Filmmaker Dion Labriola (Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol): "Thanks for the Smile! - Carrot Top"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 10/26/2023
Filmmaker Spencer Cohen (The Compatriots): "This Is a True Bromance"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom from Boston, MA by writer-director Spencer Cohen to talk about his film The Compatriots, which is about young undocumented gay man from Peru named Javi and his quest to be who he is. Spencer talks about how he based the story on his real life best friend since middle school Beto, who is a gay, Peruvian and undocumented Dreamer, just like Javi in the film. Spencer recalls not knowing Beto's immigration status until several years into their friendship and how that knowledge explained so much about Beto's behavior and the things he was not able to do. He also talks...
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Author Jon Kinnally (I'm Prancing As Fast As I Can): "I'm Too Tired To Prance & My Back Hurts"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is join via Zoom from Sitges, Spain by writer Jon Kinnally to talk about his new memoir I'm Prancing as Fast as I Can, which features stories about his life, from his childhood in Syracuse, New York through his career in Hollywood as a longtime writer on Will & Grace, the original incarnation and the reboot. Jon talks about where his title comes from, having "book envy" over other writers who've had books published and trying to communicate to younger generations what it was like for gay people in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Jon also talks finding out he and his writing partner,...
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Author Stephanie Elizondo Griest (Art Above Everything): "When Everything Is Impossible, Anything Is Possible"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Stephanie Elizondo Griest to discuss her latest book Art Above Everything: One Woman's Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life, which is so up Dennis's alley. (Actually, a listener reached out to Dennis and said, "You need to check out this book. It's what you talk about all the time.") Stephanie talks about the through line that many of the women she profiled share, how the big things that happened in world while she was working on the book--COVID, her own cancer diagnosis, the #metoo movement, Trumpism--impacted her work and the...
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Dennis Hensley's Happy & Gay: Carrie'd Away (by the Finale of And Just Like That...)
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
This week, Dennis shares his thoughts on the finale of And Just Like That...and also sharing quotes from an interview he did with Carrie Bradshaw herself Sarah Jessica Parker for British Premier magazine in 1995. He also talks about his recent day trip to the Film Out San Diego LGBT Film Festival where he caught two very different movies; Sauna from Denmark and #300Letters from Argentina. He also shares some movie-related Observation Deck questions from his recent guest, Cinecon producer Bryan Cooper. Dennis also talks about Saturday's bonkers MisMatch Game: Future Shock Edition and shares...
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Cinecon 61 Producer Bryan Cooper: "We're Getting a Stretch Limo for Mamie Van Doren"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Bryan Cooper who is one of the producers of Cinecon 61, a Labor Day weekend film festival in Los Angeles dedicated to rarely-seen classic films and the people who love them. Bryan talks about this year's honorees who will be appearing in person: Ann-Margret, Mamie Van Doren and Juliet Mills whose award will be presented to her husband Maxwell Caulfield from Grease 2. Bryan talks about how he learned to love classic films from his father as a child, his pubescent obsession with pinup girl Betty Grable and how in his home, there were often two VCRs recording classic...
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Actor/Author Jeff Hiller (Actress of a Certain Age): "This Poor Delusional Middle-Aged Queen"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Jeff Hiller to discuss his new memoir Actress of a Certain Age as well as his recent Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for the HBO series Somebody Somewhere. Jeff talks about being completely surprised by the nomination, his plan to enjoy every moment of the Emmy experience and how happy he is to get to share it with the series' star Bridget Everett who is nominated in the writing category. He also talks about what it meant to play such a kind, nuanced character like Joel after years of often snarky smaller parts with names like Flight...
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XanaCrew Six-Pack: "We Feel Like Our Whole Lives Have Been Leading to This Moment"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
On the eve of Xanadu's 45th Anniversary, Dennis is joined by six of his fellow Xanadu superfans--the XanaCrew--to preview the events they have organized for this coming weekend in Los Angeles. The events include a sold out screening on Saturday, August 9th featuring a Q & A with Michael Beck and multiple muses...bookended by a tribute concert on Friday, the 8th and a picnic on Sunday, August 10 from noon to 3 at Pan Pacific Park. The six XanaCrew members who appear on the pod do so in pairs: singers Lisa Donahey and Eric Seppala sneak preview their ONJ/Xanadu tribute concert on Friday;...
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Happy & Gay Bonus Episode: I Am Here To Make Friends
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this episode, Dennis describes reuniting with his former cruise ship dancing colleague Monica who he hasn't seen in 35 years, sings the praises of the HBO Max movie Mountaintop, the classic rom-com Pretty Woman and DTLA's Summer Dance Nights. He also talks about the importance of friendship in his own life and shares insights from the famous Harvard Study on longevity and well-being and touts the new crowdfunding pre-order campaign for his new party game Search Party.
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The Crazy Kids Behind XANADU: THE MUSICAL at The Wisteria Theater play You Don't Know My Life!
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
There's a new theater company that opened about a mile from Dennis's home in North Hollywood called The Wisteria Theater and it's a magical place. The show that's currently running there is Xanadu: The Musical, based on the iconic Olivia Newton-John movie musical that Dennis has been obsessed with since 1980. In this episode, Dennis welcomes the team behind the show to play a couple rounds of his game You Don't Know My Life! The five guests are Renée Wylder (Producer and Wisteria Theater co-founder), acress Lexi Collins (Kira, Wisteria Theater company co-founder), actors Connor...
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Ellen Geer (Co-Director of Strife):"You Can Make Cities Out Of Mud"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-director-producer Ellen Geer who is the Producing Artistic Director of one of Dennis's favorite spots in Los Angeles, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topange Canyon. Dennis has been going to see plays at the outdoor amphitheater since the early 90's and has seen Ellen perform in scores of shows there as well as seeing just as many that she directed and produced. This season, she co-directed the play Strife by Nobel Prize-winning writer John Galsworthy. The show, about a labor strike in rural Pennsylvania, was written in the early 1900's but feels like...
info_outlineDennis is joined via Zoom by Dion Labriola, the filmmaker and the subject of the documentary Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol, which is screening on World Animation Day on PBS SoCal and is also available for streaming on PBS.org. The movie documents Dion's teenage obsession with the child actor Ike Eisenmann from Escape to Witch Mountain and also a Doublemint gum commercial that was ubiquitous is the late 1970's. As a teen, Dion had a vision for an animated movie that he wanted to make and he was determined to convince his iold Ike to be one of the voices. In fact, he was so determined that he spent much of his teen years trying to track Ike down. Dion talks about what it was like to eventually be face-to-face with his teen idol, how his intense focus on the project related to his being a closeted gay teen, his attempt to get Larry Wilcox from CHiPs to help him get to Ike and the art teacher Pat Bishop who gave him a safe haven in school. Other topics include: that time Geraldo Rivera came to Dion's hometown of Akron, Ohio to chase after a pimp, Battle of the Network Stars-era cuties like Mike Lookinland, Gregory Harrison and Willie Aames, the fig gelato Dion had on his 30th birthday that he still dreams about and that time the comedian Carrot Top visited Dion in his deejay booth in a Chicago nightclub.
www.dearike.com