December 7, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
on the airoff the press
'The Laramie Project' to open Sundance film festival
by John Graves
Hollywood correspondent Kirk Hunicutt reports in the November 29 Cleveland Plain Dealer that The Laramie Project, the film version of Moises Kaufman's play about the murder of Matthew Shepard, has been picked to open next year's Sundance Film Festival on January 10.
Sundance's co-director Geoffrey Gilmore told Hunicutt that The Laramie Project, “is a big opening night for us. This is a [Sundance] Lab project, where the playwright redid his play as a film. It's about a theater troupe that goes out to Laramie to investigate the characters and range of responses [to the murder]. Ultimately, it's about diversity and tolerance."
The cast of the film version includes Christina Ricci (Opposite of Sex), Laura Linney (Tales of the City), Jeremy Davies, Steve Buscemi, Janeane Garafolo, and bisexual The Practice co-star Camryn Manheim.
Lesbian judge runs for mayor
On last week's episode of the A&E courtroom series 100 Centre Street, Judge Attalah "Queenie" Sims held a press conference and told reporters she is considering running for mayor saying, "As you all know, I am black, I am a woman and yes, I am gay."
The African-American lesbian judge, along with ER's Dr. Kerry Weaver and NYPD Blue's John Irvin, are part of a welcome trend of including lesbians and gays in strong dramatic roles as main characters on TV shows.
In the case of 100 Centre Street, it's even more remarkable that Judge Sims is also in a long-term, committed relationship with her life partner.
Actress LaTanya Richardson, who plays Judge Sims, told Entertainment Weekly's Mary Ken Tucker (November 30) how she was picked for the role after living in relative obscurity while raising her daughter Zoe while her husband, actor Samuel L. Jackson, was away on movie locations.
The New York theater-trained Richardson, who has had minor roles in the films U.S. Marshals and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, told Tucker she was taken by surprise when director Sidney Lumet called her for the role of Judge Sims.
"I got the call that Sydney Lumet was on the line, and I said to my assistant, 'Why are you lyin' to me?' I couldn't believe it."
Lumet told her he had seen her in U.S. Marshals and, despite her protestations that it was "such a small role," said he "saw quality there" and asked her to "come in and just chat."
The show can be seen on A&E Saturdays at 11 pm, Sundays at 3 am and 7 pm and Tuesdays at 10 pm.
Mary Tyler Moore to play Ellen's aunt
Mary Tyler Moore will play Ellen DeGeneres' favorite aunt on the special, Christmas episode of The Ellen Show. Moore told USA Today (November 23) that DeGeneres called and suggested she play the sister of her TV mom played by Cloris Leachman who, coincidentally, played Moore's next-door neighbor Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s.
On Ellen's Christmas episode, Moore's character, like Ellen, returns to the small town where she grew up. Her arrival, however, drives Ellen's mom crazy when she finds out Ellen likes her aunt better than her mother.
Moore told USA Today that she, too, had an aunt like the one she plays. She saw to it that Moore got tap dance and ballet lessons as a child.
"She brought me along into what I do for a living," Moore said.
The Christmas episode will air on CBS December 17 at 8:30 pm.
DeGeneres to host Christmas SNL
Ellen DeGeneres will also host the Saturday Night Live Christmas show on Dec. 15.
"I've never done it before, and it is their huge show." DeGeneres told Variety's Army Archerd.
Asked by Archerd if she was going to do "any skits skewering her ex. 'Celestia` Heche," DeGeneres said, "I will refrain from doing anything mean about anybody." New queer youth TV web site
Queer Youth TV is a new non-profit organization that says its mission is "to provide information for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth audience through original Internet video content that promotes a critical understanding of LGBT culture, institutions, topics and issues."
Features of Queer Youth TV, found on the web at http//:www.queeryouthTV.org, include stories in the weekly newsletter; the Coming-Out Project, where LGBT folks are put in front of the camera and given five minutes to tell their most unusual comingout story, and a Friends and Allies section.
MTV spots focus on AIDS & gay men
MTV, VHI and the Elton John AIDS Foundation have joined forces in a new public service announcement campaign. The campaign attention to the fact that HIV infection rates in the United States continue to rise in spite of years of public health messages emphasizing the need to practice safer sex.
The first round of the 30-second ads proclaims that "AIDS Ain't Over" and that "I in 5" gay men in the United States is HIVpositive, reports Christopher Heridia in the Dec. 2 San Francisco Chronicle.
The cast of The Ellen Show
Heredia ads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimate there will be 40,000 new HIV infections in the United States this year
"The ad campaign is important for two reasons," said University of California at
www.whitecloudstudios.com
San Francisco AIDS Research Institute director Tom Coates. "No. 1, because it's being unveiled by Elton John and his foundation, it's important that celebrity leaders maintain their commitment to fighting against HIV/ AIDS. No. 2. because it focuses on gay men, a group in which we're seeing a rise in new infections and who also represent a substantial part of existing infections."
Coates and Elton John spoke at a Los Angeles press conference where the ads were unveiled. The openly gay singer says he is HIV negative.
Heredia says airtime for the ads was donated by the networks for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which plans to create future ads focusing on women with HIV and children with HIV.
John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm. and at http:/radio.cwru.edu. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.
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