DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
"A podcast about making things up and making things happen." L.A.-based writer-performer Dennis Hensley believes that art and creativity make the world go around and make life worth living. Each week, he interviews a different creative person each about what they do, why they do it, and how they manage the ups and downs of a creative life. Some guests are famous, some are less so...all are what Dennis describes as "beautiful strugglers." Past guests have included authors, actors, photographers, musicians, screenwriters, acrobats and one visual artist who makes cartoons centered around dead houseflies.
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Playwright & TV Writer Steve Yockey (Sleeping Giant, The Flight Attendant, Dead Boy Detectives): "I Write Theatre Instead Of Going To Therapy"
01/16/2025
Playwright & TV Writer Steve Yockey (Sleeping Giant, The Flight Attendant, Dead Boy Detectives): "I Write Theatre Instead Of Going To Therapy"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and TV and film writer Steve Yockey to discuss Steve's latest play, Sleeping Giant, which is playing at the Road Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The play, which is about a group of people dealing with a mysterious lake monster, is Steve's way of exploring authoritarianism, a theme that is even more timely today than it was when he starting writing the play in 2018. Steve talks about his journey as a writer; from making the decision to abandon the business school path in college in order to study playwriting, to getting withering critiques for his first play and not writing for years afterward, to making the transition from theatre to TV. He also talks about the bold and out there pitch he gave for how he would adapt the book The Flight Attendant that won him the job writing the HBO series. And he opens up about the outpouring of love and support he received from fans after Netflix cancelled his most recent show Dead Boy Detectives, after one season. Other topics include: Sharon Stone showing up with a wig she had made to play Kaley Cuoco's mom on The Flight Attendant, why he loves to have spectacle in his plays, why he likes to feature queer characters in his plays and the lesson he has to keep learning over and over again, with each new medium that he goes into. https://roadtheatre.org/
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Career Coach & Author Barbara Deutsch: “I Don’t Go To Therapy Anymore. I’ve Peeled Enough Of The Onion”
01/03/2025
Career Coach & Author Barbara Deutsch: “I Don’t Go To Therapy Anymore. I’ve Peeled Enough Of The Onion”
For this special New Years episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by his career and life coach friend Barbara Deutsch to do a podcast version of Barbara's famous year-end Completion / Creation Workshop. Barbara has been leading clients through this process for years--usually in groups-- and has graciously agreed to take Dennis through a version of the workshop on this podcast. The questions she has participants tackle are as follows: • What worked for me this year? • What didn’t work for me this year? • What did I lose/gain? • Specific accomplishments in career. • Eye opening concepts that helped me cope? • Who or what still upsets me? • What do I want to be acknowledged for? After that, participants come up with a "theme" to take them into the new year. Dennis does all of this while occasionally being called on his BS and told to "cut it out" by Barbara. It's warranted. Play along at home and start 2025 off with a fresh perspective! Other topics include: Barbara's first book Open Up or Shut Up, her upcoming follow-up 20 Percent Stupid or The Girl Who Said Yes, why she serves her clients snacks and then lies about it to her therapist, Dennis's big new creative ideas for 2025 and why it's perfectly fine and even healing to tell your dog you're proud of him. www.thebarbaradeutschapproach.com
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DENNIS DOES DNR HOLIDAY STYLE 2024
12/30/2024
DENNIS DOES DNR HOLIDAY STYLE 2024
In this special holiday crossover episode, Dennis Hensley pops in to the Derek and Romaine Show to talk about all things holiday-time; from gift giving to favorite traditions to decorating to Mariah. Happy Holidays! (Note from Dennis: I heard from a listener my audio is a little low in this ep. Sorry about that...it was mixed on their end and can't be fixed till after the holidays)
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Instagram Creators Eric Seppala (@olivianewtonjohnisadoll) and Ruston Harker (@dolldecree): "Playing With Dolls In A New Way"
12/24/2024
Instagram Creators Eric Seppala (@olivianewtonjohnisadoll) and Ruston Harker (@dolldecree): "Playing With Dolls In A New Way"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by two of his friends from the Xana-crew; Eric Seppala and Ruston Harker who have something unique in common. They both created passion projects during the pandemic involving Barbies and Instagram, which continue to today. Ruston's account is @dolldecree and it features short animated vignettes involving Barbie and her friends, saying pithy things and looking fabulous. Eric's account is @olivianewtonjohnisadoll and it's exactly what it sounds like. Using Barbie dolls, Eric has painstakingly recreated looks from Olivia's career; from her breakout days in the 1970's to Xanadu to the Physical era to her more recent memoir launch. Both men talk about what inspired them to start the accounts, their different creative processes--Ruston uses AI, Eric is totally old school--their most popular posts, and what having this side project has brought to their lives. Other topics include: the shame attached to wanting to play with Barbies as a boy, the Christmas gifts they'll remember forever, the joy of connecting with other Xana-fans, and constantly wondering if you're crazy for putting so much time, money and passion into these doll projects. The episode ends with a special musical moment; a bangin' cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Under the Mistletoe" performed by Dennis's past guests Matt Zarley and Kathy Deitch. Happy Holidays, everyone!
