Trumpery playwright Christian McLaughlin: "It’s All Gonna End Because of a Desk"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 06/13/2024
Author Frank DeCaro (Disco): "It Was About Fabulousness. Are You Fabulous?
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Frank DeCaro to discuss his gorgeous and glittery new coffee table book Disco: Music, Movies and Mania Under the Mirror Ball. Frank talks about why he wanted to write about disco, what makes a song a disco song, the MAGA-esque Disco Demolition riot that helped kill disco fever in the U.S. and the long list of unlikely performers who jumped on the disco bandwagon like Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman and the cast of the TV cop show Barnaby Jones. Frank and Dennis also discuss their affection for disco fashion, from polyester shirts to Angels...
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Author Stan Zimmerman ("The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore") Part 2: "The Friggin’ White Board Scared The Hell Out Of Me"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis continues his conversation with TV writer Stan Zimmerman, author of the memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. In Part 2, Stan talks about working on the Gilmore Girls and learning to write dialogue in the show's unique, fast-paced style. He also talks about the humiliating T-shirt gift he got from Roseanne and Tom Arnold while working on Roseanne, taking random meetings with icons like Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins and Pia Zadora, being a judge/mentor on the Bravo reality show Situation: Comedy, getting into playwriting and directing theater later in his career and...
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TV Writer & Author Stan Zimmerman (The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore) Part 1: "I Wanted To Be An Ernie Flatt Dancer On The Carol Burnett Show"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by television writer Stan Zimmerman to talk about his memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, which documents his career working on such iconic shows as Roseanne, The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls as well as The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. In this first part of a two-part interview, Stan talks about his midwest upbringing and how his mother bought him the ballet shoes he wanted behind his father's back. He also talks about meeting his longtime writing partner Jim Berg, why they work wll together and how they landed a gig on the first season...
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Actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers (Clarkston): "A Genuine Dinner at the Costco Food Court"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers from the Echo Theater Company's production of Samuel D. Hunter's play Clarkston, which is playing at the Atwater Village Theatre in LA through October 21. Here's the synopsis: "Welcome to Clarkston, Washington, where Jake (Michael) and Chris (Sean) meet working the night shift at Costco. Jake, a middle-class, educated new hire who’s a distant relative of explorer William Clark, has fled his privileged life in Connecticut after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Chris, a would-be writer with a meth-addicted mom, is...
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Actor-Singer-Influencer Garrett Clayton: "I Just Want To Be The Boy Version Of Thoroughly Modern Millie"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-singer-dancer-influencer Garrett Clayton to discuss his new cabaret show Hero To Villain, which hits LA on September 19 and Palm Springs on September 21st. Garrett talks about the journey of the show, which takes the audience from Garrett's good guy role in Disney's Teen Beach Movie to his more recent stage work, playing villains in shows like It: The Musical and Excorcistic. He also talks about ditching his wholesome Disney image to play real life gay porn star Brent Corrigan in the 2016 film King Cobra opposite Christian Slater, James Franco and Alicia...
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Happy Clothes filmmaker Michael Selditch: "With Pat, Nothin's Ever Too Much"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Michael Selditch to talk about his new documentary Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field, which is all about the iconic stylist behind the clothes on Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Run the World and The Devil Wears Prada. Michael talks about what inspired him to want to make the movie, how he got Patricia to agree to being documented and what makes her work so singular and fabulous. He also talks about interviewing such Field devotees as Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie. Other topics include: Field's long love...
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Actor-Singer David Burnham ("Burnham Sings Buble"): "My Pants Were So Tight I Almost Passed Out"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined by singer-actor David Burnham to talk about his new cabaret show Burnham Sings Buble, in which he interprets the music of Michael Buble, singing hits like "Home" and "Everything" along with more obscure Buble gems. David also talks about his previous touring show, a tribute Tom Jones, which, in true Tom Jones fashion, featured pants so tight David almost passed out. David also talks about his career in musical theater, from being plucked from nowhere at 19 to take over for Donny Osmond in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to appearing in...
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Still Working 9 to 5 Filmmakers Gary & Larry Lane: "Just Cuz You're Twins, Don’t Think You're Special"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined by two of the filmmakers of the new documentary Still Working 9 to 5, which is about the classic film comedy from 1980 and the ongoing movement for equality for women that the film depicted. Gary co-directed the film and Larry executive produced it. The twin brothers talk about how they first got the idea to make the documentary, the challenges of landing and scheduling interviews with stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman, and how they were able to score a haunting new Kelly Clarkson-Dolly Parton duet version of the title song for their end credits....
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Ganymede Filmmakers Colby Holt & Sam Probst: "I Believe We're Dealing With a Ganymede"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by the filmmakers behind the new gay thriller Ganymede, Colby Holt & Sam Probst. The film is about a high school wrestling star from a strict Christian family who develops feelings for his openly gay classmate, which causes him to be haunted by a terrifying creature. The co-directors, who are also husbands, talk about where the original idea came from, what it was like to shoot the movie in Colby's hometown in rural Kentucky, how they came to cast the openly gay two-time Teen Choice Award nominee Jordan Doww as their troubled protagonist and how...
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Singer-Songwriter & Composer Greg O'Connor: "I Never Gave Myself Permission To Do This Before"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis connects via Zoom with musician Greg O'Connor to talk about his debut album The Place I've Never Been and what it's been like to venture out as a solo artist after decades of writing songs and scores for TV and movies. Greg talks about what inspired him to take such a big swing in his mid-50's, the artists that inspired him like Toto, The Beach Boys, Steely Dan and Bleu, finding collaborators on Facebook and Instagram and posing on a hillside with a piano and live bull for the album's striking cover art. Greg also talks about the real-life experiences that inspired the album and videos,...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom by Christian McLaughin, author of the novels Glamourpuss and Sex Toys of the Gods, to talk about his newest project; the play Trumpery, which is having its world premier at the LA Fringe Festival through June 28th. Here's the shows not-so-implausible premise: Ex-President Trump (Austin Walker) is running from the law on a yacht with his wife Melania (Lauren Howard Hayes), daughter Tiffani (John Cantwell AKA Love Connie) daughter Ivanka (Tatjana Vujovic), son-in-law Jared Kushner (Felix Pire) and a mysterious stowaway (Natalie Whittle) and mayhem ensues. Christian talks about having the inspiration for the play way back in 2016, experiencing a breakthrough on the storyline while playing peek-a-boo with his cats on his birthday, why he simply had to include Tiffani's real vanity pop single "Like a Bird," and the kismet of having the show debut between the real Trump's conviction and sentencing. Christian also talks about his early days in LA, his career as a television writer on shows like Married With Children, Desperate Housewives and the 2001 MTV soap Spydergames, which he created. Other topics include: his life-long love of movie posters and the online store he started to sell them (www.westgategallery.com), revising his debut novel Glamourpuss for Kindle for its 25th anniversary, being college roommates with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, the night comedian Geri Jewell came to see herself parodied in Christian's stage spoof The Phacts of Life, reenacting scenes from Search for Tomorrow as a child, how his parents are both awesome LGBT allies, and feeling more inspired and prolific than he has in his entire career. (www.trumpery2024.com)