FRIED GREEN TOMATOES Dine & Donate Movie Night at Courtyard Café benefiting Women in Network (WIN). Thurs., September 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Enjoy the movie Fried Green Tomatoes and the great food at Courtyard Café. 100% of every fried green tomatoes order will go directly to WIN. 10% of all other food orders from 6 to 10 p.m. will be donated to WIN. Join in the fun, have a great meal, enjoy a classic movie and help WIN. For more information, email information@womeninnetwork.com
BREAST CANCER FUNDRAISER Join Southern Country South Florida in supporting a great cause at Scandals Saloon on Thursday, September 23 starting with happy hour at 6:30 p.m. Couples country dance lessons at 7:30 p.m. with Lee Fox. D.J. Gina will be spinning your favorite country tunes, 50/50 raffle.
FOR FILM LOVERS Get your tickets now for the Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festivalwhich runs from October 7 – 11. Fourteen great films are being shown at The Manor, 2345 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Individual movie tickets can be purchased for $8 for festival members, $12 for non-members. Discount ticket packages are also available. For more information, visit www.flglff.com or call (305) 534-9924 (Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.)
SPA DISCOUNTS FOR STUDENTS It’s only the beginning of the semester; exams haven’t started and the only stress students are feeling is deciding which bar to go to on Thursday night. But bliss spa at W Hotel Fort Lauderdale knows that campus is your catwalk no matter what time of year, so they’re introducing a 20 percent discount on spa treatments for college students. Students can visit bliss in the W Fort Lauderdale to indulge in signature services, famous facials and musthave mani/pedis. The special continues through October 31st when students present their college I.D. Bliss spa, 401 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (at W Fort Lauderdale) on Fort Lauderdale Beach. To book an appointment, call (954) 414-8230.
THE VEEP VISITS Vice President Joe Biden will be in Broward County on Friday, September 24 at 12 noon at the Westin Diplomat Hotel, 3555 South Ocean Drive in Hollywood. The Vice President is here to support Florida’s Democratic candidates. To RSVP or for more information, email JLutin@FlaDems.com or call (954) 290-9321.
POTLUCK DINNER Families Like Yours and Mine, a LGBT family group, will be holding a potluck dinner on Sat., Sept. 25 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish Center, 2750 Mc Farlane Road in Coconut Grove. This will be the group’s first dinner get together. For more information or to RSVP, email tfrontado@gmail.com. There will be great food, nice people and a playground for the kids
HELLROTIKA SAVE Dade presents: Hellrotika: Circus of Lost Souls, the 16th Annual Halloween Extravaganza will be held on Sat., Oct. 30 starting at 8 p.m. at The Awarehouse, 550 NW 29th St. in Miami. This year’s event is envisioned as a perfect combination of dance party, mingling forum and themed spectacle. Event guests will be treated to an immersive, multi-media experience with macabre interactive “circus” performances, a costume contest, food vendors and the latest dance music played by world class deejays. Tickets are now on sale for “Hellrotika” — general admission tickets are $25, VIP tickets are $45. VIP tickets give you access to unlimited cocktails at the Grey Goosesponsored bars. There is a discount for tickets purchased prior to Oct. 1st. You can get tickets at Hellrotika.com
‘WHIT & WILDE AND OTHER SUCH POETS’ INSIGNIA, the vocal ensemble of the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus proudly presents its long-awaited performance of “Whit & Wilde and Other Such Poets”. Through poetry and song, the members of Insignia will explore the richness and complexity that flowed from the pens of the gay giants of the literary world. The ensemble will present new settings of Oscar Wilde’s “The Grave of Shelley” and Walt Whitman’s “The Mystic Trumpeter” both commissioned for this concert. The program will also include pieces with texts by Langston Hughes and Elton John. The concert will be held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 2750 Mc Farlane Road in Coconut Grove starting at 4 p.m. on September 26. Tickets can be purchased at miamigaychorus.org
MIASCI COMMUNITY DAYS Miami Science Museum (3280 South Miami Avenue in Miami) is proud to announce the launch of MiaSci Community Days, a series of free admission opportunities on select weekdays to ensure that each and every member of the community has the opportunity to visit the Museum. Residents of Miami-Dade County are invited to visit the Museum on weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. now through Thursday, September 30th.
FRONT RUNNERS ST. PETE The Front Runners get together every Saturday morning through next May at 9 a.m. followed by breakfast. The first Saturday of the month they meet at Old Northeast Northshore Pool in downtown St. Petersburg; the second Saturday at Pinellas Point/Bay Vista Park; the third Saturday at Sunset Beach/ Bedrox Pavilion located at W. Gulf Boulevard and finally, on the fourth Saturday at Gulfport-Clymer Park (Gulfport Boulevard at Beach). For more information, contact Barry Dingman at barrydingman@gmail.com
“RESPECT: A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF WOMEN” Now through Sunday, September 26, “Respect: A Musical Journey for Women” is at the Joeb Theater at the David A. Straz, Jr. Performing Arts Center. From “Someone to Watch Over Me” to “I Will Survive,” it’s the journey of women, told through top-40 music in the new musical production. Combining excerpts of 60 songs with women’s own stories about found dreams, lost love, relationship issues, workforce entry, independence and more, this show is exhilarating! It’s more than just a story worth telling, it’s a must-see and must-hear event. Showtimes are Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.