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Author Brian Sonia-Wallace (The Poetry of Strangers): "I’m Like An Uber Driver For Your Emotions"
12/12/2024
Author Brian Sonia-Wallace (The Poetry of Strangers): "I’m Like An Uber Driver For Your Emotions"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and poet Brian Sonia-Wallace to talk about his book The Poetry of Strangers, which documents his adventures traveling the country as a typewriter poet-for-hire. He recalls the stunt that led to him first getting into public typewriter poetry when he declared during an open mic type show that he was going to make his rent money doing nothing but poetry. It worked...and led to his career as what he calls a "rent poet," which is like a rentboy but for poems. He talks about some of the places this vocation has taken him; from paid residencies at the Mall of America and on an Amtrak train to a gathering of witches in Salem, Massachusetts to a political campaign in Chatanooga, Tennesssee. Other topics include: being invited to the White House for the ceremony where the AIDS quilt was displayed on the White House lawn, starting the Pride Poets booth at Weho Pride, why he never feels imposter syndrome at his rent-poet typewriter but he does when he sits down at his laptop to write his own projects and the idea that the mistake is actually part of the art. And at the end of the interview, he writes a poem for Dennis. Yes, there are tears. (www.rentpoet.com)
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Author and Collector Bill Morgan (Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia): "I Live Like This. This Is Every Day."
12/05/2024
Author and Collector Bill Morgan (Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia): "I Live Like This. This Is Every Day."
Dennis is joined by one of his pals from the Xana-crew, Bill Morgan, who is the co-author of a book called Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia 1960s & 1970s. The book features every TV tie-in toy you remember from your childhood and a bunch that you never even knew existed. Bill talks about first getting obsessed with collecting when his ex was given a set of Three's Company trading cards as a kind of gift. Seeing the cards were numbered Bill wanted to collect them all and a new passion was born. Bill talks about shooting the photos for the book himself while his partner did most of the writing. He also discusses some of the TV shows featured in the book like The Brady Bunch, The Bionic Woman, Family Affair, Gilligan's Island, Charlie's Angels, Welcome Back Kotter and The Partridge Family and he explains why The Partridge Family bus toy was his 'white whale' as a collector. Other topics include: the year he ruined Christmas by being too honest, his passion for collecting Disney records on vinyl, growing up Mormon and coming out at 15, how collecting worked before E-bay, making friends with people from the shows he loved and the Farrah phenomenon of 1977. www.TVtoys.com
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Actor-Singer Hugh Panaro (Man Without a Mask): “Darling, There Are Six Moments When You Have To Be Thinking With Your C@#k”
11/27/2024
Actor-Singer Hugh Panaro (Man Without a Mask): “Darling, There Are Six Moments When You Have To Be Thinking With Your C@#k”
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Broadway veteran Hugh Panaro to talk about his album and cabaret show Man Without a Mask, which is playing in Los Angeles on December 5th at the Catalina Jazz Club. Hugh talks about making the leap to recording and doing his own cabaret show after years of appearing on Broadway and on the West End in shows like Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd and Phantom of the Opera, in which he logged over 2500 performances as the Phantom. In regards to that show, Hugh talks about the mask itself, what it's made of, how it's maintained and how he feels about it. He also talks about working on Phantom with Hal Prince and choreographer Gillian Lynne who gave him very explicit instructions on how to sex-up the song "Music of the Night." Hugh also talks about discovering he could sing after playing the organ in church and then finding a home in musical theater as a chubby, artsy kid who often got bullied in school. Other topics include: getting to tour Europe and share gelato with Barbra Streisand, appearing in the late 90's gay rom-com movie Broadway Damage, surviving Broadway flops like Lestat and The Red Shoes, meeting Dr. Ruth after a show, the healing power of music and how most people on Broadway are genuinely nice people...except for that one unnamed diva who literally slapped her dresser for giving her the wrong leg panty hose first.
