Metrosource February/March 2017

february/march 2017

METROSOURCE

Take Our LGBT TV Quiz

Andrew Rannells

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

Goodbye Girls

Dustin Lance Back on the Rise Escapes of the Rich and Famous

ENTERTAINMENT

rachel blanchard

priscilla faia

greg poehler

this just got odd. an AT&T original series

premieres feb 14 | 8:30pm | et pt

DIRECTV ch. 239 | DIRECTV NOW | U-verse ch. 1114 directv.com/youmeher

|

DEPARTMENTS Entertainment issue

razy Ex-Girlfriend

culture

5 Metroscope

Body 17 metro hiv

“My husband Gary and

I have been Barbie enthusiasts since we both wanted but were not al 44 HEALTH Biggest Loser trainer Jessie lowed to have the dolls Pavelka’s program goes beas children. We became 14 music yond diet and exercise.

Find out who Robbie Wilintrigued by the idea of views liams, Beyoncé’s little sister presenting Barbie as a Solange, and Lady Gaga are 12 diary duetting with now.

Nobody shows up to hear sort of spokesperson for Wade read; so he learns 16 books our book tour.” how to put on a show.

C Meet Eleanor Roosevelt’s lady love, see Glenn Close back on Broadway, and return to an Oz like you’ve never seen before. All that and more...in scope!

Britain’s Prince Harry sends a message about the ease and importance of testing.

image courtesy Bob D’Amico/AB

34

Behind-the-scenes looks at showtopping showtunes, RuPaul’s Drag Race and the life of Andy Warhol.

22 screen cover photo

by Mark Schafer, courtesy hbo

Get the awards buzz on Moonlight, 20th Century Women, and more of this year’s major contenders.

50 POV Kevin does awards season but ends up wondering: What’s the prize?

56 LAST CALL You’ve seen her on over 35 shows; now this bombshell is blowing up Fuller House.

—wade rouse froM “let me entertain you” in DIARY

CONTENTS

February/March 2017 | VOLUME 28, NO. 1

Hacksaw Ridge factors in our annual award predictions.

24

26 andrew rannells

from book of mormon’s

earnest Elder Price to Girls’ sassy best friend Elijah, the performer dishes about the highlights of his envelope-pushing career thus far.

30 when we rise as dustin lance black

brings his crusade to chronicle the gay experience from the big screen to network television, he opens up to us about his evolution as a storyteller.

34 THE TV QUIZ WHERE ARE ALL THE LGBT

people? From fantasy to reality, across the country and around the world — our test of gay television geography is where it’s at.

52 FAME AROUND THE WORLD DOES

GEORGE

Clooney hit the heights?

How does Justin Timberlake live like Gatsby? And when Eva Longoria heads southward, what resort has a private yacht ready and waiting?

courtesy lionsgate.

WHERE

publisher’s letter

News You Can Use? when i was a kid, the newspaper was deLIVERED to our door every day; my parents would unfold it at the table and make their way through it, section by section.

It was part of being a responsible adult — ­ like balancing the checkbook or stocking the refrigerator. Knowing what was going on in the world was part of the job.

The world has long since become a lazier place, with more people turning away from newspapers and tuning in to TV news instead. I’ve commented in the past how television news is increasingly saturated with entertainment stories and talking heads saying little of value.

Sadly, that’s still the case. But what I find increasingly frustrating is that it seems there’s no broadcast offering a complete picture of what’s going on in the world.

The “local news” is saturated with minutia — yet another car accident, shootings in the Bronx, a traffic jam on the 101 — what else is news? (Why even call it news?)

“National news”varies in tone from network to network, but it seems like all of the networks have agreed on a few narrow topics and cover them ad nauseam. Partisan “cable news” takes those same few topics and makes sure the talking heads go on about them in line with one political ideology — “analyzing” each story to death. Try watching the morning news; then come back and watch the news at 6:30pm. Watch again for the next two days.

It’s the same regurgitated stories over and over again.

In all these scenarios, a world’s worth of news goes ignored. Take last year: Beyond the Orlando shootings, Donald Trump or the threat of Zika — front and center for months, where was the coverage of other world events?

The impeachment of the Brazilian president: most of my friends were totally unaware. What else is happening in the world that people don’t have a clue about?

And now we face the perplexing problem of “fake news,” stories that go viral based on the fact that they appeal to what people would like to believe rather than what actually happened. Too often, by the time such stories are revealed to be utterly unsupported by fact, their damage has been done. Facebook says they’re taking steps to combat the spread of fake news — that supposedly these stories will appear with disclaimers or seem diminished in importance. But I find it hard to believe there are easy solutions to the fact that so many people believe so much misinformation.

I remember, a few months ago, everyone couldn’t wait for the election to be over; so we could finally get a break from the endless parade of Trump coverage on our televisions. Sadly, that parade has marched on — with everyone near a TV forced to listen to his endless selfaggrandizing, and stuck hearing news anchors read his latest tweets aloud.

So, as each flawed broadcast TV source begins to look more like all the others, it seems time we all seriously consider going back to bringing daily newspapers to our tables and going through them — section by section — and, yes, skipping over some pieces that we don’t need to read. But perhaps if we returned to reading the newspaper like it was part of our job as adults, we’d also be better informed and the process would feel a whole lot less monotonous.

What do you think? Share your thoughts on this piece at metrosource.com.

■

Padma and tom courtesy Tommy Garcia/Bravo.

the ghost of judges past in honor of the latest season of top chef, which pitted new contestants against returning challengers, we’re asking which recurring Top Chef judge you considered the most indispensable: A. Lusty Padma Lakshmi B. Crafty Tom Colicchio C. Sassy Gail Simmons D. Newcomer Graham Elliott

Lakshmi and Colicchio

E. Queer Eye guy Ted Allen F. Alum Richard Blais G. Master Hugh Acheson H. BAM! — Emeril Legasse

Share your favorite judges by commenting at metrosource.com, liking us at facebook.com/metrosource or tweeting #MetroJudge to @MetrosourceMag.

editor’s letter

Gilmore Guys? those who meet me are not likely to leave with the impression that i worry much about

whether my behavior is “manly” enough. I’m not some sort of crusader against gender norms; it’s more that — somewhere along the way — I figured out that trying to butch it up enough to pass among the “bros” of the world is just too exhausting.

However it took me many years to get this comfortable. At my all-boys prep school (as in most high schools), the undisputed kings of the campus were the rough, tough guys who excelled on the field or the court. Sports mystified me, but I learned to revere these young men, who’d strut around the locker room like they owned the place. I assumed when I moved to an NYC college where sports were essentially non-existent, I’d encounter a different value system. Unfortunately, this is also when I learned that (even among the gay community) there was a huge value placed on being“masculine” and“straight-acting.”I told people I was content to be delightfully different, but in truth I would look at both gay and straight guys for whom being masculine came easy like they’d won lotto.

Among these was Tom — the boyfriend of my best friend Meg. Meg and I were practically inseperable: we had classes together, we created shows together, we partied together. As such, I ended up spending quite a bit of time with Tom, too. But I couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being intimidated by him. While I spewed forth an endless stream of chatty commentary, he seemed supernaturally comfortable, even in near-stoic silence. Where my one-man parade of eccentricities made me feel self-conscious, Tom seemed to glide through the world with a commanding manliness.

After college, Meg and I moved into an apartment together. Though Tom was not officially living with us, he spent a fair amount of time there. I did my best to appear relaxed and cool around him, waiting until he wasn’t nearby to do ladylike things like sing along to Bernadette Peters while cleaning the kitchen, spend the afternoon strutting around in heels, or binge-watching Gilmore Girls.

Gilmore Girls had debuted several years earlier, and I could tell from the previews that I’d fall in love with it: a town full of quirky characters, mothers and daughters squabbling and bonding, Lauren Graham delivering rapid-fire repartee like the reincarnation of the brassy dames of 1940s cinema. I’d been too busy to watch when it premiered; so I decided to wait and catch up on home video. Eventually, when I hit a depressive patch after college, I sought out every episode available and burned through them with reckless abandon. But, much as I loved it, Gilmore Girls had been marketed so squarely to “girls” and “moms” that I wasn’t about to shout about it from the rooftops.

One day when Meg was out, Tom walked into the apartment to find me deep in a Gilmore binge.

He asked what I was up to. I froze — not wanting to admit to him that I’d been soothing my soul by watching women discuss their relationships using as many words as humanly possible.“I’m just watching Gilmore Girls,” I attempted to answer nonchalantly.“You probably wouldn’t be into it.”

“I’ll give it a try,” he said gamely. Tentatively, I pressed play. As the show unfolded in its peppy, perky way, I watched Tom for signs of disapproval. But he seemed to be getting it — even laughing in the right places. Thus I ended up spending the afternoon watching Gilmore Girls with my roommate’s big butch boyfriend.

It didn’t turn Tom into some sort of Gilmore superfan, but something about the fact that he’d caught me in the middle of behavior that made me feel so vulnerable, that he’d not judged me for it, and that he even tried joining in made me appreciate him in a whole new way. Tom and I went on to share many more special moments together (including some legendary Dirty Dancing-caliber booty-shaking at Meg and Tom’s eventual wedding). But it was in that moment together watching TV that I finally realized Tom was no longer just Meg’s boyfriend: he was my friend. comment on this letter at metrosource.com.

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February/march 2017

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publisher Rob Davis associate publisher Evelyn Vayner editor-in-chief Paul Hagen creative director Gayle Van Wely associate editor Kevin Phinney SEnior Designer Jayson Mena copy editor Kevin Phinney proofreader Barbara Mele Contributing writers Mathew Gross,

Madison Gulbin, Jeffrey James Keyes, Scott A. Kramer, Christopher Lisotta, Kevin Phinney, Jonathan Roche, Eric Rosen, Wade Rouse, Jeff Simmons, Megan Venzin

Office Manager Luswin Cote INTERN Madison Gulbin

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This Page: oliver jackson-cohen courtesy nbc

MetroScope

1} the tv set

return to oz from judy garland in the wizard of oz to IDINA menzel IN wicked, a variety of beloved actors have led

audiences back to L. Frank Baum’s colorful world of wicked witches and yellow brick roads. This January, Adria Arjona will be the one stepping into Dorothy Gale’s famous shoes in the new NBC series Emerald City. She’ll be accompanied by a K9 police dog and find an Oz torn by a battle for supremacy, powerful magic and lethal warriors. The one-hour drama series also features Vincent D’Onofrio as the Wizard, Joely Richardson as one of several witches, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (pictured) as a steamy new love interest for Dorothy. With visionary director Tarsem Singh at the helm, expect a show rich in mind-bending visuals and dark twists. nbc.com

IN SCOPE: glenn close  awards season  a valentine’s surprise  merce cunningham  More… metrosource.com

february/march 2017

5

2 } stage advice

sunrise, sunset “this

world’s waited long

2

Glenn Close is returning to Broadway, but it’s as if she never said goodbye.

3

6

February/march 2017

If lighting a candle doesn’t get him in the mood, just wait for what comes next...

metrosource.com

3 } new you

4} fact check

if you’re looking to set the tone

hold on to your podium, it’s

for a romantic holiday, consider the Afterglow massage candle.

It starts by exciting the senses with alluring aromas like vanilla or grapefruit. Then as it burns, it’s transformed into warm massage oil that contains jojoba, shea butter, Vitamin E, soy and aloe. It’s designed to be safe even for sensitive skin and paraben-free, and its porcelain container is crafted with a spout to help make sure the oil pours exactly where you want it to. Think of it as decor with a little something more. jimmyjane.com

awards season again. Before all the statuettes have been handed out, honors will have been delivered at the Golden Globes (January 8 on NBC), the People’s Choice (January 18 on CBS), the Screen Actor’s Guild (Jan 29 on TNT and TBS), the Director’s Guild (February 4), the Grammys (February 12 on CBS), the Writer’s Guild (February 19) and the Independent Spirit Awards (February 25 on IFC). And that is only a partial list of the parade of accoloades that, leads up to “Hollywood’s Biggest Night,” the Academy Awards (February 26 on ABC). But if you’re ready to get a jump start, check out our early predictions on page 24 of this issue.

light MASSAGE

AWARD WEARY

This Page: Afterglow candle photo courtesy Jimmyjane.com • Glenn Close photo courtesy Nick wall

enough, I’ve come home at last!” sings Norma Desmond in Andrew-Lloyd Webber’s musical re-imagination of the classic film Sunset Boulevard. On February 2, the show will return to Broadway (at last), with its time-honored tale of an aging starlet attempting to recapture her faded glory by convincing a young writer to help adapt a script for her comeback.

