The A-List Gay Cast of ‘Boys in the Band’ Talks About the Play’s Significance in New Teaser: WATCH

Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, and Andrew Rannells are set to headline a 15-week revival of Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking 1968 play The Boys in the Band, which centers on a group of gay men who gather in a NYC apartment for a friend’s birthday party.

Also starring are Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Tuc Watkins. The 50th anniversary production will be directed by Joe Mantello at the Booth Theatre.

The cast recently got together for a photo shoot and shot a featurette talking about the play’s significance and what it means today.

Watch:

From the producers about the play:

After the drinks are poured and the music turned up, the evening slowly exposes the fault-lines beneath their friendships and the self-inflicted heartache that threatens their solidarity.  A true theatrical game-changer, The Boys in the Band helped spark a revolution by putting gay men’s lives onstage — unapologetically and without judgement – in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them.

“The significance of The Boys in the Band cannot be underestimated.  In 1968, Mart Crowley made theatrical history by giving voice to gay men onstage, in this uncompromising, blisteringly honest, and wickedly funny play,” said Ryan Murphy. “The play was groundbreaking in its exploration of how gay men treated each other and how they were made to feel about themselves.  And while some attitudes have thankfully shifted, it’s important to be reminded of what we have overcome and how much further we still have to go.”

David Stone adds, “Everything has changed.  And nothing has changed.”

A sensation when it premiered in April 1968, The Boys in the Band was originally scheduled to run for five performances at the Playwrights’ Unit, a small off-Broadway venue.  Overnight, the show became the talk of the town for its unflinchingly honest depiction of gay life, and transferred to Theater Four on West 55^th Street, drawing the likes of Jackie Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Groucho Marx, and Rudolf Nureyev, among many others.  The play went on to run for over 1,000 performances.  The entire original company performed the show to great acclaim in London and also appeared in William Friedkin’s landmark 1970 film version.

The post The A-List Gay Cast of ‘Boys in the Band’ Talks About the Play’s Significance in New Teaser: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

The A-List Gay Cast of ‘Boys in the Band’ Talks About the Play’s Significance in New Teaser: WATCH

Donald Trump Tweets About ‘Fake News’ As Alaskans Flee Tsunami Warning

As residents of Alaska were woken in the early hours of this morning by a tsunami warning, on the other side of the country, President Trump was tweeting about “fake news”.

Americans along the West Coast were told to get up and head inland to higher ground after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck 160 miles southeast of Chiniak.

Just under two hours after the warning was issued, the President was apparently watching TV and deciding CNN isn’t actually “fake news’ – so long as it is praising him.

Trump then moved on, targeting the FBI in a tweet that he even had time to delete and re-write.

At the time of writing and three hours after the tsunami warning was issued, Trump has yet to tweet about it or release a statement.

Emergency sirens sounded in Kodiak, a town of 6,100 people on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, one of the closest settlements to the epicenter.

Videos posted to social media appeared to show people evacuating the area and warnings from officials.

“This is a tsunami warning. This is not a drill. Please get out to higher ground,” said the announcer on local public radio station KMXT. “If you are on the flats, get up on one of the hills … Just go high.”

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

“Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

An initial tsunami watch for Hawaii was cancelled.

Japan’s meteorological agency said it was monitoring the situation but did not issue a tsunami alert.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-tsunami_uk_5a671ec8e4b0dc592a0c498e

The Girther Movement Isn’t About Fat-Shaming (Mostly)

Trump’s relentless lies are the main issue here, writes Dana Goldberg.

www.advocate.com/politics/2018/1/23/girther-movement-isnt-about-fat-shaming-mostly

Silent Rape Victims May ‘Give The Impression Of Consent’, Prosecutions Boss Alison Saunders Says

The Director of Public Prosecutions has been criticised for suggesting people who believe they have been raped but stay silent during their ordeal may give the impression they have consented to sex.

Alison Saunders said prosecutors considering rape cases must look at whether the suspect had a reasonable belief in consent.

But critics said it is common for rape victims to “freeze”, finding themselves unable to move during an attack, and said the justice system is continuing to fail victims of sexual violence.

Evening Standard: “So in some of the cases you can see why even though the complainant may think they were raped, there was a reasonable belief that they had consented, either through silence or through other actions or whatever.

