Plus: Bootycandy and a giant lesbian-rocker party you can crash at Rehoboth.
FRIDAY SPOTLIGHT:
Bootycandy continues its high-energy, candy-coated run at The Wilma Theater all weekend long, starting tonight. The stage show promises a tongue-in-cheek, rumpus rendition of life as a gay African-American, starting with a behind-the-pulpit, over-the-top church sermon meant to set the stage for the rest of the show. Check back next week for a full review. (Side note: Has anyone else noticed the “In your 20s” discount The Wilma Theater is offering? Rejoice, Millennials.) 8 p.m., $23-$46, The Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. READ MORE
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The next 'Brokeback Mountain,' or just another cliche love story? Tune in this Sunday and judge for yourself.
 Michael Douglas (left) as Liberace, and Matt Damon (right) as his lover and chauffeur, Scott Thorson. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon? Together for an HBO gay-love flick about Liberace and his boy-toy Scott Thorson?
If I hadn’t seen the trailer (below) for myself, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.
HBO will premiere on Sunday what might be the gayest mainstream love story to be told through film since Brokeback Mountain debuted all the way back in 2005. (And yes, it really has been that long since we all drooled over Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as they got frisky in a camping tent.)
The film, which will be entering movie theaters over in Europe, is an adaptation of scorned Liberace lover Thorson’s book, Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace. Director Steven Soderbergh first came up with the idea of using Douglas as Liberace after watching him do impressions between takes while on the set of Traffic in 2000. Until recently, the film had been in funding limbo (not unlike Joey Stefano biopic X-Rated, which you can read about in G Philly‘s summer issue), with Douglas and Damon having patiently waited for the project to be green-lit.
READ MORE
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This week, G Philly's resident DJ rounds up must-listen songs for this weekend's summer kick-off.
Every Friday, G Philly resident DJ Patrick DeMarco mixes a roundup of tunes to take you into the weekend. This week, he shares seven smokin’ tunes to start your summer off right.
I would first like to start off by shouting out some love and thanks to the guys and gals who helped rebuild the Jersey Shore after the destruction Hurricane Sandy wrought last October. These people have come together and worked hard to get the boardwalk communities and beaches ready for today, the official start to the 2013 summer season. There are a lot of people out there, myself included, who have fond memories of trips to the Jersey Shore, and we all look forward to making new ones that are bigger and better than before.
Now, let’s get this summer started! READ MORE
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The House that Ratchet Built is about to unveil its campy new burlesque show, featuring ... bears?
 Connor Hesketh previews one of three outfits for his Saturday-night performances. Corsets and jockstraps and bears — oh my!
Party planners Josh Schonewolf (who is also responsible for Ratchet Wednesdays — you be the judge of that one) and Connor Hesketh will launch the all-new Tabu event “Bearlesque” — yes, you’re reading that right — this Sat., May 25, starting at 10 p.m.
“We’re taking the bears into the spotlight,” says Hesketh, who came up with the idea a year ago. “We’re trying to rid of this common misconception that bears are nothing more than Bike Stop goers or gross, ugly men, and we’re doing that by putting these preconceived notions into a new reality — putting them in skimpy costumes with feather fans and Swarovski crystal underwear.”
Hesketh says the show will last for about two hours and feature a total of nine performances (including his own) to be spread throughout the night. Each performance will be less than five minutes and, more or less, be a surprise to everyone — including Hesketh and Schonewolf. READ MORE
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G Philly catches up with Dan Contarino following an arrest in the case of his East Village assault on Monday.
At last, there’s good news to report on the New York City gay-assault front.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that the New York Police Department has made an arrest in the case of a brutal beating of Shampoo party promoter, Dan Contarino, as G Philly reported on earlier this week.
The suspect is Gornell Roman, who has been charged with assault and aggravated harrassment, both of which have been marked as hate crimes. According to the AP report, the two had been staying at an East Village homeless shelter when the attack occurred.
I caught up with Contarino to get his side of the story, and how he’s handling the whole thing. READ MORE
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Two new divas will take the place of Brit Brit and L.A. Reid when the new season starts in the fall.
Fox’s The X Factor reality show just got a whole lot more diva attitude. Simon, get ready.
Sassypants Simon Cowell and his V-neck t-shirts will have a run for their money when rhythm-and-blues goddess Kelly Rowland and Latin songstress Paulina Rubio plant their booties in the judges’ seats this fall. This, of course, comes after the season two departures of much-too-stiff L.A. Reid, and much-too-quiet Britney Spears.
Along with Demi Lovato, who has won over fans with her compassion for the contestants and the fact that she actually wants to be there, each diva will bring her own brand of musical style. Paulina Rubio has conquered the Latin American pop charts since the early ’80s and has grown into a global superstar — well, unless we’re factoring the United States into that equation. It’s true that, besides a few fierce club records, Rubio has yet to claim superstar, mainstream status in America. This could be her time to make everyone know her name. But it’s also true that she’s no stranger to reality singing competitions, as she currently holds a spot at the judges’ table for Telemundo’s La Voz Kids, which is essentially a Spanish-language, children’s version of NBC’s The Voice. READ MORE
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Two local activists have created an all-new group devoted to tackling LGBT issues, and are planning two - count 'em, two - rallies for June.
 Janice Rael (left) and Wendy Forbes (right).
Boy oh boy, are these girls ever busy.
Gal pals Janice Rael and Wendy Forbes are no strangers to Philly activism. Rael is vice president of Delaware Valley Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Forbes, meanwhile, is vice chair at Philly Family Pride. But after getting together and realizing they were meeting on more than just an every-so-often basis as local activists, they re-thought their game plan, took to Facebook, and called out to about 10 other activist leaders in the Philadelphia region.
The result is what they’ve dubbed, “The Summit.”
“It’s a totally new group,” Rael says. “We didn’t even intend to start an actual group; we just started meeting, and because we’re all activists, leaders, and Facebook friends, we go to the same events all day long and are members of similar groups. … We finally got together and said, ‘We have all this leadership power, and all of us are leaders within our own comunities, working on our own issues. Let’s pull together, combine our resources, and try to harness this grassroots energy.’” READ MORE
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We break down the winners and losers in LGBT politics following Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary election.
 Ben Allatt is set to serve as Harrisburg City Council's second-ever openly gay councilman.
You win some, you lose some. When it comes to gay candidates in Pennsylvania’s primary yesterday (Tue., May 21), we literally won one, and lost one — according to Equality Pennsylvania’s list of LGBT-friendly candidates, at least. READ MORE
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Our smokin' hot guide is stuffed with everything you need to make the most out of your summer.
It may not seem like it with all this wishy-washy weather we’ve been having, but summertime is rapping on our gay doors. And, oh look, it comes bearing a special gift: the Summer Issue of G Philly! This edition of our glossy quarterly is packed with all kinds of goodies meant to help you get the most out of the upcoming summer months. Here’s a little taste of what’s inside:
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Ms. Spears new single from Smurfs 2 was just leaked to the internet. Smurftastic or not?
This weekend, the new Britney Spears song, “Ooh La La,” was leaked to the internet. The light, breezy number is set to roll during the end credits of the upcoming film Smurfs 2. READ MORE
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