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Actor Marc Samuel (The Merry Gentlemen): "I Call It The 'Hold In A Fart' Look"
11/20/2024
Actor Marc Samuel (The Merry Gentlemen): "I Call It The 'Hold In A Fart' Look"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Marc Samuel to talk about his two new Netflix projects; the holiday film The Merry Gentlemen and the Ted Danson comedy series Man On the Inside. The Merry Gentleman is like a holiday twist on The Full Monty with Marc playing a reluctant male stripper who, along with his pals, puts on an exotic male review show to save their small town theater. Marc talks about performing the various dance numbers, working opposite male lead Chad Michael Murray, getting in shape for the role and what it's like to work for Netflix generally. He also talks about Man On the Inside and whether or not he felt pressure to be funny, giving that the show was created by Mike Shur of The Good Place and Parks and Recreation fame. Marc also recalls falling in love with acting at the age of five when he saw his father performing in a Chicago stage production of Fiddler on the Roof and how he experienced a full circle moment decades later when his dad got to see him act on stage in Miss Evers Boys in Portland. Other topics include: getting discovered by his commercial agent at the Mexican restaurant Marix in West Hollywood, how Hollywood has evolved in terms of its depictions of gay and black characters, how he's managed to stay positive and ride the ups and downs of the business, his long-time recurring role as Felix LaCroix on General Hospital, why he lives in the mountains instead of in LA proper and why he compares one very specific aspect of his acting career to holding in a fart.
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Alexis Spraic & Prudence Fenton from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis: "If It's Not Blowing Your Dress Up, Go Get Ice Cream"
11/14/2024
Alexis Spraic & Prudence Fenton from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis: "If It's Not Blowing Your Dress Up, Go Get Ice Cream"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by two women from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis; director Alexis Spraic and Executive Producer Prudence Fenton who was also Allee's life partner. Allee Willis, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2019, is primarily known as a a songwriter (Earth Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Friends theme song, The Color Purple musical) but she was also an accomplished visual artist, collector of kitsch, wild party thrower and internet entrepreneur. Alexis talks about what drew her to Allee as a film subject, sorting through Allee's six storage units of material and how she's tried to incorporate Allee's motto 'If you have a weakness, turn it into a hook" into her own life. Prudence talks about the exhausting prep that went into Allee's legendary house parties, the hurt caused by Allee's father not allowing Allee to be herself and that time a few years ago when the Rembrandts reached out to ask Allee for a share of the "Friends" theme song royalties...years after the show had left the air. Other topics include: Allee's wide array of friends, Allee's foray's into performing, the scandalously low number of female producers in the music business, how Allee dealt with disappointment and the moments in the filmmaking process where they really felt like Allee was guiding them.
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Author David Ciminello (The Queen of Steeplechase Park): "Deep Inside Me Beats the Heart of a Bodacious Burlesque Queen"
11/07/2024
Author David Ciminello (The Queen of Steeplechase Park): "Deep Inside Me Beats the Heart of a Bodacious Burlesque Queen"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author David Ciminello to discuss his delicious debut novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park which is the story of an irrepressible Coney island burlesque queen and meatball entrepreneur named Belladonna Marie Donato. David talks about how the character is inspired by his larger-than-life great aunt Emily who was, in fact, a burlesque performer on Coney Island and actually won a trophy for Best Bust for her 38 DDDs. David also talks about how he got the book published, how he chose the mouth-watering recipes that appear throughout the book and the spontaneous reading that unfolded at a recent extended family gathering where his cousin's daughter read the role of young Belladonna Marie. Other topics include: why David chose to make Belladonna Marie so sex and body positive, working as an actor in L.A. and playing a barber in a classic episode of Seinfeld, writing a movie that Shirley MacLaine directed called The Dress Code and working alongside her on set and why it was important to him to write a book that was "chock-full of queer optimism." Dennis will be interviewing David at LA's Book Soup on Sunday, November 10th at 3 PM. https://www.davidciminello.com/
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Excerpts from The MisMatch Game: 20th Anniversary Show
10/31/2024
Excerpts from The MisMatch Game: 20th Anniversary Show
This episode features excerpts from Dennis Hensley's THE MISMATCH GAME: 20th Anniversary Edition which happened on September 28th, 2024 at the LA LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre in Hollywood. The super-sized panel consisted of Jackie Beat as Bea Arthur, Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Daniele Gaither as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Lenk as Zooey Deschanel and Heidi Klum, Sam Pancake as Lucille Ball, Felix Pire as Ricardo Montalban, Chris Pudlo as Pee-wee Herman and Lory Tatoulian as Melania Trump. And the questions, which were pulled from past shows, featured Mariah Carey, George Takei, Oprah, Melania and the Ladies of The View. (Note: Dennis recorded the audio on his iPhone and it's not the best so if you can't bear to listen, he totally understands.)
