Stars George Salazar & Rick Cosnett: “I Wanted To Write Me As Katherine Heigl”
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 05/18/2023
Playwright, Actor & Teacher Bernardo Cubria ("The People of Pompeii"): "Look At These Magic People!"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright, screenwriter, actor and teacher Bernardo Cubria to talk about his hilarious and powerful new "dinner party gone wrong" play The People of Pompeii, which just opened at the Will Geer Theatricum in Topanga Canyon. (This is where Dennis first met Bernardo last fall as a student in his playwriting class.) The People of Pompeii is set in Topanga in the days following the evacuations from the 2025 fires and explores themes of community, climate change, and personal truth. Bernardo discusses his creative process, the importance of brutal honesty in...
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Singer-Songwriter Paul Cher (Home to Wonderland): "I Would Trust Madonna More Than My Mom"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by singer-songwriter Paul Cher to talk about his new EP Home to Wonderland, his first release of original songs after putting out several albums of covers. Paul talks about getting the courage to put his own words and music out there, the divas that see him through like Donna Summer, Madonna, Cher and Diana Ross and his ever-changing feelings about streaming services. This episode is also a Listening Party which Dennis playing snippets of the EP's five individual songs: "Home to Wonderland," "The Skeleton Tree," "Mirage," "Black Dahlia" and "Straightjacket," which is...
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Playwright Erik Patterson & Actor Michael Sturgis (F++king Strangers): "Theater Is My Church"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Erik Patterson (Handjob) and actor Michael Sturgis (Clarkston) to talk about the terrific new play F++king Strangers, which Erik wrote at Michael stars in. The play is about four characters--two young gay men and a straight married couple--and their longing to connect in a world where it seems harder and harder to do so. Erik talks about what inspired the play, why he likes to explore sexuality in his plays and the moment when he literally can hear the audience gasp. Michael talks about his character in the piece, Ru, and how he thought about Ru's...
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Filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz (Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders): "Half The Audience Was In Leather"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is join via Zoom by documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz to discuss his newest film Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders, which is about the making of the controversial William Friedkin film Cruising, the real life murders it was inspired by and the gay activist movement it inspired. Jeffrey talks about the first time he saw the film, why he was inspired to make the doc, star Al Pacino's feelings about the film, the surprising discoveries he made along the way that changed the direction of the film and how the film, shot in 1979, is also a visual documentation of a time of sexual freedom...
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Grangeville actor Tim Cummings: "I Wanted To Do It For All The Arnies"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Tim Cummings who is currently starring as Arnie in the hit play Grangeville by Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) at the Rustin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, CA. The play is about two estranged half-brothers, one in Idaho, one in Holland, who connect to discuss the care and finances of their ailing mother but end up reckoning with a whole lot more. Tim talks about seeing the play in New York in 2025 and experiencing a rush through his body that told him he had to bring the play to L.A. and star in it. He also talks about his character Arnie and how, though he's...
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Feral Fatale Star & Writer Nadya Ginsburg: "Thanks For Coming."
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by his friend Nadya Ginsburg to talk about her latest one-person show Feral Fatal, which is hitting LA, New York and the Berkshires in July. The show features her genius imitations of Cher and Madonna but also has plenty of surprises, including a lovely Tom Waits song as well as some thoughtful musings about how we're all just primates. She also talks about getting sober and how it's changed her attitude about her work, caretaking for her elderly parents and waiting tables in NYC. Nadya and Dennis also talk about the recent three-show run of Dennis's first play...
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Actor-Writer-Producer Paul Witten (You Are Here): "My Pinky Is So Extended And I’m Guzzling"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Actor-Writer-Producer Paul Witten (You Are Here): "My Pinky Is So Extended And I’m Guzzling" Dennis is joined via Zoom by Paul Witten, the creator and star of a new TV pilot called You Are Here, which is having its world premier on June 20th at the Dances With Films festival in Los Angeles. The story centers on a 50-something gay man in Los Angeles and three of his friends who all feel like they're still unfinished in a way. Maybe their lives haven't turned out the way they expected but they have much to be thankful for and, as the title says, they are here. Paul talks about what...
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Filmmaker Elliot Tuttle (Blue Film): "I Wanted The Film To Feel Like An Echo Chamber of Perversion"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer-director Elliot Tuttle to talk about his debut feature Blue Film, which is about a 20-something camboy who takes a lot of money to spend the night with an anonymous client, who ends up being a former school teacher and convicted sex offender from his small hometown. Elliot talks about why he wanted to tell this story, the knockout performances he got from his two actors, Reed Birney and Keiron Moore, keeping the budget low so he could total creative freedom and why he chose to use old camcorder footage as a visual motif in the film. Other topics...
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Filmmaker Linus O'Brien (Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror): "It's Been The Great Joy Of My Life"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is join via Zoom by Linus O'Brien to discuss his new documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a joyful and inspiring recounting of the journey of the cultural juggernaut that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Linus's father Richard O'Brien created the original show and played Riff Raff both on stage and in the movie and watching father and son interact in the film and try to make sense of what Rocky means to the world is fascinating, funny and quite moving. Linus talks about getting the whole gang back together to talk about the movie (pretty much...
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Chico's Angels stars Oscar Quintero, Danny Casillas & Kurt Koehler: "Oh, That Chita, She Never Learns."
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis connects via Zoom with his friends Oscar Quintero, Danny Casillas & Kurt Koehler to talk about the return of their long-running drag comedy-musical Chico's Angels 2: Love Boat Chicas, which returns to the Cavern Club Theater this June. The trio talk about what audiences can expect from this installment--Disco music! Forbidden love! Charo!--how drag has changed since they started doing the show over 20 years ago, why the Angels never curse and their favorite moments in the show. They also talk about what doing the show means to them now, the fans who come back again and again and...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom by three of the talents behind the new play The Bottoming Process: playwright Nicholas Pilapil and actors George Salazar and Rick Cosnett. The play, which runs through June 12th at the Renberg Theater in Hollywood is a romantic comedy about two writers in different stages of their careers who fall in love and grapple with issues of race, sex and power. Nicholas talks about what inspired him to write the play, where the title comes from, how living all your life in LA effects how you feel about your dreams and how his mother dragging him to see Rent at the Pantages when he was in high school changed his life forever. George talks about the thrill of playing a lead character who is lot like him, performing love and sex scenes on stage, what it was like to play George Conway (Kellyanne Conway’s husband) in Ryan Murphy’s Impeachment and why he’s ready and willing to star in George Santos: The Musical. Rick talks about what drew him to the play, growing up on a farm in Zimbabwe, co-starring in The Flash, which is airing its series finale this month, playing twins in a TV movie and appearing opposite Joel Edgerton in the new Paul Schrader film Master Gardener. Other topics include: Be More Chill Tony night trauma made worse by James Corden, what it’s like to play a Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR offices, Rick’s playing the Succession theme song on the piano, the wit and wisdom of Anne Hathaway and why they do theater.
https://culturalarts.lalgbtcenter.org/the-bottoming-process/