“We are there not just to be able to prosecute cases where there has been an offence, but also not to prosecute cases where there isn’t sufficient evidence.”

Responding to the comments, Rape Crisis England and Wales said the “law is clear that someone consents to sexual activity when they agree by choice and have the freedom and capacity to make that choice”.

“If someone has been threatened, coerced or scared into submitting to sexual activity, they have not freely consented,” the charity added.

We all have a moral and legal responsibility to actively seek any sexual partner’s consent and be confident it’s been fully and freely given before doing anything sexual. And consent is an ongoing process; if we feel it’s been lost or withdrawn at any point, we must stop.”Rape Crisis England and Wales

The charity added: “Through more than 40 years’ experience of providing frontline, specialist support to people whose lives have been impacted by sexual violence, we know it’s common for victims and survivors to freeze or flop, finding themselves unable to speak, fight back or even move, and that knowledge is backed up by a large body of independent evidence, of which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is aware.

“In recent years, Rape Crisis Centres have seen unprecedented need and demand for our specialist services, and this continues to grow.”

Rape Crisis further lamented the rise of “this kind of media coverage of sexual violence” and said as a result, “victims and survivors are telling us their confidence in the criminal justice system is being eroded and undermined each time they read or hear or watch this sort of story”.

“We must not forget that the vast majority of those who experience sexual violence still choose never to report to the police, and last year only 16% of cases that were reported reached court. This does not represent justice,” it said.

The charities criticism was echoed by others on social media who called Saunders comments “incredibly disappointing”.

Saunders also described as “disappointing and irritating” the collapse of cases due to evidence not being disclosed as early as possible.

In recent weeks several rape defendants, including Londoners Liam Allan, Isaac Itiary and Samson Makele, were acquitted after evidence cleared them before they were due to stand trial, when the cases could have been resolved months earlier. 

Surrey Police and Scotland Yard have announced reviews of their rape cases following the high-profile collapses, due to suspected flaws in investigations or concerns related to the disclosure of evidence.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rape-consent-debate_uk_5a6708dae4b0e56300730d27

Mothers Losing Out On Earnings Due To Childcare Issues, Charity Warns

Mothers of young children are losing out on over a billion pounds in earnings each year, according to a charity.

Save the Children warned that mothers are missing out on millions daily due to “a childcare system that feels stacked against them”. 

The charity used available government figures to look at the employment patterns of women with children aged under five.

It calculated that there are around 450,000 women in this category in England who would like to work, or work more, and of these around a fifth say that childcare is the key factor preventing them from working.  

The charity used this figure, and data on mothers in work with different levels of qualifications, to estimate how much women who would like to work, or work more, are losing out.

It concludes that nationally, they are losing out on £1.2 billion every year. 

Steven McIntosh, Save the Children’s director of UK poverty policy, advocacy and campaigns said: “Mothers describe a childcare system that feels stacked against them. They tell us it’s nightmare to navigate with barriers to work at every turn.

“The result is an astounding loss in earnings, hitting families already battling to make ends meet. The financial pressure and stress that creates at home is never good for parents or their children. It’s time to make childcare work for families.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We have doubled the free  childcare available to working parents of three and four year olds to 30 hours a week, saving parents up to £5,000 a year per child, and over 200,000 children have already benefited from a 30 hours place since September.

“Our independent evaluation of the early rollout of 30 hours free childcare showed that nearly a quarter of mothers and one in 10 fathers increased their working hours as a result.

“We are tackling the barriers for parents to return to work by introducing shared parental leave, new rights to request flexible working and our £5 million returner programmes that will make it easier for people to get on with their careers after taking time out for caring.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mums-childcare-issues-losing-out_uk_5a66f9c6e4b0e5630072f538

동성애 혐오 발언한 오버워치 선수가 징계 받다
오버워치 리그가 동성애 혐오 발언한 선수에게 징계를 내렸다.

오버워치 리그는 지난 19일(현지시각) 공식 홈…

기사 보기: 엔터테인먼트, 게임, 오버워치, 오버워치 리그, 펠릭스 렝옐, 출장 정지, 징계, 동성애, 혐오, Korea News

www.huffingtonpost.kr/2018/01/23/story_n_19060906.html