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Actor-Producer Emerson Collins (Buyer & Cellar): "You Have To Celebrate The Rung Of The Ladder That You're On"
10/24/2024
Actor-Producer Emerson Collins (Buyer & Cellar): "You Have To Celebrate The Rung Of The Ladder That You're On"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Emerson Collins who is currently starring in the one-man play Buyer and Cellar by Jonathan Tolins at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is a "What if?" story about an underemployed actor who gets a job working in the mall in Barbra Streisand's basement. Emerson talks about what drew him to the play, shares his favorite moment in the show and recalls his harrowing first audition, which happened days after he had emergency appendix surgery. He also talks about working as a producer for writer-director Del Shores (Sordid Lives), getting discovered by Del in a Dallas production of Del's play Southern Baptist Sissies, then taking a leap of faith and moving to LA to appear in the LA production. Other topics include: whether famous people can have real friendships with non-famous people, Emerson's memories of the late, great Leslie Jordan, the shooting permit disaster that almost shut down the film of Southern Baptist Sissies, working retail aa a Banana Republic display visionary, driving for Lyft when he found out he got cast in Rent: Live for Fox TV, why he posts Speedo shots on Instagram and the curvacious and hard-to-read title font Barbra picked for the book that inspired Buyer and Cellar, My Passion For Design. www.emersoncollins.com
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Author Frank DeCaro (Disco): "It Was About Fabulousness. Are You Fabulous?
10/15/2024
Author Frank DeCaro (Disco): "It Was About Fabulousness. Are You Fabulous?
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 Flight slacks to Jordache jeans to sky-high platforms. Frank also shares the unlikely but meant-to-be story of how he managed to score a Donna Summer interview for the end of his book when Summer herself has been dead since 2012. Other topics include: the head-scratching ubiquity of the Village People, the timeless magic of Saturday Night Fever, disco tchotckes, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and the allure of Studio 54, which, as Frank's book describes as "a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor."
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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"
10/10/2024
Author Stan Zimmerman ("The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore") Part 2: "The Friggin’ White Board Scared The Hell Out Of Me"
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 going to Russia to work on the Russian Roseanne and meeting sexy Russians on the gay app Hornet. Other topics include: the holiday movie he wrote for Donna Mills, Loni Anderson, Nicolette Sheridan, Morgan Fairchild and Linda Gray, going to Studio 54 and telling Andy Warhol to stop taking his picture, his natural optimism, the thrill of having his beloved mother come to tapings, and why he wore glasses to pitch meetings when he didn't actually need them. After the interview, Dennis recalls his epic 60th birthday weekend.
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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"
10/03/2024
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 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 of The Golden Girls when they were still in their 20's Stan also recalls feeling like he had to stay in the closet on that job but feeling like he had an ally in Estelle Getty. He talks about the culture of fear that was so common in TV writers rooms in those days and expresses hope that things are better today. He also talks fondly about working with director Betty Thomas on the first Brady Bunch Movie as a punch-up writer and feeling like his contribution was finally being properly appreciated...only to end up without a screen credit thanks to an old WGA rule. He also recalls Bea Arthur being concerned that the Golden Girls writing staff was too young, Rue McLanahan being extra funny when she said words ending in E-R, and the eyebrow raising thing Betty White would do when Estelle Getty flubbed her lines. Other topics include: the warm fuzzies Stan gets when he talks with Golden Girls fans, suggesting RuPaul for that cameo in The Brady Bunch Movie, Pia Zadora's giant cell phone and how when it comes to a career in entertainment, it's all about perseverance.
