“DIVA DISH ON THE LGBT GLAM & GLITZ!”

Hi, we said HI! We’re your LGBT Weather Girls, uh-huh. And have we got news for you – You better listen!

Get ready, all you lonely LGBTs,

And leave those umbrellas at home. Alright!

Humidity is rising, barometer’s getting low. According to all sources, the street’s the place to go. ‘Cause tonight for the first time, Just about half-past ten, for the first time in history, It’s gonna start raining hot Lesbos & even hotter Gay men.

It’s raining LGBTs! Hallelujah! It’s Raining HOT LGBTs! Amen! I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get – absolutely soaking wet!

It’s Raining LESBOS & GAYs! Hallelujah! It’s Raining LGBTs! Every Specimen! Tall, blonde, dark and lean, Rough and tough and strong and mean!

Hi kids. I thought April showers bring May flowers. So what do May showers bring…dampness and humidity and gray skies…UGH! Okay, I get it, we need the rain…but not for days on end! Pretty soon we’ll need to start building an ARK and going in 2-by-2…hhhhmmm, that could be rather hot!

Pride Month preparations are in full gear and the festivities promise to be stylish and chic and hot and SOOO much fun and FULL OF PRIDE. LONG ISLAND PRIDE 2012 promises to be bigger and better than ever – and the date has changed. It is now Saturday, June 9th in Huntington. The official website for info is:

www.ligaly.org/content.php?pgID=870. 

Frenchie Davis is headlining the entertainment that will be jammed pack with FABOO artists. Heckscher Park on Main Street in Huntington will be hopping and jamming kids, so I expect to see you all there!

Other Long Island LGBT news…The Bill Borman Scholarship 2012 winner was announced – RAMY ABBADY from West Babylon High School was selected to be the recipient of a $3,000 scholarship. He will be attending Vassar College and plans to major in Chemistry. See my alter egos, Jim Pizzo, Community Corner article in this issue for more Bill Borman Scholarship Fund information.

The 2012 TONY AWARD nominations came out and there were some snubs for sure. RICKY MARTIN not getting a nomination for his role in the revival of EVITA, three of the four leads in the revival of FOLLIES get noms but BERNADETTE PETERS does not…hhhhmmmm, can wel spell BITCHY nominating committee members…but not to fret because MS. PETERS is getting a SPECIAL TONY so snag you! NEIL PATRICK HARRIS will host the awards show on Sunday, June 10 on CBS starting at 8 PM.

Summer is almost here – bathing suit season is fast approaching – Jenny, Lucille, WW – HELP!

Kisses,

Priscilla Pride www.priscillapride.com

There’s a secret pop formula that seems to imply that once Boy Bands dissolve the career trajectory is then modified to a solo act for all parties. This depends greatly of course on whether the talent scale dips favorably into any single artist’s corner. In the case of Nick Jonas, youngest of the commercial brood known internationally as The Jonas Brothers there has been a shift to all things theatrical. Upon rumors that The Jonas Brothers were breaking-up Nick kicked off Nick Jonas and The Administration with a CD and tour in the offing.  At this date brothers Kevin and Joe say the group is on hiatus and could go in any direction at any time. Nick has chosen to singularly follow his acting ambition and head right for the Great White Way.

The young Jonas has dabbled ably on the Broadway stage with his debut in Annie Get Your Gun in 2001, followed by roles in Beauty & The Beast and Les Miserables. Currently his leading role as J. Pierrpont in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying has certified the worldly pop star as a credible name to reckon with. Of course he steps into the shoes that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe wore but the fit is a near perfect one.

“There’s always pressure when you do something different. The music is different. Everything is different” explains the 20-year-old Jonas in between shows at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Naturally, Nick is a student of the music world with time spent in front of huge crowds and on the road.  Theatre allows a more controlled environment with an added civility. Although the young musical/comedy actor in the making admits “the stage door action gets a little dicey at times.”

On stage Nick Jonas gets to showcase his inbred ability to shine in nearly any musical forum with a charisma that bellies his former band and Disney Channel indoctrination. Audiences are really starting to connect to Jonas in a “BIG” way. Ticket sales are holding steady and while he doesn’t have the big screen ‘magic’ that Radcliffe’s screen character Harry Potter ensures there is a smoldering undercurrent of special sorcery that the twenty-year-old stirs-up all on his own.

Presently Jonas has leveraged his gig on Broadway in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” into a mini-album. Producers of the show said Tuesday a five-song EP will be released May 8 featuring the voice of the youngest of the three heartthrob Jonas Brothers singer-songwriting siblings.

Jonas, who is committed to playing the song-and-dance part until at least July 1, has recorded “Brotherhood of Man” and “I Believe In You” among the five songs.Radcliffe recorded his own cast album. Jonas says he’ll go into the recording studio with his brothers and record  new music soon for the fans.

“It’s been over two years since we made music together. It will be great to do it again”

Nick Jonas continues his artistic integrity bringing joy and talent to live audiences.

“They say things come full circle. I started on Broadway and now I’m back again. I think it shapes who I am as a performer. And when I get back to making music with my brothers the output will have more depth.”

Depth is something that Nick Jonas doesn’t have a problem with.

“DIVA DISH ON THE LGBT GLAM & GLITZ!”

SPRING IS HERE, it’s SPRING, SPRING, SPRING! When I hear a gay boy singing, or see my Lesbians in the park a-swinging, I always know it a-SPRINGING, SPRING, SPRING. Then flowers are bloomin’ and LGBT lovers are spoonin’, and the birdies are croonin’ and suddenly I CHEER – “where the hell is my man…UGH…who knows, he could appear this SPRING!” 

