Arts & Entertainment
Gayer than ever
Many hit shows return with queer themes and characters
A scene from ‘The McCarthys,’ a new gay-themed CBS sitcom. (Photo courtesy CBS)
Season one of “BoJack Horseman,” Netflix’s first animated original series, is now available. The show focuses on BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett), an anthropomorphic horse and former sitcom star (stay with me) trying to recapture his relevance. Amy Sedaris plays his agent, a pink Persian cat. Alison Brie provides the voice of BoJack’s ghostwriter while Aaron Paul voices BoJack’s slack roommate. Stanley Tucci has a minor role as a gay comedian.
“The McCarthys” premieres Oct. 30 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS. The family comedy centers around Ronny McCarthy, a 29-year-old gay Bostonian. Laurie Metcalf plays Ronny’s mother.
“Looking” has recently added Daniel Franzese (Damian, “Mean Girls”) to the cast. Season two returns to HBO in early 2015.
“Dancing with the Stars” season 19 premieres Sept. 15 on ABC. Contestants include Jonathan Bennett (Aaron Samuels, “Mean Girls”), designer Betsey Johnson and Sadie Robertson of “Duck Dynasty.”
“Masters of Sex,” starring Lizzy Caplan (another “Mean Girls” alum) and Michael Sheen, airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime with the second season finale airing Sept. 28. Allison Janney recently won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Margaret Scully, the wife of Beau Bridges’s closeted Provost Barton Scully.
Logo TV’s “Secret Guide to Fabulous” premiered on Sept. 3 at 11 p.m. The show, produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, features four experts in fitness, fashion, entertaining and home design who help people revitalize their lives. Comparisons to “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” are not unfounded.
Seasons one and two of the Netflix juggernauts “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards” are both available for streaming. Both shows are queer inclusive, and “Orange’s” Laverne Cox is the first openly trans actress to have been nominated for an Emmy.
Chelsea Handler’s stand-up special “Uganda Be Kidding Me” will be released on Netflix Oct. 10. The special is a live recording from a show on her recent tour of the same name.
HBO will air Beyonce and Jay-Z’s “On the Run Tour” on Sept. 20. The broadcast will feature performances from the musical power couple’s performances in Paris this month.
“The Comeback,” starring Lisa Kudrow, will make a comeback after nine years in November on HBO as six-episode mini-season.
“The Newsroom,” starring Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer and Jane Fonda, returns for its final season in November on HBO.
“American Horror Story: Freak Show,” created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, premieres on FX on Oct. 8 at 10 p.m. Returning actors include Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Francey Conroy, among others. They welcome series newcomers Matt Bomer and Patti LaBelle.
Gustin Grant stars in “The Flash,” premiering Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. on the CW.
Casey Wilson and Ken Marino star in “Marry Me,” which premieres Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. on NBC. The show is loosely based on series creator David Caspe’s (“Happy Endings”) recent marriage to Wilson, also of “Happy Endings” fame.
Jeffrey Tambor and Judith Light star in the Amazon series “Transparent.” Tambor plays a family patriarch who recently came out as a trans woman. The show debuted Feb. 6 and premieres in full this month on Amazon.com.
“How to Get Away With Murder” premieres Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. on ABC, the same night as fellow “Shondaland” juggernauts “Grey’s Anatomy” (8 p.m.) and “Scandal” (9 p.m.). In “Murder,” Viola Davis stars as Professor Annalise Keating, a lawyer. Jack Falahee plays Connor Walsh, a gay student of Keating’s. The three Thursday night Shonda Rhimes dramas are all prominent, queer-inclusive hits.
“The Walking Dead” returns to AMC on Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. Series creator Robert Kirkman has recently suggested that fan favorite character Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) may be gay, which would make him the show’s first LGBT character.
John Mulaney (“Saturday Night Live”) stars in “Mulaney,” which premieres Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox as part of the network’s Sunday night comedy block (along with “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons”). Mulaney may be most known for creating the popular SNL character Stefon, played by Bill Hader.
Season 25 of “The Amazing Race” premieres on Sept. 26 on CBS at 8 p.m., a change from its previous Sunday night time slot. A consistently queer-inclusive program, season 25 features a gay couple competing on a team together.
Emmy magnet “Modern Family” returns to ABC on Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
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‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
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