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Actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers (Clarkston): "A Genuine Dinner at the Costco Food Court"
09/26/2024
Actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers (Clarkston): "A Genuine Dinner at the Costco Food Court"
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 stuck in what he fears is a dead-end life in a dead-end town. Soon, their tentative attraction develops into something much deeper and more complicated. The two actors talk about what drew them to the project, the play's complex themes around friendship, loyalty and the things in life that we don't even give ourselves permission to want. Other topics include: taking a field trip to Costco and gorging at the food court, hearing the audience cry during intense scenes, the emotional hangover from doing the show, and taking an onstage selfie every night and seeing friends in the audience in the background. www.echotheatercompany.com
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Actor-Singer-Influencer Garrett Clayton: "I Just Want To Be The Boy Version Of Thoroughly Modern Millie"
09/17/2024
Actor-Singer-Influencer Garrett Clayton: "I Just Want To Be The Boy Version Of Thoroughly Modern Millie"
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 Silverstone (who actually ended up officiating Garrett's wedding.) Garrett also talks about moving to LA with nothing but a dream and a borrowed mattress, getting a job at the LA cafe Crave (where he met his husband Blake) and having his wedding covered by People magazine. Other topics include: wanting to model himself after Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, the pressure to stay closeted he felt from his former reps, finally coming out in an Instagram post, having to leave the man he was in love with at home when he went to industry parties, developing a huge social media presence during the pandemic that has since turned into a lucrative side-business, the rush of playing Corny Collins in Hairspray Live! with Martin Short and Jennifer Hudson and leaving the rep who told him he needed to stay closeted because, "Nobody wants to fuck the gay guy, they want to shop with him."
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Happy Clothes filmmaker Michael Selditch: "With Pat, Nothin's Ever Too Much"
09/12/2024
Happy Clothes filmmaker Michael Selditch: "With Pat, Nothin's Ever Too Much"
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 affair with a much younger woman, the queer icons who once worked at Field's NYC boutique including Laverne Cox and Candace Cayne, shooting with drones in Manhattan, Michael's previous narrative feature Fixing Frank--which is coming to streaming soon--and that time Patricia complimented his outfit, which totally made his day. https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/1731-2/
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Actor-Singer David Burnham ("Burnham Sings Buble"): "My Pants Were So Tight I Almost Passed Out"
09/04/2024
Actor-Singer David Burnham ("Burnham Sings Buble"): "My Pants Were So Tight I Almost Passed Out"
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 the original cast of Light in the Piazza to finally getting to play Fiero in Wicked on Broadway after originating the role in the workshop productions and being passed over for the original Broadway cast. Other topics include: the moment he first realized he could sing, why the Elvis song "Blue Christmas" takes him back to a sixth grade kiss with a girl in the Sunday School room, the song that makes him emotional every time he sings it, the rude awakening he got after finishing the Joseph tour when couldn't get arrested in New York, having to go on as Matt Morrison's understudy in Piazza on opening weekend and not even knowing the blocking and that time the crazy heckler in the front row of Joseph turned out to be Donny Osmond. https://www.davidburnham.com/
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Still Working 9 to 5 Filmmakers Gary & Larry Lane: "Just Cuz You're Twins, Don’t Think You're Special"
08/29/2024
Still Working 9 to 5 Filmmakers Gary & Larry Lane: "Just Cuz You're Twins, Don’t Think You're Special"
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. They also talk about how they worked with co-director Camille Hardman to weave the serious story of the women's equality movement over the last 50 years in with the glamorous, funny behind-the scenes story of making the original 9 to 5 film. They also recall how the bottom dropped out of the documentary market just as they were premiering at South By Southwest in 2022 and wondering if they'd ever get a proper streaming release. (They are--woohoo!--in the fall of 2024.) Other topics include: their powerful and occasionally spooky connection as twins, the snarky male reviewers who didn't appreciate 9 to 5 when it first came out, appearing together as twins on shows like Fear Factor and The Truth About Food and their very humble first Christmas in LA after leaving North Carolina to pursue their dreams. It involved a sad futon, top ramen for dinner and a check for $50,000 from Fear Factor that they couldn't cash because it arrived on Christmas eve and all the banks were closed. www.stillworking9to5.com
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Ganymede Filmmakers Colby Holt & Sam Probst: "I Believe We're Dealing With a Ganymede"
08/22/2024
Ganymede Filmmakers Colby Holt & Sam Probst: "I Believe We're Dealing With a Ganymede"
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 watching RuPaul's Drag Race helped them decompress after long days on the set. Other topics include: the movies they find terrifying, tracking down a real shock therapy machine to use as a prop, what it was like for Colby to come out in high school, Sam watching the gay film Latter Days in secret n college before coming out, how the pair first met at the gay country Charley's in Chicago at 3 AM on a Monday night and how Colby's mom worked on the fim as a hair consultant and nailed co-star Robyn Lively's Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side highlights.