BLACK, WHITE AND BLUES The Tampa Film Institute, parent organization to The Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF), is proud to announce the Florida premiere of the feature film, Black, White and Blues. Tampa-born producers Charlie Poe, Jeff Balis and actor/writer/producer Morgan Simpson along with producer Rhoades Rader (Dodgeball) coordinated with GIFF and three other notfor- profit organizations to debut the film in Tampa. All proceeds will benefit Academy Prep of Tampa, Glazer Children’s Museum, Junior Achievement and The Tampa Film Institute (GIFF). October 1 at Ferguson Hall at 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAYS AT SAWMILL CAMPING RESORT The Sawmill Resort & Campgrounds is located in Dade City (between Tampa & Orlando). Wake up with a hearty breakfast at Splash Pool Bar and Cafe, catch some rays in Sawmill’s heated clothing- optional pool and enjoy nature in a peaceful setting along the Withlacoochee River. The fun never stops at Sawmill. Make your reservations now, and don’t forget to ask about their special offers on cabins, R.V. and tent site stays.
PAWS FOR A CAUSE Revolution Nightclub, The Doggie Door, BullFish, and Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) presents “Paws for a Cause – A Puppy Pageant” on Sunday, September 26th from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. The categories are “Most Original,” “Best Owner/Pet Lookalike” and “Best Crowd Pleaser.” Puppy pageant begins at 4:00 p.m. with host, Baby Blue. Special performances by Dani Shay (6:00 p.m.) and Simpsons RD (7:00 p.m.). There will also be raffles, drink specials and a complimentary buffet. $8 cover or $5 cover with an item from OCAS Wish List (www.ocnetpets.com). Revolution is located at 375 S. Bumby Avenue in Orlando.
IN ANITA’S WAKE: THE IRRATIONAL WAR ON FLORIDA’S GAY FAMILIES This film will be presented at various Central Florida venues in the upcoming weeks and the presenters urge the “One Orlando” community to attend and bring a friend! This 70-minute documentary looks back at the hysteria surrounding the 1977 homophobic crusade of Anita Bryant and the resulting anti-gay adoption statute passed by the Florida Legislature. Featured in the film are parents and children currently fighting to save their families from a Florida government still intent on tearing them apart. When will Florida’s leaders reject the loathsome politics of fear and bigotry? To be presented on Saturday, September 25, at the Global Peace Film Festival, 3:30 p.m.; Rollins Bush Auditorium, Winter Park. Thursday, September 28, Hippodrome Theatre at 7 p.m.; Gainesville (an ACLU event with Martin Gill and Shelbi Day); Wednesday October 20 at Orlando PFLAG, 7:00 p.m., First United Methodist downtown, Wesley Building room 313; and, Sunday, November 14, in Melbourne, (location to be announced) 1 p.m. (an ACLU event). For more on this and other films, visit vickinantzfilms.com.
“THE CRUCIBLE” The Downtown Theatre presents Tony Award-winner for Best Play, Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” now through October 9. “The Crucible”, a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, takes place in a small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. with a special Sunday matinee on October 3 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $18.00 or $15.00 for students and seniors. For information, call (407) 841-0083.
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by Warren Day
During the opening of this fascinating and often funny documentary, I was reminded of something Steve Martin once said, “Comedy may be big business, but it isn’t pretty.”
The first shots of this movie are not “pretty.” They are extreme close-ups of Joan Rivers without make-up as they begin the process of applying the foundation, the lipstick, the eyelashes and all the rest. Only then are you allowed to see her full and famous face. Plastic surgery or not, for a woman in her mid-seventies, she looks amazing.
The directors (there are two of them) are proclaiming their POV at the very beginning, that the real Joan Rivers is the one you see on the stage armored in a glittering cocktail jacket, coiffure hair, and a cosmetic mask. The woman is the act and the act is the woman.
This non-reality reality can also be seen in her swaged and gilded Manhattan apartment that doesn’t look so much like a home as it does like a stage set that screams out, “the woman who lives here is successful!”
The year that’s covered is quite a year, even by a semi-legend standard. She has a book published (her eighth), is roasted on Comedy Central, writes and appears in an autobiographical play staged in Edinburgh and London, wins Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice show, continues selling her line of jewelry on QVC, and cooperates with this cinéma vérité documentary (which is receiving rave reviews).
Like a shark, Joan Rivers would die if she ever stayed still.
She’s as driven as Ben-Hur’s horses, and her daughter says “The Career,” as it was known around the house, was like having an imperious sibling who was always mother’s favorite.
Like other strong-willed women cut from survivor’s cloth, Joan has a huge gay following. On her way to an appearance in the rural Midwest she worries the audience will not be receptive to her and quips, “they’ve probably killed all their gays.”
These larger-than-life, Auntie Mame type dynamos are best seen from Row S. Up close and day-to-day they can wear you out and leave you looking for an exit, as her husband Edgar did with suicide, and as her long-time manager does in this film when he disappears and doesn’t return phone calls.
They say there’s no such thing as a good comedian who’s had a happy childhood. Hurt and anger create a Petri dish for a sense of humor, and the secret to Joan’s continual success is that she lacks for neither, even in her eighth decade. To retro fix a famous quote of Frederick Nietzsche’s, “that which doesn’t kill us, makes us funnier.”
If you ever thought a stand-up comedian’s life was a barrel of laughs, this movie will correct that impression. Being funny for a living is hard work … and often not very pretty for the one standing alone on the other side of the microphone.
This film is rated R for language and opens June 25 in south Florida.
For the movie trailer, twitter feed and more info, visit Movies and Gossip
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