The piece first made it to Broadway in 1994, and Glenn Close won a Tony Award for her performance in the lead role. Over 20 years later, she returns for a new revival which won critical raves in London’s West End — trading the lavish sets of the original production for a drastically stripped down version designed to allow both the material and its performers to shine. sunsetboulevardthemusical.com

5} circuit shakers

6 } art beat

dance in miami, ski in mammoth,

seminal modern dance figure

winter heat

and party in New Orleans. gay mardi gras february 24-28 carrying on traditions dating

back to the 1950s, at least nine Gay Carnival organizations are still continuing the gay community’s contribution to Mardi Gras festivities. Whatever you do, don’t miss the 30th Annual Official Gay Mardi Gras Bead Toss on Fat Tuesday. gaymardigras.com Winter party festival march 1-7 join over 10,000 revelers at this

This page: Museum photo courtesy Gene Pittman • “eleanor and hick” book jacket courtesy of penguin press

weeklong celebration of the LGBT community in sunny Miami. From Thursday’s IGNITE Party to Saturday’s Under One Sun Pool Party to the VERVE closing event on Monday morning, there’s plenty of fun to be had. winterparty.com ELEVATION MAMMOTH March 15-19 more than 2,500 snow bunnies

are expected to come out for the 15th Annual Mammoth Gay Ski Week. Head 11,053 feet up to the High Sierras to dance, party, snowboard, and ski until the gondolas stop running. The year’s official host hotel is The Village at Mammoth. mammothgayski.com the black party MARCH TBA Last year, this salute to leather and those that love it made the move to Brooklyn. If you’re looking forward to experiencing this year’s parties, exhibitions and the infamous “Strange Live Acts,” head to the Black Party web site for announcements about the details of this year’s main events. blackpartyexpo.com

dance together Merce Cunningham will receive a major retrospective at both the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center starting this February 11. The exhibition will showcase multi-disciplinary projects, which explore Cunningham’s notion that “music and dance and art could be separate entities independent and interdependent, sharing a common time.” Collaborations with noted artists including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol will be highlighted — including vintage video, sets, and costumes — along with new dance pieces. mcachicago.org

7} ink spotted

6 7

Costumes are all part of this interdisciplinary salute to Cunningham.

Hickock (center) was unafraid to eschew traditional feminine attire.

the first lady’s first lady Eleanor Roosevelt is remembered

as an active First Lady, who had a passion for the rights of women and children and set a high standard of achievement for subsequent presidential spouses.

However, many don’t know of her very special relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok. In Susan Quinn’s biography Eleanor and Hick ($30, Penguin Press), love letters between the two women take center stage. Pairing their story with period photographs, Quinn paints a picture of an unconventional relationship that changed both women for the better — in addition to describing how historic events affected their lives and vice versa. penguinpress.com

Text by Paul Hagen, Madison Gulbin and Jeffrey James Keyes. metrosource.com

february/march 2017

7

YOU MATTER AND SO DOES YOUR HEALTH

That’s why starting and staying on HIV-1 treatment is so important.

What is DESCOVY ? ®

DESCOVY is a prescription medicine that is used together with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 in people 12 years and older. DESCOVY is not for use to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. DESCOVY combines 2 medicines into 1 pill taken once a day. Because DESCOVY by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1, it must be used together with other HIV-1 medicines.

DESCOVY does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. To control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses, you must keep taking DESCOVY. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to reduce the risk of passing HIV-1 to others. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

What are the other possible side effects of DESCOVY? Serious side effects of DESCOVY may also include: • •

•

•

Changes in body fat, which can happen in people taking HIV-1 medicines.

Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking DESCOVY. Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking DESCOVY if you develop new or worse kidney problems.

Bone problems, such as bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

The most common side effect of DESCOVY is nausea.

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don’t go away.

DESCOVY may cause serious side effects:

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking DESCOVY?

What is the most important information I should know about DESCOVY? •

•

•

•

Buildup of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include feeling very weak or tired, unusual muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold (especially in your arms and legs), feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat.

Serious liver problems. The liver may become large and fatty. Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turning yellow (jaundice); dark “tea-colored” urine; light-colored bowel movements (stools); loss of appetite; nausea; and/or pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking DESCOVY for a long time. In some cases, lactic acidosis and serious liver problems have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions.

Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. DESCOVY is not approved to treat HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV and stop taking DESCOVY, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking DESCOVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.

•

•

•

•

All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection.

All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Other medicines may affect how DESCOVY works. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. Ask your healthcare provider if it is safe to take DESCOVY with all of your other medicines.

If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if DESCOVY can harm your unborn baby.

Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking DESCOVY. If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/ medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Important Facts about DESCOVY, including important warnings, on the following page.

Ask your healthcare provider if an HIV-1 treatment that contains DESCOVY® is right for you.

8} LISTEN UP

Love is a Drag why is love is a drag labelled

“for adult listeners only”? It’s because this collection of classic love songs, originally released in 1962, were sung by a man and to a man.

One can’t help but imagine how scandalous it was at the time to hear vocalist Gene Howard croon to his “lover man,” giving new poignancy to lyrics like “he’d be so much better off if I went away.”

Featuring all-time greats such as “The Boy Next Door,”“The Man I Love” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man,” it’s a beautiful recording in its own right — pairing Howard’s smooth vocals with beautiful jazz arrangements. But it’s even more remarkable as a piece of gay musical history. modernharmonic.com

8

Gene Howard could originally only be credited as “a most unusual vocalist.”

9

Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna became a fab female foursome for a new generation.

9} last chance GONE girls

This Page: “Love is a drag” photo courtesy modern harmonic • “Girls” photo courtesy hbo

when hbo’s girls debuted with

its main character Hannah — created and played by Lena Dunham — promising that she could be “the voice of a generation,” we could not have guessed how prescient that statement would be.

Entering its sixth and final season on February 12, Girls has become a cultural touchstone, alternately reveling in and critiquing the excesses of millenial hipsterdom.

Often controversial, Dunham and company became a major part of the conversation about how young people, artists and sexual expression are portrayed in popular media. (Read our farewell interview with the show’s resident gay bestie Andrew Rannells on page 26.) And though we can expect more from each of these talented young artists, once the Girls are gone, Sunday nights will never be the quite the same. hbo.com metrosource.com

february/march 2017

11

DIARY

Let Me Entertain You

BY WADE ROUSE

Faced with underwhelming attendance at his earliest readings, Wade resorts to a variety of attention-getting gimmicks to engage the masses.

at one of my first author events, a grand total of

three people showed up. A few seconds into my remarks, a mother and son stood to leave.“No Thomas Train?” the little boy squeaked (apparently they had been expecting some kind of children’s story hour). The mother shook her head in disappointment, and off they went. The one rather bewildered woman who remained asked if I was still going to be reading. I was. In fact, I gave her my all. But I vowed to myself that from then on, things would be different.

I had attended plenty of other authors’ events. Most of them followed the format of a college lecture: stand at the front of the room, talk about a book, read a passage, take questions. There wasn’t much razmattazz.

So before my second book was published, I did some soul searching about how I could spice up my upcoming tour. I thought back to situations like applying to college and interviewing for jobs: How had I managed to make myself stand out from the crowd?

That’s when I remembered a speech I gave in junior high on Dolly Madison. Other classmates who had gone before me had simply gotten up and read their speeches in a monotone while the rest of the class grew restless.

So (much to the chagrin of my parents) I performed my speech dressed in child-drag as Dolly and, for my grand finale, handed out Dolly Madison desserts. I earned an “A” — not to mention some questionable attention from my titillated Ozarks classsmates.

That’s when it hit me: I had been ignoring my obligation to put on a show for my audiences out of some preconceived notion that authors should always be serious.

So when it came to book two, I began anew — with Barbie.

My husband Gary and I have been Barbie enthusiasts since we both wanted (but were not allowed to have) dolls as children. We became intrigued by the idea of presenting Barbie as a sort of spokesperson for the book tour. This was back when social media was first exploding, and we were soon sharing photographs of her at local shops and tourist attractions as we arrived in each city on the tour, encouraging locals to attend our events. There’s Barbie in Albuquerque! In Tulsa! On Michigan Avenue! People seemed to like it. And I noticed they began to turn out in

12

February/march 2016

metrosource.com

somewhat larger numbers at my readings.

Emboldened, I took a cue from my Dolly Madison days and began to reinvent my author appearances as themed drag events. Gary and I dressed as 1980s punk prom kids, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and even Evil Knievel.

When I edited an anthology about rescue dogs, Gary toured the the country in a dog costume. We exhorted crowds to donate money to “spring him from the kennel,” and gave the funds to local shelters.

We also started learning how to hook people with a theme (“being hookers” as I like to think of it). For my debut novel The Charm Bracelet, we did jewelry-related giveaways and asked readers to wear their own heirloom bracelets and share their family stories with us to make the readings more interactive.

Some of my events have drawn hundreds of people, and of course there are still those times when I draw only a handful. But whether the turnout is a big crowd or an intimate one, they know they can expect a good time.

Recently I returned to the same bookstore where that one lone woman had remained to hear me read. This time there were about 50 people — many of whom the woman had brought along with her. I had to ask her why.

“You were very entertaining — even when I was the only one there. You connected with me. I could tell that you really love what you do. The nicest thing is that even though things have changed,” she said, motioning to the crowd,“I can tell that you haven’t changed and that’s lovely.”

I hugged her — for probably way too long. Then we both laughed giddily as she found her way to one of the few remaining empty seats and I headed to the front of the room: It was showtime.

■ You can learn more about Wade’s writing — including his debut novel The Charm Bracelet, which is now available under the pen name Viola Shipman — at waderouse.com.

have you ever had to find a unique way to stand out? share your story with us at metrosource.com.

West Hollywood, California

A celebration of the outdoors, in the heart of West Hollywood

Three and a half acres of lush gardens, an award winning al fresco restaurant, two pools and three bars, this is the way California is meant to be experienced; outdoors. This is the Sunset Marquis, the only way to do West Hollywood.

sunsetmarquis.com/spring

MUSIC

So Happy Together

Three recent releases feature artists sharing the spotlight — including Robbie Williams with Rufus Wainwright, Solange with Kelly Rowland, and Lady Gaga with Florence Welch.

BY MATT GROSS

00

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

METROSOURCE.COM

LADY GAGA Joanne (Interscope Records) RETURNING TO HER SINGER-SONGWRITER ROOTS, MOTHER MONSTER BOUNCES FROM FOLK TO country to pop with enormous success on her latest effort. Where her previous release — 2013’s misunderstood ARTPOP — showcased glitz, glamor and disco-inspired anthems, Joanne heads in an entirely different direction: think Joni Mitchell, Loretta Lynn and Judy Collins.

On the album’s most tender moments, “Million Reasons” and “Angel Down,” Gaga strips away the electronics, heavy production and flashy beats in favor of emotion-laden melodies with lyrics that focus on pain and loss. For fans of the Gaga of yesteryear, there is the roaring lead single, “Perfect Illusion,” and the equally rhythmic “A-Yo.” But Joanne undoubtedly reaches its peak with“Hey Girl”— an uplifting and inspirational collaboration with Florence Welch (without her Machine) in which Gaga optimistically sings:“We can make it easy if we lift each other.” For Gaga’s 2017 tour dates as they’re announced, visit ladygaga.com.

Robbie Williams The Heavy Entertainment Show (Columbia Records)

Facing page: Lady Gaga photo courtesy of Interscope records • Robbie Williams Photo courtesy columbia records • solange photo courtesy Dana Edelson/NBc

On his strongest release to date, the veteran British

performer collaborates with a wide range of unexpected special guests. Featuring tracks co-written by and performed with Rufus Wainwright, Brandon Flowers of The Killers, Ed Sheeran and Stuart Price (revered producer for superstars such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Kylie Minogue), Williams’ latest collection is a tour de force. Inspired by ‘80s pop and ‘70s funk, The Heavy Entertainment Show is full of camp, glam and the pop star’s signature cheekiness.