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Singer-Songwriter & Composer Greg O'Connor: "I Never Gave Myself Permission To Do This Before"
08/15/2024
Singer-Songwriter & Composer Greg O'Connor: "I Never Gave Myself Permission To Do This Before"
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, like being ghosted by someone he'd been dating for a while and subsequently falling in love with his fiancé, photographer Kevin Sikorski after meeting on Hinge. He also talks about his extensive work in TV and film, writing music for recent films My Home Unknown and Baby Boomer Yearbook (directed by Grease's Randal Kleiser) and TV shows like The Ben Stiller Show, The Big Gay Sketch Show and MadTV, for which he won an Emmy. Other topics include: falling in love with music at four, writing the viral song "Laura Dern" for the Independent Spirit Awards a few years back, shooting two music videos in one day in Capetown, South Africa and being closeted at USC and waiting in line outside of the Mother Lode bar in West Hollywood and being terrified someone would drive by and see him. www.GregOConnor.com
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Legendary Bingo founder & Musician Jeffery Bowman: "I've Lived this Nick at Nite Life"
08/08/2024
Legendary Bingo founder & Musician Jeffery Bowman: "I've Lived this Nick at Nite Life"
Dennis connects via Zoom with Jeffery Bowman who is the founder and co-host of Legendary Bingo, a West Hollywood staple since 1998. Jeffery talks about the event's humble beginnings, how he enlisted the queen Belle Aire early on as his first drag co-host and how the event has raised over $9 million to date for countless local charities. He dishes about all the celebrities that have appeared at Bingo over the years including Molly Shannon, Ed Asner, Paula Abdul, Richard Simmons, Seth Rogan, Lesley Ann Warren and his first-ever celebrity guest Jean Smart. He also talks about his more recent creative endeavor; writing, recording and releasing songs on Spotify under the name Jeffery Leonard Bowman. His song "No Shelter," about his own experience with rescue animals, is connecting with other animal lovers all over the world and Jeffery couldn't be more thrilled about it. Other topics include: how both Jeffery and Dennis have worked with and been delightfully scandalized by drag legend Willam at Bingo and The MisMatch Game respectively, how great it feels when someone compliments him on his music, the corporate gigs that make it so he's able to make his living from Bingo, why it's never not a pain in the ass when a reality show wants to shoot at Bingo, co-starring with Ron Jeremy in the movie Orgasmo, why people love the game of Bingo generally, finding great collaborators on Craig's List and his favorite celebrity guest caller ever. (Here's a hint: She's 50 years-old.) www.bingoboyinc.com
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With Love, Mommie Dearest Author A. Ashley Hoff: "Faye Dunaway Gave a Performance For the Ages"
08/01/2024
With Love, Mommie Dearest Author A. Ashley Hoff: "Faye Dunaway Gave a Performance For the Ages"
Dennis is joined in person by author A. Ashley Hoff to discuss his new book With Love, Mommie Dearest, his follow-up to Match Game 101, which he discussed on the podcast a few years back. Ashley talks about why he wanted to write this book, what surprised him while he was conducting interviews and doing research and why be believes that Faye Dunaway, who plays screen legend Joan Crawford in the film, is a "sorceress commanding the elements." He also recalls talking with Christina Crawford, who wrote the tell-all the movie is based on, at a screening of the film in Chicago years ago and learned that while she doesn't particularly like the film, she's proud that it shined a spotlight on the then-taboo topic of child abuse. Ashley also talks about watching the new documentary Faye on Max and finding that it pretty much tracks with the research he conducted for the book, even though he was never able to interview Dunaway herself. At one point, Dennis and Ashley are joined by author and superfan Abdi Nazemian who has been obsessed with the movie since he was 10 years old and has a juicy Faye story of his own to share. Other topics include: Joan Crawford's up-from-nothing resilience and determination, why the bullying aspect of the film might resonate with queer people, that time Dennis interviewed Faye Dunaway for Us Magazine and was kept waiting for four hours, the fact that Mommie Dearest was a financial success, how no one in Hollywood sets out to make a flop and what it is exactly that makes something campy.