Spring is here kids and we could not have had a better winter, very little snow to speak of, not bad temperatures…so are we doomed? We still have April and one year we had a severe snow storm in April…are we destined to have a repeat? The weather folk all say no – well that scares me!! Their track record is not that good. But by the time this article comes out we would have celebrated EASTER and PASSOVER – ahhh, the food: Lamb, PIZZA RUSTICA for those Easter Italians, all the Easter trimmin’s, and the Seders too! CHOCOLATE – the bunnies, the pastel M&Ms…OOHHH – tried a new product recently – CHOCOLATE FUDGE COVERED RITZ crackers – to die for! They won’t be out for very long, so if you see them, buy them. You know what they say – EVERYTHING TASTES BETTER SITTIN’ ON A RITZ! Priscilla tried that once – I laid out several boxes of RITZ crackers on the bed, got naked and awaited a former lover’s return home – by the time he came to the bedroom he was ticked off about something and I had waited so long all I got were hundreds of RITZ cracker crumbs in places crumbs are not supposed to be…it was not a pretty sight!

ANYWAY…April events – AUNTIE M’s Helping HANDS Community Awards

SUNDAY – April 22^nd from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM their Community Service Awards affair will take

place at Guy Anthony’s Buon Appetito – 2208 Jerusalem Avenue Merrick, NY. The cost is $55 per person and tickets can be purchased through their website – amhh.org. Cheer on those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty within the GLBT Community. This year they honor – 2012 AMHH Humanitarian – Helen Radziewicz, 2012 AMHH Outstanding Female Volunteer – Ellen Davis, 2012 AMHH Outstanding Male Volunteer – Jim Collier, 2012 AMHH Outstanding GLBT Organization – L.I.Transgender Day of Remembrance. Check out their website to read about the great work this organization does for our community!

That is a busy weekend – on Friday, April 20^th – HRC Long Island hosts Equality Mix and Mingle! Join other HRC supporters for a cocktail get together from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Honu Kitchen and Cocktails, 363 New York Ave.,                           Huntington, NY.

Join HRC Long Island to mix and mingle with other fair-minded members of our community for another fun night out! This is a great way to get to know and keep in touch with fellow HRC members and supporters in your area. Receive your complimentary HRC sticker at the door and enjoy $5 cold drink specials and passed hors d’oeuvres. Please contact Bobbie: Bobbie11756@yahoo.com or Lauren: lverusio@aol.com with questions!

Are you watching this season of Dancing With The Stars and the current AMERICAN IDOL? OMG they are both simply FABOO – there is a TELEMUNDO HUNK on DWTS who is so HOT and IDOL contestants are really all so talented! It will be interesting to see who comes out on top this season in both shows!

May has SUMMER just ‘round the corner kids and it’s bathing beauty season again! Toodles!

Kisses,

Priscilla Pride www.priscillapride.com

‘LONG ISLAND’S LGBT NONPROFITS IN ACTION!’

Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals…why?

Over the years I have attended several LGBT Film Festivals in several cities around the country and of course our very own on Long Island. I have seen some very provocative, wonderful films and series that have gone on to be mainstream success stories. More importantly though films by LGBT film makers brought my community to me with a keen eye like no other. It is important for us to have images on screen – both in film and TV – images of all kinds, especially positive images.

The only images I had growing up were those depicting gays and lesbians as murderers, freaks and usually the killer. We’ve come a long way but we still have very far to go! Today’s youth need positive images to reinforce what we believe – WE CAN AND DO LIVE PRODUCTIVE LIVES! Of course there are bad seeds in all lifestyles but we learn from them as well, learn what not to become! LGBT film festivals are a terrific vehicle to present our community to a mass market and need our full support.

A recent NY Times article – Self-Affirming, Sometimes Eye-Opening by Erik Piepenburg stated, “With several new books, films and film series, gay people are trying to preserve their film history at a time when young, gay audiences and mainstream Hollywood alike don’t seem interested in watching or conserving gay cinema.” This makes me angry!

It took us so long to get here! To see Hollywood and especially our LGBT youth not supporting the preservation of what little we have on film about our community makes me angry. And the support for future film endeavors seems to be waning. It is so important to support LGBT Film Festivals when you can and there are many; our own Long Island LGBT Film Festival, OUTFEST in NYC to name a couple. Outfest.org states: MISSION STATEMENT – Outfest protects our past, showcases our present and nurtures our future by fostering artistic expression of gender, sexuality and LGBTQ culture and its transformative social impact on the world. Outfest is also the only nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that the extensive but threatened LGBT film heritage is preserved.

Our Long Island organization’s site, ligllf.org, reveals many events, especially their series – OUT AT THE MOVIES at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. Each year their November Film Festival showcases a program of Short Films, Features and Documentaries over a 7 day period! I saw the British series Queer As Folk there before the Showtime USA series and several films before they became mainstream successes. It only bolsters my opinion that LGBT FILM FESTIVALS are crucial to our community! Everyone NEEDS to see positive images of our community. Film is one tool in the education process!

 The NY Times article listed movies for a first or second look – Querelle, The Hunger, My Own Private Idaho, Beautiful Thing (fabulous Brit film rent it) to name a few. I urge you to do some research and share the films you see with friends. The experience will enliven our community!