He also displays a softer side in a gorgeous duet with rising gay singer John Grant entitled “I Don’t Want to Hurt You” (which is reminiscent of the early Williams mega-single “Angels”). He then bares his soul even further on the album’s passionate closer, “Marry Me,” declaring: “You make me feel like nothing has been real - until now.” Join Robbie’s five million Facebook fans at facebook.com/robbiewilliams.

Solange A Seat at the Table (Columbia Records) Beyonce’s little sister steps into her own on this

attention grabbing, socially-conscious release. A Seat at the Table is heavily inspired by funk, neo-soul and ‘90s R&B but sounds like something entirely of Solange’s own creation. The simultaneously moving and daring album responds to a variety of society’s injustices — expressing rage, despair and disappointment but with unique grace and flair. A Seat at the Table features collaborative work with Andre 3000 of Outkast, Kelly Rowland and Lil’ Wayne among many others.

The record’s majestic opening number, “Rise” and its equally impressive closing track “Scales” (featuring buzzy newcomer Kelela), bookend the release beautifully. Head to YouTube to see Solange’s impressive visuals for singles “Cranes in the Sky” and “Don’t Touch My Hair.” Follow her on Twitter @solangeknowles. metrosource.com

february/march 2017

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books

The Essential RuPaul

By John Davis | Smith Street Books; $14.95 Since RuPaul emerged on the pop culture scene in the

90s, he’s been a recording artist, a TV personality and (to many), a hero. Replete with beautiful illustrations by Libby Vanderploeg, the book is a biography and bible in one — filled with wisdom and inside dirt on key queens of Drag Race fame. The tome overflows with Ru quotes reminiscent of the show’s signature sign-off: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”

Revisit Broadway’s greatest hits, the wit and wisdom of RuPaul and Warhol’s beginnings. BY madison gulbin

Showstoppers

By Gerald Nachman | Chicago Review Press; $19.99 whether you were a musical theater nerd in High

Becoming andy warhol

By Nick Bertozzi and Pierce Hargan | Abrams ComicArts; $24.95 Before Warhol was Warhol, he was just another commercial illustrator who

sought to break out into the art scene in NYC. Becoming Andy Warhol is a graphic novel — an ideal medium through which to examine the artist’s history — that examines the genesis of the infamous Thirteen Most Wanted Men mural that catapulted Warhol to stardom. The novel also ably captures Warhol’s personality, which fascinated the public as much as his art, capturing the spirit of a man who was proud and publicly gay (back when that was still considered deviant), and how he loved to push past boundaries.

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school or came to appreciate it later in life, you’re bound to be riveted by these surprising backstage stories of Broadway’s most remarkable songs. Each classic is augmented by rich snippets of its history and show context. The book includes interviews with such talents as Joel Grey and Bebe Neuwirth, who helped create some of the most beloved numbers in the business. It’s also peppered with pictures that provide glimpses into the visual aesthetic of each production — and all that jazz.

All Photos courtesy of the corresponding publishers.

Becoming Legendary

Metrohiv

Blue Blood How does a beloved cultural figure get the word out about how vital it is to get tested? By Jeff Simmons The importance of getting tested for HIV cannot be

stressed enough; so England’s Prince Harry decided to use his highly visible position as a royal (and object of general cultural obsession) to promote a recent technological advancement in the process and to educate people about its speed and simplicity: He took a rapid HIV test and broadcast it live on the Royal Family’s Facebook page.

“It is amazing how quick it is,”the Prince said during the five minute video. “So whether you’re a man, woman, gay, straight, black or white – even ginger – why wouldn’t you come and have a test?”

Nearly 2.4 million people have watched the Prince undergo the test, which was administered at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital Burrell Street Sexual Health Centre, the largest National Health Service sexual health clinic in London. (Incidentally, the Prince’s results came back negative.)

“It’s really important for someone like Prince Harry to have an HIV test because it normalizes the testing process,” said Robert Palmer, lead health advi-

sor at Burrell Street. “It lets everyone know that it’s a simple test, it doesn’t take long, and that it’s important to know your HIV status.”

HIV rates in the U.K. have continued to rise despite progress in treatment. Guy’s and St. Thomas’ noted that up to 17% of HIV positive patients are unaware of their status, and that as many as 17 million across the world are unaware they have HIV. Having the Prince explain why people should get tested even if they don’t consider themselves at risk has already had a significant impact. The Telegraph reported a five-fold increase in orders for a self-testing kit being offered by one charity. Like the Prince’s test, it gives a 99.7% accurate result in 15 minutes.

“It’s not people who [know they] are HIV positive who are passing the infection on, it’s those who do not know their status. What we want to do is get those people into clinic,” Palmer said in conclusion.

“If Prince Harry can come along today and let it be known that a royal can have an HIV test, then everyone can have an HIV test.”

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SCREEN

Eyes on the Prize We weigh in on Moonlight and a raft of other Oscar contenders. Plus, Annette Bening is the matriarch of an unusual family, and the Criterion Collection revisits a camp classic by Pedro Almadovar.

BY JONATHAN ROCHE MOONLIGHT EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY BRAD PITT, MOONLIGHT IS A FILM OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY FROM WRITER AND DIRECTOR BARRY JENKINS. IT’S BOTH A PORTRAIT OF

a black gay man growing up on the hard streets of Miami and a soul-stirring story of human connection. There is little danger of exaggeration in describing Moonlight as visual poetry — except for the fact that it would underserve its also-wonderful sound work. What we’re talking about here is overall film-making excellence. The acting is superlative, especially from Mahershala Ali — whom you’ll recognize from roles on House of Cards and Luke Cage — and Andre Holland (pictured, left) — of The Knick and American Horror Story. But among a uniformly stellar cast, special recognition must be given to Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes (pictured, right) who together create a seamless portrayal of main character Chiron at three stages in his life: as a child, an adolescent and a man. THE WORD: This is most certainly one of the best films of 2016. COMING TO: Home Video

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20th CENTURY WOMEN

opposite Page: “Moonlight” photo courtesy a24 • THIS PAGE: “20th century women” photo courtesy annapurna pictures/a24 • “american honey” photo courtesy Parts and Labor/a24

annete bening plays Dorothea, the single

mother of teenage son Jamie and the central figure of an unusual household in Santa Barbra, California circa 1979. Independent, free-thinking chainsmoker Dorothea shares her home with an unique cast of characters: There’s Abbey, a photographer and cancer surviver who is into the punk scene. There’s Julie a pouting troubled girl who is Jamie’s best friend. And there’s William, played by Billy Crudup, a Casanova handyman with a heart of gold. Mike Mills (the writer/director of 2010’s ode to coming out late in life Beginners), offers a slice of the life of this motley family — exploring their conceptions of freedom, identity, and sexual expression. Annette Bening sparkles in this crisp, funny, introspective film that defies convention as it reaches for truth rather than tidy resolutions. THE WORD: Mills does a good job conjuring up the specificity of the film’s period setting, yet his themes remain decidedly timeless. coming to: Theaters

AMERICAN HONEY After meeting the unpolished but alluring

Jake (played by Shia LaBeouf), a young woman named Star runs away from her dysfunctional home to join his crew of young misfits as they travel the Midwest selling bogus magazine subscriptions. Their leader is played

by Riley Keough (granddaughter of Elvis Presley, pictured with LaBeouf), who manages the scam in a way that allows her to hold on to the profits and control. The young crew has an appealing spirit; despite their hard-partying and law-bending, there is something wonderfully wholesome about them. Very few are played by professional actors, and that authenticity helps create a surprisingly hopeful portrait of their lives. THE WORD: This might be the best film Shia LaBeouf has ever done. coming to: Home Video metrosource.com

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WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN the films of Pedro Almodovar tend toward either drama or camp

— though even the dramatic ones possess a kiss of campiness, just as the campy ones maintain a good amount of plot and substance. The Criterion Collection’s new release of 1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown celebrates the best and most pleasing example of his high camp. Almodovar employs just enough intrigue to keep audiences riveted through this absurd, bawdy, playful and dangerous tale of a woman’s quirky quest to learn why her lover has left her — in the process entangling the lives several others (including a young Antonio Banderas). THE WORD: If you’re new to Almodovar, this is a great place to start; if you love him, it’s like coming home again. coming to: Home Video

OSCAR PICKS Our early calls for who may be headed to the podium to pick up some hardware on Hollywood’s biggest night.

Hacksaw Ridge

Denzel Washington

Denis Villeneuve

Emma Stone

Julieta

BEST PICTURE

BEST ACTOR

BEST DIRECTOR:

BEST ACTRESS:

BEST FOREIGN

Could Win: Contenders include the harrowing religious drama Silence, subtle social commentary Loving, well-built prestige project Fences, auspicious alien thriller Arrival, war and peace epic Hacksaw Ridge, heartstring-tugger Lion and the playful musical La la Land.

Should Win: Cinematically poetic coming-of age story Moonlight.

Will Win: The best bet currently seems to be funereal festival favorite Manchester by the Sea.

Could Win: Andrew Garfield in either Hacksaw Ridge or Silence, Dev Patel in Lion, Denzel Washington in Fences, Ryan Gosling in La La Land or perrenial favorite Tom Hanks in Sully.

Should Win: Joel Edgerton’s brilliantly understated performance in the title role of Loving or Dave Johns for his authenticity and humanity in I Am Daniel Blake.

Will Win: Casey Affleck ‘s career redefining turn in Manchester by the Sea.

Could Win: Damien Chazelle brought levity to La La Land, Denis Villeneuve made a thoughtful crowd pleaser with Arrival, Denzel Washington did double duty in Fences and Martin Scorsese speaks volumes in Silence.

Should Win: Jeff Nichols for Loving or Andrea Arnold for American Honey: consistently excellent directors at their best.

Will Win: Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea or Barry Jenkins for Moonlight.

Could Win: This crowded field includes Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea, Amy Adams in Arrival, Annette Bening in 20th Century Women, Emma Stone in La La Land, Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins and Marion Cotillard in Allied.

Should Win: Impressive Isabelle Huppert in Elle or nuanced Ruth Negga in Loving.

Will Win: Negga, though there’s also buzz around Natalie Portman in Jackie and Viola Davis in Fences.

Could Win: With 85 entries it’s a tough call, but standouts include Germany’s Toni Erdmann, Israel’s Sand Storm, Russia’s Paradise, Spain’s Julieta, Venezuela’s From Afar, Greece’s Chevalier, Canada’s It’s Only The End of the World, Iran’s The Salesman, Romania’s Sierranevada, and Korea’s The Handmaiden.

Should Win: Italian doc Fire at Sea or Chile’s remarkably soulful Neruda.

Will Win: France’s Elle may have the edge.

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This Page: “Women on the Verge” courtesy Criterion Collection • “Hacksaw Ridge” courtesy Mark Rogers/Lionsgate • Denzel Washington courtesy Paramount • Denis Villeneuve courtesy Paramount • Emma Stone courtesy Dale Robinette/Lionsgate • “Julieta” courtesy Nico Busto/Sony Pictures Classics

screen

THEO AND HUGO in the beginning, we have just entered a

This Page: “Theo and Hugo” photo courtesy Wolfe Releasing • “Girl on the train” photo courtesy dreamworks

club, checked our clothes at the door and descended into a place where the lights are red and male bodies slide across each other in groaning bliss. It is here that Theo first sees Hugo, and draws closer to him — one man at a time— until they eventually meet and their bodies merge in a cool blue glow. After leaving the club, they continue to explore their instinctive connection on the streets of Paris until a sudden revelation sends them rushing to an emergency room. From its long, steamy (and quite accurate) opening scene in a small sex club and into the night beyond, we follow Theo and Hugo in real time through 97 minutes of highs and lows, hits and misses as they quibble and cling to each other through a night of discovery that could be the first of many — or end up a one night stand. THE WORD: Theo and Hugo is a strong piece of well-choreographed gay realism that doubles as a PSA about safe sex, and the risks and rewards of love. coming to: Theaters

Girl on the train WHEN RELATIONSHIPS DISSOLVE, there is often

friction between perspectives: Which partner crossed the line? Add a murder and a woman struggling with drinking-related blackouts, and you’ve got a recipe for a mystery in which the main character tries to unravel a “whodunnit?” where the answer increasingly seems to be herself. Emily Blunt (pictured) plays Rachel, the titular girl on the train, from which she obsessively spies on the happy life of her ex-husband, his new wife and child, and their nanny.