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L.A. Theater Director Bart DeLorenzo ("Design for Living"): "Bob Fosse Taught Me To Snap My Fingers"
07/25/2024
L.A. Theater Director Bart DeLorenzo ("Design for Living"): "Bob Fosse Taught Me To Snap My Fingers"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A. theater director Bart DeLorenzo to talk about his newest production, Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Odyssey Theatre, as well as his career in general. Bart talks about why the 90 year-old play--about three young, struggling artists who can't seem to live without each other--seems so resonant in this moment. He also talks about his directing process, how he reads a play over and over and over again before he starts putting it on his feet and how he believes there are always two plays going on in any given production; the play on stage and the story that's unfolding in the audience. Other topics include: his memories of seeing plays as a child, what he's observed about Gen Z as a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts, working with Joan Rivers on her autobiographical play A Piece of Work, looking for actors who make his "heart leap" during the casting process, why he loves Los Angeles how he reacts to people whp say theater in LA sucks, and how "nothing good can ever come from reading reviews." https://www.bartdelorenzo.com/
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Conversion filmmaker Zach Meiners and featured subject Elena Joy Thurston: "Using My Voice Helps Me To Heal"
07/18/2024
Conversion filmmaker Zach Meiners and featured subject Elena Joy Thurston: "Using My Voice Helps Me To Heal"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Zach Meiners and Elena Joy Thurston, two of the three conversion therapy survivors profiled in the new documentary Conversion, which was also directed by Meiners. (The third survivor profiled is Dustin Rayburn AKA Dusty Ray Bottoms from RuPaul's Drag Race). Zach talks about what inspired him to make the film, why he used detailed miniatures to tell the story visually and how when he was struggling with his sexuality, he always felt like "the worst person in every room." Elena talks about her background as a devout Mormon wife and mother who found herself overwhelming drawn to a woman in her life. She also talks about the social fallout in her Mormon community when she decided to finally live her truth and how, just a few years later, her current family situation is "wildly wonderful" in a way she never expected. Zach and Elena also talk about how conversion therapy is actually an industry that constantly needs to be fed and how the recent laws that have been passed are important but that they've barely put a dent in the problem. Other topics include: American Idol alum David Archuleta's recent coming out, how conversion therapy can often lead to self harm, the surprising amount of queer activism at Brigham Young University and the pair's hopes that the film can be a catalyst for change. www.conversionmovie.com
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Chronicles of a Wandering Saint filmmaker Tomás Gómez Bustillo: "Making Fun Sh#t With My Friends"
07/05/2024
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint filmmaker Tomás Gómez Bustillo: "Making Fun Sh#t With My Friends"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Argentine-born filmmaker Tomás Gómez Bustillo to talk about his delightful, three-time Indie Spirit Award-nominated film Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, which was first mentioned on this podcast earlier this year when Drew Droege raved about it during our year-end movie wrap-up. The movie is about an elderly woman in a small rural town in Argentina named Rita (Wild Tales Monica Villas) who is so competitive with the other ladies from her church that she fakes a miracle to try and improve her status. Tomás talks about how the film was partly inspired by the time he spent as a young Catholic missionary in towns just like Rita's. He also talks--cryptically--about the giant swerve the movie takes halfway through and how many people he shared the script with told him he could never pull it off. He also recalls getting rejected by Sundance and another major festival and actually having a ritual where he let it go. He burned a piece of paper with the film's name on it, thanked the film for all it had brought to his life and accepted that it wasn't going to be a festival movie...and then days later, he got accepted by South By Southwest, where the film was a breakout hit. Other topics include: graduating college with a degree in Political Science in Argentina and then leaving that path behind to study film at AFI in Los Angeles, his love for magical realism, how his pursuit of music led to him discovering filmmaking, why The Lion King f-ed him up as a kid and the movie costume he wish he owned so he could wear it around the house. www.chroniclesofawanderingsaint.com
