Anita Bryant

HBO is developing a biopic of former beauty queen, singer and celebrity pitch woman Anita Bryant, who is known mostly for her work as an anti-gay activist.
“Sex and the City” creator Darren Star is on board to direct the film, which is being written by “Runaway” creator Chad Hodge. Star also is executive producing with Dennis Erdman.
“She is a fascinating person on every single level,” said Hodge, who has a connection to Bryant — they both attended Northwestern. “The twists and turns of her life are incredible.”
By age 18, Bryant, who was born to a religious Oklahoma family in 1940, had won Arthur Godfrey’s talent show and a Miss Oklahoma pageant and finished as second runner-up for Miss America.
In 1959 and ’60, she was a major pop star with three million-selling records. After marrying and settling in Florida, she reverted to Christian music and, projecting a wholesome image, began plugging such blue-chip companies as Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Holiday Inn.
Her most famous celebrity endorsement gig was for the Florida Citrus Commission, for which she sang in a series of TV commercials, closing each ad with the tag line, “A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
By the mid-’70s, Bryant was a Christian celebrity. She published several best-selling books and won Good Housekeeping’s “Most Admired Woman in America” poll for three consecutive years.
In 1977, she switched to political activism, launching a crusade to repeal a new Miami-Dade County ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
“As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children,” she said. Her Save the Children coalition got the new law overturned within a year, and it took 20 years for it to be reinstated.
Celebrating her victory, Bryant promised she would “seek help and change for homosexuals, whose sick and sad values belie the word ‘gay,’ which they pathetically use to cover their unhappy lives.”
She stayed on the anti-gay rights cause with speaking tours and went to California to support the Briggs Initiative in 1978, looking to mandate the firing of gay teachers, which failed. Archive footage with Bryant was featured in the 2008 film “Milk,” which chronicled Harvey Milk’s campaign against the initiative.
Bryant’s outspoken activism led to a nationwide boycott by the gay rights movement.
She eventually lost her Citrus Commission contract, her record and book sales fell sharply, she remarried, tried unsuccessfully to revive her singing career and eventually filed for bankruptcy.
Hodge, who is looking to talk to Bryant about the project, said he is going for a nuanced portrayal of her and “what drove her to do the things that she did.”
Although the events in the movie take place decades ago, the social, political and religious divisions in the country nowadays make it feel current, he added.
from The Hollywood Reporter

Oscar Nominee Colin Firth / A Single Man

UNITED KINGDOM – Colin Firth says gay actors risk missing out on work if they come out.
The actor, who stars as gay college professor George Falconer in A Single Man, said at the movie’s UK premiere in central London last night that there are still “invisible boundaries” that gay actors struggle to cross.
He said: “There might be risks for a gay actor coming out. The politics of that are quite complex, it seems to me.
“If you’re known as a straight guy, playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that. If you’re a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don’t get cast – and if a gay man wants to play a gay role now, you don’t get cast.
“I think it needs to be addressed and I feel complicit in the problem. I don’t mean to be. I think we should all be allowed to play whoever – but I think there are still some invisible boundaries which are still uncrossable.”
Young British actor Nicholas Hoult, who has been nominated for the Bafta Rising Star Award, said he did not feel he was taking a risk by playing the role of student Kenny, who takes an interest in Firth’s character in the directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford.
“There was no fear (in taking the role),” said the 20-year-old.
“It was a very interesting character and when you get the chance to work with Colin and Tom, you’d be stupid to turn it down because you’re scared of playing a character who’s potentially gay.”
Director Ford joked that he had a “crush” on Firth and Hoult and admired their acting abilities, tipping them both for awards success – with Firth expected to get an Oscar nod when the nominations are announced tomorrow.
He joked: “I have a crush on Nicholas but I have a crush on every actor in the film … I think as a director you have to have crushes on the people that you cast in your movie.
“I think Nicholas was spectacular – I think he’s a wonderful young actor, he was nominated for Bafta as a Rising Star Award and I hope that he gets it, I think he deserves it.
“I try not to count my chickens before they hatch. However, I hope Colin gets a nomination … I think he did such a brilliant job, he was so wonderful to work with. I think it’s a great performance – maybe I’m biased but I think he deserves a nomination.”
Firth claimed he had no plans for the announcement of the nominations, but joked he probably should have made preparations in case he missed out on a nod for Best Actor.
“I will be doing an interview for Australian television and then I have no plans. I feel should probably have counselling in place in case I’m disappointed,” he said.
from The Independent UK

Elton John & David Furnish

Elton John & David Furnish have joined the producing team of Next Fall, the new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Sheryl Kaller. Next Fall opens on Broadway on Thursday, March 11, 2010 with preview performances beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
In a statement, Elton John & David Furnish said: “We are excited to join the team bringing Geoffrey Nauffts’ extraordinary play to Broadway. After fulfilling experiences bringing new musicals to the stage, it was seeing this inspiring and timely new work that attracted us to take on our first play. As we continue to collaborate together on the score for the new film Showstopper, we are thrilled to extend our working relationship with Geoffrey Nauffts and Anthony Barrile to the stage.”
Next Fall stars Patrick Breen as Adam, Maddie Corman as Holly, Sean Dugan as Brandon, Patrick Heusinger as Luke, Connie Ray as Arlene and Cotter Smith as Butch.
In addition to Elton John & David Furnish, Next Fall is produced on Broadway by Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis, Tom Smedes, Carole L. Haber/Chase Mishkin Ostar, Anthony Barille, Michael Palitz, Bob Boyett, Roy Furman in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O’Neill, Producer). James Spry is an Associate Producer and Susan Mindell is the Executive Producer.
The creative team for Next Fall includes Wilson Chin (Set Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design) and Jess Goldstein (Costume Design).
Next FallL had its world premiere in a Naked Angels production, opening to critical acclaim on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Next Fall played a sold-out run off-Broadway, extending three times, and played through August 8th.
Geoffrey Nauffts’ Next Fall takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play’s central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, Next Fall goes beyond a typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to “believe” and what it might cost us not to.
from Broadway World