When said nanny turns up missing the same day that Rachel wakes up from a blackout covered in blood, Rachel engages in a dangerous game — infiltrating the life she was forced to leave behind in the hopes of figuring out what really happened. Sexy suspects abound: Was the murderer Luke Evans as the nanny’s brutish husband? Justin Theroux as Rachel’s longsuffering ex? Edgar Ramírez as a too-involved therapist? Or was it the girl on the train? THE WORD: The fim’s big twist makes surprising sense and acts as an emphatic warning about the dangers of losing time to the bottle. coming to: Home Video (—Paul Hagen) metrosource.com

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Andrew RAnnElls Girls’ best friend

Andrew Rannells as Elijah early (right) and later (opposite) in Girls.

As Girls enters its finale season, we visit its resident gay best friend Andrew Rannells for a look at how his career has evolved — along with his character on the hit series.

Opposite page: photo courtesy of Mark Schafer/HBO this page: courtesy of “girls”/hbo

By Kevin phinney

There’s no missing Andrew Rannells. From the instant he strides

onstage in the current Broadway revival of Falsettos, you’ll notice that, at 6’1”, he towers over his costars. Put his bearded face on a product, and it would move a mountain of Brawny towels or sell enough cans of Manwich to feed an army. Clean-shaven — as Rannells is onstage tonight — he radiates a post-fratboy glow that still find him playing parts a decade younger than his 38 years.

Rannells’ evolution from fresh to familiar face has been like watching an languid summer afternoon roll by. He’s gracefully lept from Promise Ring roles like Elder Price, which he originated in the hit musical The Book of Mormon, to more acerbic characters like Elijah, the one-man Greek chorus who appears to pamper (then puncture) the inflated egos of the galpals who populate the beloved HBO series, Girls. It’s not easy, he says, but “I know my skill set and my strengths. I just do what I do.”

Stage vs. Screen In demand on two coasts, Rannells has a Red Bull-binge awareNess

that this is his moment, and he’s determined to make the most of it.

Much of the time, he ricochets from sitcom sets to the stages of Broadway stage. These days he’s wrapping up Girls’ sixth and final season. Between that and Falsettos, Rannells briefly stepped in to play King George in Hamilton when Jonathan Groff left to finish the Looking film finale.

One can’t help but wonder how long Rannells thinks it’s possible to maintain this bustling bi-coastal, multi-media lifestyle — and whether one career path must ultimately win out. ”Well, theater will always be nearest and dearest,” Rannells muses.“It’s where I feel most comfortable and in control and happiest.” He knows it’s rare to be in such demand that he can pick and choose between theater and TV projects. But his coworkers and representation have long become accustomed to Rannell’s need to alternate between screen and stage: “They understand,” he says with certainty.“I need this to recharge.”

Despite living in a maelstrom of activity, Rannells remains remarkably polite, grateful and calm. Why? “I’m fortunate to be a gay man at a time when there are great roles to play,” he explains.“I’ve been lucky that way, because I have no issue playing gay men — since I am one — as long as there’s a good script. You just have to find the right ones.”

saying “Hello!” to broadway

Sean Hayes snaps a selfie with angels James Gleason, left, and David Josefsberg.

Elijah (Rannells) and Marnie (Allison Williams) ponder the mysteries of life and wheat grass on the streets of NYC.

FINDING HIS PEOPLE Rannells attributes his breezy optimism to

his Irish/Polish origins in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was born fourth of five children.

Neither oldest nor youngest, Rannells had to distinguish himself somehow; theater quickly became his ticket out of obscurity.

“I was not initially very outgoing,” he admits, “but through my involvement with theater, I gradually became more comfortable.

“I do remember back in kindergarten I developed a strange little clique that lasted up through eighth grade,” he says, flashing that megawatt smile. “Three guys who eventually came out as gay. Obviously that was a godsend, because they were accepting of me and I of them — even though being gay was never openly spoken about. It was, somehow, something we understood between the three of us.

I mean, I remember lip-syncing to Cher in my friend’s basement.”

Rannells attended an all-boys Catholic high school where “it took me a second to find my people. But eventually I made a great group of friends, some of whom I’m still in touch

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with,” he recalls. “While it was all-male, it was also a Jesuit school, where the teachings are ones of acceptance and there’s a lot of room for interpretation of the scriptures.”

As a teen, Rannells became a familiar fixture on local stages, and by 18 he’d landed a string of voice-over parts and a commercial spoofing Grease opposite a young Amy Adams.

But New York was always tugging at his sleeve, and so — with little more than the zeal to perform — Rannells moved East and began parlaying his voiceover experience into directing cartoons for Fox and Warner Brothers. “I did Sonic the Hedgehog,” he laughs, “along with many others. I directed the voiceover portion.

So there I was at 23, trying to get performances out of actors making these Saturday morning cartoons and trying to sync to the originals when we dubbed them over from Japanese.”

At the same time, the sense of treading water gnawed at him, until finally something snapped, he says. “I was going deeper and deeper into debt; so I thought I’d see if could just get anywhere by auditioning.” Rannells quit school and began seeing casting agents.

role in an Austin, Texas production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The show was a runaway hit and quickly ballooned from a four-week to a four-month run. He walked away with the local scene’s award for best actor in a musical.

That was heartening, but only a hint of things to come. “My big break,” Rannells always says, “came from Hairspray.”

“I was an understudy for nine months — then to get to be a lead on Broadway was something amazing.” By then, Hairspray was already in its third year; so although he could finally call himself a Broadway song-anddance man, Rannells wasn’t exactly hot on the radar of industry professionals who could put him in bigger parts. His whole universe shifted again when the actor learned about a hushhush project being assembled by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park.

Rannells says he landed the lead in The Book Of Mormon the old fashioned way: by auditioning. “The people behind the show were very secretive, and all we really knew was: that it was about the Mormon church, it was a musical, and that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were doing it.” He heard that the producers were replacing the actor who’d played the role of Elder Price at early readings. “It was really fast,” he says. “It was three auditions: ... Something clicked, and I was cast.”

Soon after opening, the show became the hottest ticket in town. “I had no idea that it would become what it has,” Rannells admits, “but it was so funny and so smart, I knew we were going to have a very solid audience. It was a surprise that it’s as universal a hit as it has become, that it’s still running and traveled to Salt Lake City.” the book of dunham Book of Mormon also allowed Rannells

to look for TV roles filmed in NYC. So he took an initially-peripheral role in Girls as Elijah, exboyfriend to Hannah (played by series star and creator Lena Dunham). Elijah comes out to her as gay in the show’s third episode.

This page: photo Courtesy of Craig Blankenhorn/HBO• opposite page photo courtesy “Girls”/hbo

In 2002, Rannells was cast to play the title

Then, two years into the run of Mormon, Rannells took a vacation during TV pilot season and dashed to LA, where he threw himself into a series of meetings. One of them was with Ryan Murphy, the maestro behind Glee and American Horror Story. “I learned he was working on a show about gay parents [based on Murphy’s own life], and I asked him about it. I had this strange moment of confidence. I thought, ‘I don’t know much about this, but I want to be a part of it.’” A month later, he got the offer to play Murphy’s alter-ego in The New Normal.

Rannells had two seasons under his belt playing bestie to the ladies of Girls; so he was understandably itchy to play a lead. He met with Dunham and series producer Judd Apatow.“They said of course I had to try this.”

Despite the magic of the Murphy name, The New Normal struggled to find its audience. The challenge was evident: Shows like Modern Family and Will & Grace proved that America could embrace gay characters, but were network audiences ready for a show where gay people were central rather than showcased for spice or comic relief?

Normal was cancelled at the end of its first season. When asked if the show was ahead of its time, Rannells is quick to respond: “That’s exactly what I think. Modern Family was very successful and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet were hugely popular; so it seemed like a good time for a show like ours. But New Normal was principally about gay people trying to have a baby, and Justin Bartha and I were the focus. We had a great cast with Ellen Barkin, Bebe Wood and the rest, but — at its heart — it was the gay couple’s story. Maybe it was too soon for that.”

The show ended, but Rannells didn’t miss a beat. In no time, he says, “Lena offered me my job back on the third season of Girls and it’s been great to be back and see Elijah grow and evolve.”

In fact, Elijah has since gone on to become one of the most multi-layered gay characters ever put on a television screen. He’s dealt with issues of sexual fluidity — sleeping with

Elijah and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) demonstrate their flair for dramatic outerwear in the finale season of Girls.

Allison Williams’ character Marnie, and when Hannah’s Dad came out as gay late in life, he turned to Elijah for comfort and counsel.

Most recently, Elijah grappled with his desire for monogamy while dating a decidedly nonmonagamous TV personality (played by House of Cards alum Corey Stoll). In a show that relies on irresponsible antics for its humor, Elijah often ends up the only adult in the room.

“This season, I’m looking forward to showing even more different parts of Elijah.

He’s no longer the messy friend, you know?”

Rannells offers.“And there’s the storyline with Cory Stoll, where I get to continue to try to be more grown up and proud. Of course, Elijah still observes the girls just as the audience does, and I still get to call them out on their B.S. and being narcissistic.”

GETTING BIGGER DREAMS Rannells is now weighing his options for

the future, since Girls will soon say goodbye and the lights of Falsettos won’t stay lit forever.

“It’s like Oprah says, once you’ve achieved a dream, you’ve got to get bigger dreams,” he

reasons.“That’s sort of been my approach. You get where you wanted to go, and move the line several steps.”

It’s worth noting that Rannells’ star has risem parallel to the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the beginning of marriage equality.

Unlike generations before him, he was not as seriously faced with the possibility that being openly gay and playing gay characters could threaten his career. But he’s wary that the incoming Trump administration may yet prove a danger to that kind of freedom. “What to do?

“My plan is to stay vigilant,” he says.

Now when he’s asked if playing gay characters has limited him, Rannells sets the doubters straight: “I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone ask straight guys if it’s limiting playing a straight guy. I know a lot of gay roles are played by straight people, and if they’re the best people for the job — well, fine. But playing gay? I have a little insight into that.”

■ The final season of Girls premieres Sunday, February 12 on HBO. Visit hbo.com for more details.

When We Rise

Dustin Lance Black traces the path that led him to tell our whole community’s story in the epic new ABC miniseries When We Rise. by Kevin PhinneY Show business is an industry renowned for self-Promotion. So it’s a Minor miracle that an avowed Introvert like

Dustin Lance Black would become a celebrity — though he has done so largely by putting other people in the spotlight.

The screenwriter is about to unveil his most ambitious project to date: a sprawling ABC miniseries called When We Rise, based on his friend Cleve Jones’ account of the struggle for gay equality. The program, with a cast led by Mary Louise Parker and Guy Pearce, tracks the evolution of the gay rights movement from before AIDS up through the Supreme Court decision affirming same-sex marriage and beyond. If some of the terrain seems familiar, perhaps it’s because Black has dramatized some of these characters before, in the 2008 film Milk that won him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The story would make fertile ground for any dramatist, since it’s rife with stunning victories and ghastly setbacks. Black fervently believes future generations need to know the grand sweep of it all, and he refuses to remain silent in the face of oppression. Despite an innate shyness, he’s spoken up on behalf of the community time and again — famously using his Oscar acceptance speech to out himself in the most public way possible, and later that year speaking from the steps of the

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A candlelight vigil from When We Rise

U.S. Captiol before a group of 200,00 LGBT stalwarts at the National Equality March.

Today, Black is finally back in the London home he shares with British Olympic diver Tom Daley. But he continues to ruminate on the miniseries now in post-production.

“I’d long considered a project like this,” Black reflects. “There were other networks that I love, saying they were interested.” But when he heard that ABC was considering taking on the program, Black jumped at the chance immediately. He believes it means something for When We Rise to air on a network known for its family programming and trusted by his deeply religious Southern relatives. “We might

Dustin Lance Black consults on set.

not be just preaching to the choir with it,” he says.“We might change a heart or two.”

Raised steeped in Mormonism and having spent his formative years in San Antonio, Texas, Black understood before he knew he was gay that there was something wrong with being different.“I was an incredibly shy kid in school,” he recalls.“I basically missed my first two years sitting in the principal’s office because I’d get panic attacks being around other kids.”