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Playwright Miranda Rose Hall & Executive Director Armando Huipe (The Sandwich Ministry): "I Write About The Questions That Keep Me Up At Night"
07/02/2024
Playwright Miranda Rose Hall & Executive Director Armando Huipe (The Sandwich Ministry): "I Write About The Questions That Keep Me Up At Night"
Dennis connects via Zoom with two of the people behind the play The Sandwich Ministry; playwright Miranda Rose Hall and Armando Huipe, who is the Executive Director of the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles where the show is running through July 7, 2024. The play is one of the best things Dennis has seen on stage in years. The story concerns three women, two of whom are queer, who gather in a church basement to make sandwiches for people in need after a once-in-lifetime storm hits their community. Miranda talks about what inspired her to write the play, her own background growing up in an LGBT-friendly Presbyterian Church in Baltimore and her goal of examining how to live in a time of chronic emergency. Armando recalls reading the play for the first time during a massive rainstorm in LA and being moved to tears by it. He also explains how the sandwiches being made by the actors on stage are actually packed up after the show and given to local organizations to help feed people in need. Other topics include: the recent Tony Awards, the doubts and fears that come with choosing to pursue an artistic life, the challenges of getting folks back to the theater after the pandemic, the importance of third spaces in people's lives and what kind of sandwich is the most delicious. www.skylighttheater.org
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Author Alonso Duralde (Hollywood Pride): "Take The Gays Away And None Of This Happens"
06/27/2024
Author Alonso Duralde (Hollywood Pride): "Take The Gays Away And None Of This Happens"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by film critic Alonso Duralde to discuss his new coffee table book Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance In Film. It's a beautifully written and designed book about at the history of queer people in the movies, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Alonso talks about the artists and films that weren't on his radar before he began his research and shares insights about some of the films in the book like including Prick Up Your Ears, Philadelphia, Brokeback Mountain, Parting Glances, Longtime Companion and Making Love. He also talks about what it's like to be the busiest gay in film criticism with five regular podcasts--Linoleum Knife (with his husband, film critic Dave White), Breakfast All Day, Maximum Film, Deck the Hallmark and the just-launched The Film Library. Other topics include: the gay cinematographer that shot Rocky, why queer millennials love The Mummy, how he cries more watching movies than he does in real life, his seeming unflappability, the 2016 surprise party for Dennis that Alonso attended, getting recognized on the street and the movie that made him cry so hard he had to go to the lobby to pull himself together. Following the interview with Alonso, there's also a short interview with comedian Jim David who appears in the new Netflix documentary Outstanding.
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Actor-Singer Activist Bryan Terrell Clark (Diarra From Detroit): "Joy Can Be Resistance"
06/20/2024
Actor-Singer Activist Bryan Terrell Clark (Diarra From Detroit): "Joy Can Be Resistance"
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Bryan Terrell Clark who plays a gay teacher "Mr. Tea" on the BET+ mystery-comedy series Diarra From Detroit. Bryan talks about how he knew the show's creator and star Diarra Kilpatrick for years before working with her and how thrilled he was to learn she was writing the role of Mr. Tea with him in mind. He also talks about how he sees Mr. Tea as the Bea Arthur-esque truthteller of the ensemble and how gratifying it is to play the type of gay character he would have liked to seen when he was growing up. He also talks about growing up in Baltimore with a pastor for mother and a drug dealer and addict for a father and how both of those experiences shaped the man he is today. He also shares the incredible story of how he came to believe in God after his father failed to pick him up from middle school leaving him feeling totally abandoned and alone as night fell and how he found salvation in the most unlikely of places. Other topics include: the profound connection he felt to Marvin Gaye when the played the singer in Motown: The Musical on Broadway, what it was like to deliver George Washington's farewell address in Hamilton on stage at the same time that President Obama was giving his own farewell address in Washington, the idea that "being gay is not romantic," which is a line Mr. Tea says in Diarra From Detroit, slaying on the red carpet with help from his costume designer husband, how he sees expressing black and queer joy as a kind of resistance and what Gay Pride means to him. (www.bryanterrellclark.com)
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