At home, Black discovered the power and resonance of storytelling. “In the South, storytelling is currency,” he says, “and if you’re isolated in Texas and a member of the Mormon church, ... well, I wasn’t going to hear a lot

about Mormonism when everyone around us was Southern Baptist. So my mother made a board with felt religious figures that would stick to it. And on Mondays we had Family Home Evening, and we’d use it to take turns telling stories from the Book of Mormon or a Bible story. As the gay, middle son, I was drawn to telling the stories of the first Mormons in America ... perhaps because they were always depicted as muscly young men.”

But Black also learned that sharing carried some risk. “When I was six, that was the first time I heard the term ‘homosexual,’” he remembers. “The Mormon Prophet was being beamed in from Salt Lake City via satellite and metrosource.com

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he compared being gay to murder. So growing up in the church I knew what great shame being gay would bring to me and my family. I feared for my future on this Earth and beyond.”

Eventually his mother remarried and the family resettled in California, where Black began to grasp wider possibilities. His mother, Black recalls, “asked herself: What do you do with a kid who’s so shy? She said, ‘I’m gonna put him in drama class.’ And she did. And I liked it! One of the reasons I think I liked it so much was that I sensed there were people like me there. There were gay mentors, who weren’t necessarily out, but I could tell. And they didn’t have horns like the Mormon Prophet said they would. They seemed happy. And there in the theater I witnessed the power of storytelling.”

Later, while studying film, theater and televsion at UCLA, Black started telling those closest to him that he was gay. Not long before he graduated, he came out to his college roomate. Then “I inadvertently came out to

my Mother the Christmas before I graduated when she was going on and on about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ which she thought was too inclusive. I started to cry, and she understood what those tears meant. Then came the long process of acceptance for her and me. I came out to my brothers a year or so later, and when I came out on the stage of the Academy Awards it was like coming out to the rest of the world.

It’s a process. And for many people coming out is a process that never ends.”

A mere four years after graduating, Black was assembling one gay-themed project after another, from a bro-mance (Journey of Jared Price) to a coming-out short (Something Close to Heaven) to a road doc he directed about six gay men headed to Burning Man (On the Bus).

In 2006, Black landed a staff writing job on HBO’s Big Love, which revolved around a polygamous Mormon family. His background and experience were obvious assets. “I believe the creators of that show were looking for

Previous Page: Photo Courtesy ABC • This Page: Photo courtesy abc/ eike schrater • opposite page (L-R): Courtesy ABc/ Phil Bray and ABC

Guy Pearce as Cleve Jones

authenticity, and I was one of the few writers in Hollywood who’d grown up devoutly Mormon,” he says. Black rose up the ranks quickly from staff writer to executive story editor to co-producer.

Throughout those years, he nursed a pet project: Bringing the story of martyred San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk to the screen. Black is still setting the record straight about the genesis of the film.“I heard the story of Harvey Milk as a young man in the theater when we were living in Northen California,”he attests, “long before I knew of any book, well before I ever saw any documentary.“ He says such provocative material wouldn’t have been floating around his Mormon home. “I think I got a hold of [Randy Shilts’ 1982 book] The Mayor of Castro Street some time later, and it wasn’t until much later that I got hold of The Times of Harvey Milk [a film documentary by Rob Epstein] as a student at UCLA film school.”

Because he had the rights to neither the Shilts book nor the Epstein film, Black delved into his own three years of research, aided by Milk’s real-life confidant, Cleve Jones.

Jones emerges next month as one of the central characters in the eight-hour ABC epic When We Rise. He’s also the author whose memoir provides the show’s name and inspiration. “But this mini-series isn’t Milk at all,” Black insists. “When We Rise isn’t about any one person or kind of person; it’s about a handful of diverse LGBT people and families looking for hope and safety starting back in 1971, and it’s much more about us and coming together in our struggle for equality for all.”

Black believes he’s avoided some of the tactical errors of last summer’s much-derided Stonewall, which depicted the famed 1969 riots — largely staged by Black and Latin drag queens — through the eyes of a young white hunk. “This series isn’t just about the gay, white, male experience. And to do that right, I needed help. So we built our writer’s room, assembled our directors [among them, Gus Van Sant, the director behind Milk], and built our cast from a talented group of gay and straight,

Mary Lousie Parker as Roma Guy

black and brown and white, male and female, cisgender and trans, L, G, B and T artists,” he says.”Because that’s the truth of our movement and our world. It’s that diverse and that’s a very good thing.”

Accordingly, Black uses When We Rise to single out an assortment of previously unsung heroes for their vital contributions to the cause of LGBT rights. He excitedly describes the film as “also about Roma Guy, who ... moved to San Francisco looking for a place for lesbians in the women’s movement. It’s the story of Diane Jones, who famously took great care of AIDS patients at San Francisco General and started a family of her own. It’s about Ken Jones, a young, gay, black man who served three tours in Vietnam,” Black continues, and “who learned that it wasn’t only difficult to be gay in the black civil rights movement, but confronted racism within the Castro’s gay community as well. It’s also about Cecilia Chung, a young Chinese American woman who was trans

Dustin Lance Black

before she even knew there was a word for that, and who went on to fight for trans people and people with HIV.” Black is more than ready to have his film go public, as the gay commmunity must now grapple with a backlash from those who have opposed any kind of LGBTQ rights from the start.“I would give anything for When We Rise to be less necessary than it is now,” he concludes, “but in the miniseries, you see some of the very same things happen in our history that we’re facing now. You see our [forefathers] respond to setbacks as the pendulum swings backward.

You witness how our people resist oppression, and you see battles lost and battles won, and we examine why we lost and won those battles.

I believe it is important to identify this moment we are in today as a great challenge, not to minimize it; to stand up, and to fight when necessary to stop this new administration from turning back our great progress.”

He also hopes it will teach gay people

who are too young to remember when AIDS was untreatable that the struggle for marriage equality began when survivors of those who died — who should have been left in peace to grieve ­— lost not only partners, but homes and possessions gathered over a lifetime.

“Some of this will be an education in what it means to be a part of a civil rights struggle,” he says.“A lot of young people don’t know how hard the fight was for those who came before them, and I hope this series shows them it’s not over, and inspires them to take the baton.

We want to say, ‘Here’s what was done, here’s how we did it, and now it’s your turn.’”

■ When We Rise premieres this February on ABC; check your local listings. Cleve Jones’ memoir of the same title is available from Hachette Books. read more from our conversation with dustin lance black, exclusively at metrosource.com.

metrosource.com

february/march 2017

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Take our tv quiz

Once, it was enough to know that the guys of Queer as Folk lived in Pittsburgh and the ladies of The L Word loved in LA, but where do TV’s LGBT characters livE nowadays? Take our quiz, and see how finely tuned your gaydar is when it comes to TELEVISION GEOGRAPHY. (find the Answers on page 39.)

BY PAUL HAGEN AND MADISON GULBIN

38

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Opposite: Annaleigh Ashford courtesy Liz Von Hoene/SHOWTIME • ABC/Bob D’Amico • npah galvin courtesy ABC/Bob D’Amico • jack falahee photo courtesy ABC/Bob D’Amico

1. On Masters of Sex, lesbian office manager Betty (opposite) works for Masters and Johnson in their clinic in this Midwestern city starting in the 1950s; fifty years earlier, she might have met one of Judy Garland’s famous movie characters there there.

A. Springfield, MO B. Montgomery, AL C. New Orleans, LA D. St. Louis, MO 2. Since The Real O’Neals’ Kenny (pictured, above) is loosely based on author Dan Savage, the show is set in this city where he grew up — famous for its Flamingo Sculpture, Lincoln Park and Graceland Cemetery?

A. Indianapolis, IN B. Columbus, OH C. Chicago, IL D. Detroit, MI 3. On How to Get Away with Murder, Connor (right) works with on-again-off-again boyfriend Oliver in this historic city, so after work they could go grab a drink at long-standing gay bar Woody’s in its gayborhood.

A. Philadelphia, PA B. Boston, MA C. Annapolis, MD D. Charleston, SC metrosource.com

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35

4. On Orange is the New Black, Poussey (above) brags that before she ended up in the Litchfield Correctional Facility, she seduced Franzi — the daughter of a local army commander — in which nation?

A. Norway B. Germany C. France D. Italy 5. On Gilmore Girls, Michel (above, right) is concerned his job at the Dragonfly Inn, located in this whimsically-named fictional town, won’t be enough to support him and partner Frederic in their quest to become gay dads.

A. Stars Hollow, CT B. Brilliant, OH C. Happyland, OK D. Kissimmee, FL 6. The Doctors of Grey-Sloan Memorial on Grey’s Anatomy may work in rainy Seattle, but this lesbian fetal surgeon (right) is named after which much dryer state, famously home to the Grand Canyon?

A. Arizona B. Nevada C. Utah D. Idaho

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courtesy Opposite Page: samira wiley photo courtesy JoJo Whilden/Netflix Jessica Miglio/Netflix • - Yanic Truesdale photo courtesy Saeed Adyani/Netflix • Jessica Capshaw photo courtesy ABC/BOB D’AMICO / This page - Jussie Smollett photo Amanda Demme/FOX • Jesse tyler ferguson photo courtesy ABC/Bob D’Amico • Alanna Masterson photo courtesy Franck Ockenfells

7. On Empire, Jamal Lyon writes and records his socially progressive tracks in which city with a time-honored tradition of African-Americans creating great music?

A. Nashville, TN B. Seattle, WA C. Detroit, MI D. New York, NY 8. The family in Modern Family may live in the Los Angeles area, but from which Asian nation — known for dishes such as pho and bánh mì — did Cam and Mitch (above, right) adopt their daughter Lily?

A. China B. Vietnam C. Thailand D. South Korea 9. Though The Walking Dead’s resident lesbian Tara Chambler (right) has come a long way through the zombie apocalypse with Rick, Michonne and company, the series started in the environs which Southern city — one which was already overrun by the first episode?

A. Louisville, KY B. Atlanta, GA C. Winston-Salem, NC D. Richmond, VA

10. On Strut, trans model Laith De La Cruz (above, center) is a Harlem native, but he is proud of his Latin heritage, which he traces back to this island nation, the capital of which is Santo Domingo?

A. Cuba B. Dominican Republic C. Haiti D. The Bahamas 11. On Grace and Frankie, since Frankie goes job-hunting in nearby La Jolla California, the title characters and their gay former husbands (pictured) likely live in which California county?

A. San Diego B. Mendocino C. Monterey D. San Luis Obispo

CW • miley cyrus photo courtesy Michael opposite page: Laith De La Cruz photo courtesy Joe Labisi/Oxygen • Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston photo courtesy Melissa Moseley/Netflix / This page pete gardner photo courtesy Smallz & Raskind/The Muller/NBC

12. On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, citizens of West Covina — home to the law firm of bisexual Darryl Whitefeather (above) — brag their town is “two hours from the beach, four in traffic.” However it would be more accurate to say the town (which is about 18 miles from LA) is...

A. About 15 minutes from the beach B. About a half hour from the beach C. About an hour from the beach D. Nowhere near the beach 13. Though she was born and raised in Tennessee, The Voice’s pansexual pop princess Miley Cyrus (right) came of age on the Disney Channel playing a character named for which state?

A. South Dakota B. Nebraska C. Montana D. North Carolina

THE RESULTS

(0 - 4 POINTS) - still scouting

Either you are way behind on seeking out programs with LGBT characters or you haven’t been paying very close attention to them.

Have no fear — we’ve got coverage of these and other great shows that tell our stories waiting for you now at metrosource.com.

(5-9 POINTS) - using LGBT GPS You’ve got a sense of where we are on the TV landscape, but there’s more for you to discover. Head to facebook.com/metrosource, click“like”and set your following preferences to“see first”to make sure you’re receiving up-to-the-minute updates about the latest.

(10-13 POINTS) - master geographer You could make maps indicating where to find LGBT people on your favorite shows. In fact, you probably have even more than we included here. Tell us who we missed by tweeting @MetrosourceMag with the #LGBTgeography.

THE ANSWERS: 1. D 2. C 3. A 4. C 5. A 6. A 7. D 8. B 9. B 10. B 11. A 12. B 13. C

metrosource.com

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39

What is TRUVADA for PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis)?

uYou may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems

TRUVADA is a prescription medicine that can be used for PrEP to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection when used together with safer sex practices. This use is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This includes HIV-negative men who have sex with men and who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV-1 through sex, and malefemale sex partners when one partner has HIV-1 infection and the other does not.

Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to prevent getting HIV-1. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

Who should not take TRUVADA for PrEP?

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA for PrEP?

Before taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: uYou must be HIV-negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-negative. uMany HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. If you have flu-like symptoms, you could have recently become infected with HIV-1. Tell your healthcare provider if you had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP or at any time while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin.

While taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: uYou must continue using safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. uYou must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. uTo further help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1: • Know your HIV-1 status and the HIV-1 status of your partners.

• Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months or when your healthcare provider tells you.

• Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV-1 to infect you.

• Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior.

• Have fewer sex partners.

• Do not miss any doses of TRUVADA. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection.

• If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away. uIf you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.

TRUVADA can cause serious side effects: uToo much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach-area pain, cold or blue hands and feet, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or fast or abnormal heartbeats. uSerious liver problems. Your liver may become large and tender, and you may develop fat in your liver. Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, lightcolored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach-area pain.

if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking TRUVADA for a long time. In some cases, these serious conditions have led to death.

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions. uWorsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you also have HBV and take TRUVADA, your hepatitis may become worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider. If your healthcare provider tells you to stop taking TRUVADA, they will need to watch you closely for several months to monitor your health.

TRUVADA is not approved for the treatment of HBV. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. If you are HIV-1 positive, you need to take other medicines with TRUVADA to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.

Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you also take lamivudine (Epivir-HBV) or adefovir (HEPSERA).

What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA for PrEP?

Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include: uKidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA for PrEP. uBone problems, including bone pain or bones getting soft or thin, may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones. uChanges in body fat, which can happen in people taking TRUVADA or medicines like TRUVADA. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP are stomacharea (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA for PrEP?

uAll your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you

have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection. uIf you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. If you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA for PrEP, talk to your healthcare provider to decide if you should keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Pregnancy Registry: A pregnancy registry collects information about your health and the health of your baby. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take medicines to prevent HIV-1 during pregnancy. For more information about the registry and how it works, talk to your healthcare provider. uIf you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed.

The medicines in TRUVADA can pass to your baby in breast milk. If you become HIV-1 positive, HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk. uAll the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. uIf you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA for PrEP, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include ledipasvir with sofosbuvir (HARVONI).

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Important Facts about TRUVADA for PrEP including important warnings on the following page.

Have you heard about

TRUVADA for PrEP ?

TM

The once-daily prescription medicine that can help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 when used with safer sex practices.

• TRUVADA for PrEP is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV through sex.

• You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA. Ask your doctor about your risk of getting HIV-1 infection and if TRUVADA for PrEP may be right for you.

visit start.truvada.com

IMPORTANT FACTS (tru-VAH-dah)

This is only a brief summary of important information about taking TRUVADA for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. This does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your medicine.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRUVADA FOR PrEP

Before starting TRUVADA for PrEP to help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: • You must be HIV-1 negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-1 negative.

• Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include flu-like symptoms, tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP.

TRUVADA can cause serious side effects, including: • Those in the “Most Important Information About TRUVADA for PrEP" section.

• New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure.

• Bone problems.

• Changes in body fat.

While taking TRUVADA for PrEP to help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: • You must continue using safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1.

• You must stay HIV-1 negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • Tell your healthcare provider if you have a flu-like illness while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away.

• If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.

• See the “How to Further Reduce Your Risk” section for more information.

TRUVADA may cause serious side effects, including: • Buildup of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach-area pain, cold or blue hands and feet, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or fast or abnormal heartbeats.

• Severe liver problems, which in some cases can lead to death.

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach-area pain.

• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have HBV and take TRUVADA, your hepatitis may become worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking TRUVADA for a long time.

ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP (PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS) TRUVADA is a prescription medicine used with safer sex practices for PrEP to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection in adults at high risk: • HIV-1 negative men who have sex with men and who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV-1 through sex.

• Male-female sex partners when one partner has HIV-1 infection and the other does not.

To help determine your risk, talk openly with your doctor about your sexual health.

Do NOT take TRUVADA for PrEP if you: • Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status.

• Take lamivudine (Epivir-HBV) or adefovir (HEPSERA).

TRUVADA, the TRUVADA Logo, TRUVADA FOR PREP, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and HEPSERA are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.

All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

Version date: April 2016 © 2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. TVDC0050 09/16

Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP include stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight.

These are not all the possible side effects of TRUVADA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP.

BEFORE TAKING TRUVADA FOR PrEP Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.

• Have any other medical conditions.

• Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

• Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you become HIV-1 positive because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: • Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

• Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with TRUVADA for PrEP.

HOW TO TAKE TRUVADA FOR PrEP • Take 1 tablet once a day, every day, not just when you think you have been exposed to HIV-1.

• Do not miss any doses. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection.

• You must practice safer sex by using condoms and you must stay HIV-1 negative.

HOW TO FURTHER REDUCE YOUR RISK • Know your HIV-1 status and the HIV-1 status of your partners.

• Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months or when your healthcare provider tells you.

• Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV-1 to infect you.

• Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior.

• Have fewer sex partners.

• Do not share needles or personal items that can have blood or body fluids on them.

GET MORE INFORMATION • This is only a brief summary of important information about TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more, including how to prevent HIV-1 infection.

• Go to start.truvada.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5 • If you need help paying for your medicine, visit start.truvada.com for program information.

Metrohiv

Revisiting Our Stories by scott kramer, LCSW-R FOR our entertainment issue, we took a look back

through our MetroHIV film coverage on the lookout for great films we haven’t previously discussed — and where you can seek them out today.

Living with AIDS (1987) A riveting short documentary about the final days of Todd Coleman, 22, and those who cared for him: a true and heartbreaking look at what living with AIDS looked like in the 1980s. Available ON: Vimeo

Longtime Companion (1989) A group of friends in the early 1980s deal with the chaos as a “new illness” attacks gay men in their youth, and nobody is sure who will find a purple lesion or develop pneumonia next. Its ending beach scene is haunting. Available ON: Netflix DVD

The Living End (1992) Critic Jon and hustler Luke, both living with HIV, go on a gritty, sexy road trip for one last adventure.

Available ON: Netflix DVD, Amazon Video, iTunes

It’s My Party (1996)

courtesy hbo home video

Nick is a gay man who has tested positive for HIV, developed a devastating opportunistic infection, and has only a few days left of consciousness left.

He (and a star-studded cast) have one last party to celebrate his life. Available ON: DVD

Angelina Jolie in Gia

Precious (2009) Clareece “Precious” Jones is a teenager already pregnant with her second child, who escapes reality through a richly-imagined inner life. Dealing with physical and emotional abuse in a raw and realistic way, the film won Mo’Nique an Oscar and made Gabourey Sidibe an instant sensation. Available ON: Netflix DVD, Amazon Video, iTunes

We Were Here (2011) A documentary that chronicles the early days of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, showcasing the rise of activism and the bond of community. Available ON: Netflix Streaming, Amazon Video, iTunes

Gia (1998) A biopic about the life of supermodel Gia Carangi, who rose to fame in the late 1970s before spiraling downward. Perfectly played by a young Angelina Jolie, Gia is a gripping tale of fame, drugs, and the desire to be loved. Available ON: Amazon Prime Streaming, iTunes, HBOGO

The Test (2013) In 1985 — at the height of the AIDS epidemic when no effective treatments were available, innocent young dancer Frankie ponders whether or not to take a test that could well reveal more than he’s ready to know. Available ON: DVD, Amazon Video ■ metrosource.com

February/march 2017

43

health

Getting with the Program Trainer and TV personality Jessie Pavelka crafts a journey to fitness that has a lot to do with who you’re on the road with.

BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES

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television, chatting amiably with Kelly Rippa or Meredith Viera on their eponymous talk shows or dispensing life-changing health advice on shows such as The Biggest Loser or Fat: The Fight of My Life. Now you can bring home what he’s learned in his fitnessfocused career in his book The Program: 21 Days to a Stronger, Slimmer, Sexier You ($26, Hachette).

Pavelka says that the genesis of the book came as he realized that people who start training for different reasons require different strategies to meet their goals. In other words: He wouldn’t give the same advice to a fit client looking to take their training to the next level as he would to someone who was recovering from an injury or bouncing back from years of obesity. His solution was to design a program flexible enough for people of different fitness levels to utilize its principles. The result is a practical guide for living well that is based on four essential tenets: movement, food, mind power, and connecting.

In regards to movement, Pavelka lays out over 100 inspired ways to sweat. Some have more straight forward names (The Resistance Band Chest Fly, The 180-Degree Jump), while others are somewhat more picturesquely named (The Mountain Climber, The Dumbbell Goblet Squat). But they are all mapped out with detailed instructions and illustrations that make them easy to follow. He makes a point of including many that you can do in the comfort of home and using your own body weight for resistance for those days when you just can’t fit in a trip to the gym. The first four days are all about gradually incorporating aspects of strength training, metabolic training, athletic training, cardiovascular endurance training and flexibility training into one’s routine.

When it comes to food, Pavelka pays careful attention to helping us eat consciously and take charge of what we put in our bodies. The book offers more than sixty recipes simple enough for even kitchenphobes to tackle. They also incorporate valuable lessons about the value of lean proteins, good carbohydrates and healthy fats. “The standard American diet has more saturated fat, salt, added sugar and refined grains than experts tell us are healthy,” he points out.

“And less than the recommended vegetables, fruit, whole grains and dairy.” But this is not an endless parade of privation. The Program presents four different types of eating days: Cleanse, Burn, Build, and Relax.

The Program is not trying to be an extreme detox.

This page:”The Program” book jacket courtesy the hachette book group • facing page: photo by BRADFORD ROGNE PHOTOGraphy

you’re most likely to have met jessie pavelka VIA

As for the MIND POWER aspect, Pavelka is a clear champion of the power of positive thought. His mindfulness practices are a mix of affirmation, focus, and relaxation that will be familiar to those who have studied meditation but seem particularly purposeful when incorporated into a diet and exercise strategy.

The fourth component, CONNECTING, encourages us to cultivate key relationships in order to inspire us to be our best selves. It makes common sense: we’re all more likely to show up rather than let down our gym buddy or to resist temptation rather disappoint our diet buddy. But how often do we seek out and build those relationships? And if we’re not, are we really doing our best to reach our goals? Pavelka’s message seems to be that, ultimately, success in achieving fitness goals depends on paying attention to the key relationships in life: the ones we have with ourselves, with our friends, with our community, and with our higher power (whatever that may be). Cultivating these relationships can help us get to the places we’ve always wanted to go. It’s by connecting to our fellow travelers that we can finally reach our destinations.

With The Program, Pavelka takes the whole person into account, offering a plan for not only working out but also for activities like rest and recovery, stretching, sleeping, planning ahead, setting intentions to “focus on the why” and even the often-overlooked “what to wear.”Surely Pavelka knows many people will buy this book because they saw his handome mug on TV and thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to look more like him?”

But he’s clearly more than just a pretty face peddling another disposable fad diet.

■

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

45

health

Tension?

Balance.

Harmony...

The Alexander Technique is a practice — originally used by actors to addresses chronic ailments — that just may help you to stop stressing yourself out.

By jeffrey james keyes

dustry, the Alexander Technique is a way of getting rid of harmful tension in your body. This process shines light on inefficient habits of movement and patterns of tension that prevent us from moving more easily.

The technique was developed by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor prone to chronic laryngitis. When he wasn’t able to find effective treatment, he developed a system of getting rid of bodily tension, which eventually allowed him to speak with greater ease. Alexander found that we tend to distribute our body weight unevenly — holding our heads incorrectly, walking inefficiently, reflecting stress in our posture; this creates imbalance and tension.

The Alexander Technique attempts to re-educate our sense of kinesthesia, which we use to calibrate our location and to judge the effort necessary for movement. During an Alexander Technique session, a teacher will observe your posture and movement patterns. He or she will have you perform simple movements like walking, standing up, and sitting down while guiding your body to encourage the release of unnecessarily restrictive muscular tension. For part of the lesson, the teacher will usually work with you on a table, so you can experience the active principles of the technique without paying attention to maintaining balance. Lessons typically last between 30 and 45 minutes.

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Potential enefits range from reduction of musculoskeletal pain to greater strength, enhanced flexibility, increased speed, better posture, improved vocal quality, decreased stress and increased confidence.

Students and teachers of the Alexander Technique are continually relearning how to move — searching for balanced posture and natural buoyancy. The method can be used to rehabilitate injuries, ease trauma, or build skills related to sports or the arts. The United Kingdom’s National Health Service has found the Alexander Technique addresses long-term back pain, neck pain, and Parkinson’s disease in addition to conditions like asthma, headaches and insomnia.

Though many people haven’t heard of The Alexander Technique, there are likely plenty of options in terms of local teachers to work with available at alexandertechnique.com. Another good resource is the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), which offers info about classes, events, teacher training, and a list of AmSAT-certified teachers who have completed comprehensive training over a minimum of three years at amsatonline.org.

■

photo courtesty istock.com/ undrey

A longtime open secret of the entertainment in-

Light Enough for Love

By Gayle Van Wely It’s an age-old dilemma: serve your valentine a dish as rich as romance, or something to avoid feeling

stuffed after dinner? Find balance in this Black Bass with Bacon Dashi, which takes the alluring, smoky flavor of bacon and actually makes it light and healthy. Dashi is a seaweed broth rich in minerals with as much Vitamin C as orange juice. Black cod is a terrific source of protein and healthy fats. Find those recipes below, and then head to metrosource.com for the directions to create a nest of peas and red quinoa — which is also high in protein, fiber and offers all nine essential amino acids. Talk about giving your valentine the best of everything!

photos by gayle van wely

ingredients

preparation

for the Bacon Dashi 3 cups water 5 kombu seaweed sheets 3 strips bacon 1” fresh or 1 piece dry galangle ginger 2 tbsp mirin (to taste) 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (to taste) 1 tbsp sake (to taste)

In a saucepan, bring the water to 140° and add the kombu and ginger. After steeping for 30 minutes, discard the kombu (or reserve for another use like a seaweed salad). Add the bacon, keeping the temperature similarly low for another 30 minutes. Discard the bacon and ginger. Next, season the dashi with mirin, sake and/or soy sauce. Pour the sauce into a shallow sauce pan and keep warm until you are ready to use it to poach the fish.

for the Black bass 4 6-ounce black bass fillets, skin on 1 tbsp olive oil sea salt white pepper corn starch for dusting on skin

Season the skin side only with sea salt and pepper from well above. Smack corn starch on the skin only. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high. Sear the skin side only until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes); you should see the sides of the flesh start to turn whiter. Gently flip the fillets into a shallow sauce pan with the bacon dashi broth. Be careful to only submerge the fillets one quarter of the way up their sides. Finish steeping and poaching for approximately another 3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. metrosource.com

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Metrohiv

What a Difference Design Makes What’s more fabulous than a hall full of designer dining rooms? The fact that every chair is a step in the right direction. by SCOTT A. KRAMER

has sought ways to make a difference. DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) has been an important part of that; the organization was founded in April of 1984 and has since hosted events across the country — including the debut of a new LA-focused event last year. HIV direct care agencies, prevention programs and public policy initiatives benefit from DIFFA’s design-centic fundraisers, such as: Dining by Design Each year, DIFFA invites local and international designers to transform raw space into a variety of overthe-top dining environments that keep guests buzzing about where they’re eating and drinking more than what’s on their plates and inside their glasses.

Last year’s event hosted 2,000 people and raised nearly $800,000; 2017 will mark its 20th anniversary.

Picnic by Design Picnic by Design NYC has been DIFFA’s end of sum-

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mer celebration since 2012— offering guests the opportunity to savor “picnic fare” (provided by the best restaurants) while browsing fanciful picnic tables and baskets crafted by generous designers, manufacturers and artists, which are then auctioned. November 2016 also saw the launch of Picnic by Design LA at the WestEdge outdoor lounge — against the beautiful backdrop of Santa Monica.

DIFFA National Grant Reception “An Evening of Giving” is the appropriate alternate title to this annual fall cocktail reception, which introduce DIFFA’s newest grantees and thanks its supporters for helping to make a difference in the lives of individuals living HIV/AIDS all year long. Just how much giving is going on? It turns out that DIFFA has granted more than $41 million to support non-profits address HIV/AIDS. They focus on seeking out new and innovative agencies across the country, while also making sure to support effective existing programs.

And they look good doing it! diffa.org ■

Photo courtesy diffa/ Benjamin Moore_Booth

since early in the epidemic, the design community

WITH OR WITHOUT HIV, YOU CAN LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE.

SO KNOW YOUR STATUS.

Testing is the first step to staying healthy.

There is no cure for HIV, but you can talk to a healthcare provider about your options.

Learn more at HelpStopTheVirus.com © 2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. UNBC3045 05/16

POV

By Kevin Phinney

Big Night?

Kevin gets caught in the turnstiles of Hollywood’s fame game, but he’s left wondering if there’s really any value in being known by the well-known.

After writing at a daily newspaper in Austin for nearly

a decade, I’d had a few minor run-ins with celebrities. I’d interviewed Willie Nelson on his tour bus (no, I didn’t inhale). I sat in on early workshop rehearsals for Lily Tomlin’s Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.

I actually bought Bono his first margarita after a U2 gig.

His review: “Oh, I like this. It’s green, and it’s got a kick!”

In 1989, Melanie Griffith arrived in town — due to deliver her daughter Dakota at any moment. One day, I ambled into the newspaper offices, and my editor handed me a phone number.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Melanie Griffith has gone into labor, and this is her bedside phone,” he announced — beaming with pride.

“What am I supposed to do,”I replied,“ask her how far she’s dilated?”I made it clear that under no circumstances would I attempt to reach her in the middle of giving birth; so he stuck me on baby watch at the hospital until the blessed event occurred. I resigned soon after.

Moving to Los Angeles seemed the next logical career move. I began by crafting press materials for record labels and movie studios before eventually making my way back to reporting. I quickly learned how to pose in a tuxedo on the red carpet, shove a microphone in front of any famous face who would pause, bellow in a congratulatory tone, “Big Night!” and hope they’d provide some response.

It’s easy to get sucked into the Hollywood whirl. Someone always has a new project, a new fling, a fresh divorce, or a new source ready to “tell all.” I joined the staff of The Hollywood Reporter just as awards season was about to envelop the city. My first major assignment was to cover the Golden Globes, where the press share the same tables with the celebs they’re meant to cover, but it wasn’t all glamor. One of my tablemates (Bruce Springsteen’s first wife) found a dead roach in her dessert.

Over the course of the season, I became friendly with a few of the people I covered. One was Callie Khouri — nominated for her first screenplay: Thelma and Louise

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— who admonished me to beware of people in the industry who were once nice but decided to save time by being ruthlessly self-serving. Another was Sir Anthony Hopkins, just nominated for his role in The Silence of the Lambs.

When I called to get his reaction, he was so thrilled it took us 20 minutes to put together three sentences I could use.

I found myself working harder and harder, attending more and more events. By the time I made it through the actual Academy Awards, I was exhausted. Nevertheless, I dragged myself to a post-Oscars party. Somewhere above the din I heard my name. It was Callie Khouri, waving me over with the Oscar she’d just won and introducing me around her circle.“Kevin, you know Jonathan Demme and Anthony Hopkins,”she said. Amazingly, I did, and for that brief moment I felt like my little journalist star was twinkling right next to those of genuine movie stars.

But the next day, the hangover hit me hard. As great as it had felt to bask on the edge of their glory, I didn’t really know them. I was just the latest Tinseltown town crier planted on the red carpet yelping, “Big Night!” I’d come to LA to write about how creative minds make art that lasts forever, but instead found myself ensnared in the great celebrity chase. It wasn’t quite as bad as phoning Melanie Griffith as baby Dakota was making her first grand entrance — but it wasn’t much better, either.

So that spring, I left Hollywood to begin work on a book project about the intersection of music and race relations in American history. And, during the course of its gestation, I did end up talking to more than a few famous people. But I was having real conversations with them — not simply trying to score more face time with names from the A-List. And that felt bigger than any big night.

■

have you had a life-changing brush with fame? share your story with us at metrosource.com.

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The waters of Badrutt’s Palace welcome Clooney.

great escapes of the rich and Famous Hit the heights like george clooney, see baja like eva longoria and MAKE a great getaway with sarah jessica parker.

by Mark A. ThompsoN

It’s not often that one receives a transfer by Rolls Royce, but

there it was (complete with uniformed chauffeur) to transport me to my destination. I couldn’t help but think: So this is how it is for the rich.

The beautiful. The powerful. This is life for the people who stay in the penthouses, on the private islands and at the most luxurious suites in five-star hotels. To give you a taste of their high life, we’ve assembled an assortment of some of the world’s most celebrity-seductive accommodations and the famous names on their guest lists.

St. Moritz with George Located in the glacier-topped Swiss Alps, St. Moritz has attracted the well connected and well bred since its inception as an Alpine winter resort in 1864. A two-time host of the Winter Olympics, St. Moritz became the pinnacle of VIP nightlife in the 1960s and 1970s, when allnight parties there were frequented by Andy Warhol, Brigitte Bardot and a swarm of jet-setters. No wonder that George Clooney celebrates winter at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel (pictured, above, badruttspalace.com)

Opposite Page: Photo courtesy Badrutt’s palace • George clooney photo courtesy Pascal Le Sefretain Getty Images. • this page photo courtesy glenmere• justin Timberlake courtesy abc image group

Opened in 1896, Badrutt’s occupies four acres in the center of town — complete with its own luxury complex of designer boutiques and jewelers. An architectural mélange of Gothic façades and Tudor arches, the hotel rises like a castle above Lake St. Moritz. Its 157 guest rooms and suites are furnished with period antiques; each chamber is unique.

Balconies face the lake for panoramic views of the Eastern Alps.

For more than a century, Badrutt’s has hosted royals (including Prince Charles) and luminaries from around the world. Their guest registers read like a vintage Hollywood call sheet: Alfred Hitchcock, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn. The hotel’s landmark penthouse tower once belonged to the legendary European playboy Gunter Sachs.

Often known as “the living room of St. Moritz,” Badrutt’s Le Grand Hall is an eye-popping repository of art and fanciful memorabilia, with many pieces left to the hotel by guests who once spent entire seasons in residence. Coffered ceilings and neo-baroque paintings evoke a Renaissance palace, which made a fitting backdrop for one of Boris Becker’s weddings.

In addition to the endless revels at its infamous King’s club, events at Badrutt include an “In Concert” series featuring performers such as burlesque icon Dita von Teese and songstress Ute Lemper. Badrutt’s also sponsors signature St. Moritz events such as the Snow Polo World Cup

Justin Timberlake lives like the Great Gatsby at Glenmere Masnion.

and White Turf, a horse race conducted on a frozen lake, and a short hike away, you can sink your teeth into some cool jazz at the Dracula Club.

Glenmere with Justin Few couples were more celebrated during the 1920s than F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, who created fashionable scenes from the South of France to the “West Egg” of New York’s Long Island. The Fitzgeralds would have been equally at home at Glenmere Mansion (pictured, above, glenmeremansion.com) in the lower Hudson Valley, where celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, and Tyra Banks have toasted the good life Glenmere was designed by Carrère and Hastings, the architects behind Manhattan’s beautiful beaux-arts New York Public Library. The mansion was built in 1911 for Robert Goelet, who hosted numerous Gatsby-esque parties there — with guests such as Babe Ruth and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The 3,000-acre estate is crowned by a 35-room hilltop Tuscan villa overlooking Glenmere Lake.

Glenmere’s 21st-century renaissance commenced in 2005 when proprietors Dan DeSimone and Alan Stenberg bought the mansion and reopened it as a luxury hotel and spa with 18 guest accommodations and two restaurants. Some guests at Glenmere — such as Hillary and Bill Clinton — choose to swoop in via personal helicopter to the estate’s front lawn, where Glenmere’s butlers await their arrival.

The expansive grounds of the estate include lush meadows, fountains, a pool pavilion, and formal Italian gardens originally designed by notable landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. Within the Gilded Age mansion, you’ll find marble staircases and columned porticoes, a mahogany paneled library and a spa complete with a bathhouse and a hammam.

Guest accommodations feature working fireplaces, terraces, curated antiques and fine art. And the spirit of Scott and Zelda is celebrated in perpetuity by Glenmere’s signature Gatsby martini.

Baja with Eva Situated at the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, Los Cabos remained remote and rural for much of the 20th century.

That’s one reason why Hollywood stars like Lucille Ball and Ava Gardner

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and politicos including former president Dwight Eisenhower began traveling there via yacht and private jet.

Originally built in 1956 as a 15-room hideaway, One&Only Palmilla (pictured, above left , oneandonlyresorts.com) opened in 2004, and celebrities such as Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, and Cindy Crawford began clustering at the resort — particularly at the its 10,000-square-foot Villa Cortez. Modeled on a Mexican hacienda and surrounded by lush tropical gardens, the villa offers four bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a private screening room, infinity pool, whirlpool, fire pits, personal spa and gym. A retractable living room wall allows for open-air access to the expansive beachfront veranda.

Perched on a hilltop, the resort’s new Villa One is even bigger at 14,000 private square feet, resembling a sleek glass house with panoramic views of the Sea of Cortez and Los Cabos. Celebs appreciate its separate Butler Suite and a dedicated household staff, including a fitness trainer and spa therapist. Plus, the Villa One pantry is stocked according to guests’ personal tastes, complete with private wine cellar — for $12,500 a night.

Restaurants at the resort include Michelin-starred Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Seared and his sushi-and-ceviche amalgam Suviche.

This page: Photo Courtesy One&ONLY pamilla • eva longoria photo courtesy Trae Patton/NBC

Baja beckons Eva Longoria to the Villas of Palmilla Los Cabos.

This Page: Plume restaurant courtesy of Stirling Elmendorf • President obama photo courtesy the white house

The Jefferson offers Privacy to the Powerful, including President #44.

There’s also a 95-foot, four-cabin luxury Catari Yacht — for those guests who seem to have accidentally left theirs at home.

Washington with Obama President Barack Obama has spent so much time at The Jefferson (pictured, above center, jeffersondc.com) that the elegant hotel became known as Washington’s second-most prestigious address. The President has entertained at Plume, the Jefferson‘s acclaimed restaurant, and also hosted a private dinner in its Parlor Boardroom. Dignitaries and VIP guests make use of an unmarked door in the hotel’s private wine cellar, whimsically renamed over the last eight years as the “BaRack entrance.”

Befitting its namesake (our nation’s third President), the 96-room luxury hotel is a bastion of refined design. A library off the lobby is modeled on Thomas Jefferson’s own book room. Located a few blocks north of the White House, it opened as a luxury residential building in 1923 before conversion to a hotel in 1955. Guest rooms and suites feature Italian stonework and concealed mirror LCDs in bathroom vanities. Walk-in showers offer bespoke toiletries formulated with herbs and botanicals once grown at President Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

When in Stockholm, Ms. Parker stays at the Hotel Skeppsholmen.

Stockholm with SJP Designed by the architect of Stockholm’s Royal Palace in 1699, the Hotel Skeppsholmen (pictured, above right, hotelskeppsholmen.se) was once home to the city’s contingent of Royal Marines. The long, serene property is located on a sylvan isle near the middle of the city — where the King of Sweden used to sip hot chocolate in a small castle known as the Skating Pavilion before heading out for a spin on the ice.

If it’s good enough for royalty, no wonder Skeppsholmen’s understated glamor draws the queen of Sex and the City (and the new show Divorce), Sarah Jessica Parker. Much like Carrie’s apartment, the design hotel showcases its maritime roots in a Gustavian palette of grays and pastels. Stone staircases and wooden shutters are complemented by modern furnishings from local design firm Claesson Koivisto Rune.

A nearby sculpture garden features works by French sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle and Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. A tennis court flanks the waterfront. And guests seeking a private arrivals and getaways may utilize the island’s helicopter pad or make speedy, James Bond-style getaways over the water in vehicles known as RIBS — rigid inflatable boats. Bon voyage!

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LAST CALL

Virginia’s Territory

By Jeffrey James Keyes Virginia Williams has sparkled in roles on shows from USA’s Fairly Legal to Lifetime’s Monarch Cove, but when we heard she was joining the cast of Netflix’s monster throwback phenomenon Fuller House, we couldn’t resist the chance to chat her up about what funny business awaited her by the Bay. So how does your character end up on Fuller House?

In Fuller House Season One the main storyline is with DJ, played by Candace Cameron Bure.

She’s in a love triangle between two guys, Matt and Steve, Matt being the new guy in her life and Steve being the old boyfriend from the original series. A lot of people have a nostalgic connection to Steve and are very much “Team Steve.”... So she tells the two guys at the end of Season One, “I am going to let both you guys free; I need some time to figure it out. At the start of Season Two, they come back and she’s ready to tell them who she’s chosen to be with — and they’ve both set each other up with new girlfriends.

And you’re with Steve?

I’m Steve’s new girlfriend, CJ. The comedy there

is that CJ is described as “DJ 2.0.” Everything that DJ is, CJ also is. CJ also has three kids, but hers have skipped two grades. CJ is also bubbly, but she’s two inches taller.

Why do you think the show still works?

My age group, which is the 30-somethings, we grew up on Full House, and of course there is a nostalgia factor for us. We enjoyed the originals, maybe even loved the originals, maybe even spent every Friday night with our siblings and pizza in front of the TV watching. We have a deep connection to family on this show.

It’s not a format you see done as much nowadays.

I think that something happened after the ‘90s sitcom. As we went into the 2000s with shows like The Sopranos and Sex in the City, television got very polarized. There were adult TV shows and kid TV shows. The kids would go into one room and watch their shows on Nickelodeon or Disney. Their parents would go into their room. ... This is the first show that I can think of that is actually not geared towards little kids; it’s actually an adult show that you can watch with your little kids ... and the innuendo won’t horrify you.

You’re part of a philanthropic group, “The New Hollywood,” that helped organize the debut of a benefit this year. Can you describe how that happened?

One of [us] said,“Man it would be so cool to do a Broadway Cares benefit.” ... I think in less than six months, she had fully planned, organized, and produced the first — now it’s going to be

annual — Broadway Sniffs Out Cancer benefit that I was fortunate enough to sing at and be a part of — which was a dream for me as a singer who doesn’t get to perform on stage very much, working on television. Bernadette Peters hosted, and performers included Telly Leung, Megan Hilty, and Rory O’Malley: I mean, crazy huge Broadway stars! ... It sold out, and raised thousands and thousands of dollars for cancer detection dogs. ... [The New Hollywood] last year started an LBGT branch, which is wonderful, and a men’s group is going to start up for the first time in 2017.

You’ve been such an ally to the gay community.

What does that mean to you today?

I’m Christian, and I for one feel it’s a message of acceptance and love. ... That is the most important aspect of what I believe. I think that there is a lot of divisiveness right now. I suppose there always has been, but I feel like in the current political climate, things have been quite heightened. People are getting very polarized and pointing out their differences, and I just think that it’s most important that we come together and point out how we’re similar and ultimately how we want to love, bring people together, and make the world better.

■

williams recalls awkwardly running into herselF on a billboard outside her favorite coffee shop as this conversation continues on the free metrosource app and metrosource.com.

photo by mike rozman.

We’ve loved her on television since cult fave Strangers with Candy, but now the actress is making a power move into Netflix’s Fuller House.

last call extra

Virginia Williams shares what she learned by confronting herself on a billboard — and other life lessons — as our conversation continues. BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES

Any word on a Season Three for Fuller House?

My hope and prayer is that Season Two does as well as Season One and that Netflix gives it an immediate Season Three order. The way that Season Two ends, I am a very integral part of the storyline. I’m not sure how much I can tell you, but I just hope the writers continue to stretch the “Ross and Rachel” storyline.

I love the Friends reference!

I guess that makes me Emily. [laughs] But I’m very fortunate that I was able to do half the episodes. I mean my character doesn’t just pop in every once in awhile; it’s pretty much every other episode.

IMAGE - COURTESY ashley burns

We’ve been talking about you playing a Mom, but you are also a relatively new Mom in real life, as well. How has motherhood changed you?

Oh my gosh, it’s changed me so much. My priorities are completely different. I feel like my whole life has been a rat race with my career. Every decision has been based on this first love: which is my art, my job. And while I have a profound respect and love for my career and for the craft of acting, there’s no question that it’s second fiddle to family. Now the decisions that I make about my career are very much based on how it will influence and affect my family. Certain auditions don’t appeal to me anymore. It’s gotta really be worth it to go shoot in Romania for six weeks, you know? ... I love being with my son. He’s my bestie. We have so much fun together, and I just adore him. I very much want to have another child as well. I don’t foresee a Jon and Kate plus 8 situation happening, but I think two kids is hopefully in the cards for us.

It seems like you’re striking a good balance between your personal and professional life.

I think I was very fortunate pretty early on in my career, that I had a major life lesson crack me across the head, if you will. About ten years ago, I had my own series; it was called Monarch Cove. It was something I had been working towards for many years. It was the first show pilot I had ever done that was picked up [with me as first lead]. I thought it was everything I had wanted.

It was an interesting storyline. It shot in Australia, which sounded very fun: I’d be moving to Australia for

that Starbucks, I’m going to have a cup of coffee like I used to do, and I’m just going to look up at the billboard and just express gratitude: Just be grateful that this experience happened, and [for] what I can learn from it, and just be in a place of thanksgiving.”

And I drove to the Starbucks, and I parked, and I got my cup of coffee, and I sat at the table, and I took a deep breath, and I looked up, and it was an iPod ad. [laughs] Overnight it had changed to another ad.

6 months. ... [But] it was all on my shoulders. It was my face on every billboard, every bus that went by in New York City — me doing all the interviews. I felt responsible for the show.

How did it turn out?

It ended up being a really bad experience while I was in the middle of it. It was lonely and isolating.

I had such a difficult time with it, actually, that I was pretty convinced that I was going to leave the business altogether. I was only 26 or 27 at the time, and I ended up getting back here and taking a breath, and not leaving the business. The biggest thing I took away from it was that I can never let anything in my work, completely consume me. When I was working on that show, I did. I did not even have moments to call my boyfriend back home, talk to my parents, see friends, anything. I was 100 percent invested in my work, which will never bring you fulfillment and happiness the way that people and relationships will.

What happened next?

I learned another really great life lesson in that experience. I came back to Los Angeles, where I was living at the time, and there was a billboard of the show — which was kind of the name of the show and my face on it — right outside of the Starbucks, which is the Starbucks that I used to go to when I first moved to LA. It’s the place where I would dream about someday having my own show. And — because it was such an uncomfortable experience — every time I drove past the billboard, it actually made me shudder and avert my eyes. One day I decided, “You know what? I’m ready. I’m going to go sit down at

— for whatever it is that you’re going through. It was just the best life lesson I’ve ever learned. I have to say I make a very concerted effort to be grateful in every moment for whatever it is I’m going through — even the very low lows on the roller coaster because they are definitely plentiful as well. [I try to] express gratitude and really recognize that family, friends, people, relationships always need to take precedence over career. And career fulfillment will come when the rest of your life is in balance.

Let’s talk a little bit more about philanthropy.

I’ve always found in my life that the more I give away, the more I inadvertently receive. That’s really in everything. When I give away my time, somehow I’m blessed with more time to do what I need to do. When I give away my money, somehow I’m blessed with more money. When I give away things of my skill set, somehow the areas where I’m lacking end up coming to me.

Is there a group you’d like more people to know about?

Free the Slaves: I got involved with them years ago, I just think they’re an incredible organization whose emphasis is freeing slaves and putting value on human life. I don’t know of much that has a higher cause than that. I went to Nepal and India years ago with them and was able to speak with a lot of people who had been brought out of captivity and talked to them about their communities, how to work with them and how to help them. One thing I love about Free The Slaves is they very much are in alignment with the saying: “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day.

Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”They are all about empowering communities and equipping them with ways to sustain themselves.

■

IMAGE - COURTESY Michael Yarish/Netflix

Williams on Fuller House with Scott Weinger as “Steve”

What did you do?!

I started hysterically laughing, and I couldn’t stop. ... It was so much better than if the old billboard had been up there. You don’t get to pick and choose when to be grateful. You just need to be grateful in every moment

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