Arts & Entertainment

Fur your eyes only

Runaway web hit ‘Where the Bears Are’ returns with season 2

Published

13 years ago

June 7, 2013

The bears are back in town: Rick Copp, Joe Dietl and Ben Zook return with ‘Where the Bears Are’ season two next week, joined by Margaret Cho. (Photo courtesy Where the Bears Are)

The creators behind last year’s run away murder-mystery/comedy web series “Where the Bears Are” were so blown away by the reception and accolades, a season two was a must.

After 4 million views and Web Series of the Year awards from Queerty and AfterElton, the big boys of sleuthing are back with a new trailer — which already has more than 20,000 views — at wherethebearsare.tv where fans can buy the DVD, catch up on season one before season two premiers Monday.

After a winter promo tour where they visited events all over the world, including Bear Happy Hour at Town Danceboutique here in Washington, series creators and stars Rick Copp, Joe Dietl and Ben Zook are back to talk to the Blade about pushing the envelope and nabbing Margaret Cho for the guest appearance of the year.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Are you really excited about the second season?

RICK COPP: Oh yes, very (laughing). We’re kind of crazed, but very happy. I think people are going to like the episodes.

BEN ZOOK: This season we are very excited. The episodes are a little longer than last season, because everyone wanted that. They were like “make them longer” and everything is just bigger and grander. More locations, a lot more sex, a lot more characters. A lot more intrigue. There is another murder we solve. So it’s exciting.

JOE DIETL: We also upped the costumes. And some special effects. We really tried to make it like “Charlie’s Angels.” Like, we go undercover a lot more.

ZOOK: Which is my all-time favorite childhood T.V. show.

BLADE: How was it working with Margaret Cho?

DIETL: Margaret Cho is in episode four. She is the guest star and it’s a pretty outrageous episode. It involves leather and all sorts of stuff.

COPP: She has actually been a friend of ours for a long time and we had done movies with her previously like years and years and years ago. And we were hoping to get her in season one, but her schedule didn’t permit, but season two came around and she said, “Definitely, yeah, I’d like to do it.”

BLADE: Explain a little bit about the murder mystery this season.

COPP: Well this season is a little different. We open up at a pool party fundraiser for a man running for city council, who my character went to college with. He winds up dead and we just kind of start investigating it. We set up in our Christmas special that I am a True Crime writer, and I wrote a book based on what happened last season and that is my gig now. I dragged the roommates along and we all try to solve the murder again, especially because he is a friend of Reggie’s. But we do have a few things going on that are carrying over from last season. If you saw the Christmas special, the killer we thought we put away isn’t in prison.

BLADE: Which are some of the recurring characters that have come back?

ZOOK: We definitely couldn’t do season two without “Hot Toddy,” and especially now that he and Nelson are together. The subplot of season two is Todd moving in with us and the adjustment period of that and having a new roommate. Of course, by popular demand, we brought back Hairy Potter. And Detective Winters, he was a big fan-favorite. And we made sure he had his moustache because when we did the Christmas special he had a different look and people complained, so we had to make sure he had his Tom Selleck moustache back this season, so the moustache is back, too.

COPP: Also, Susie the coroner is back. George Ridgemont, the obsessed fan, is back, too. He is in the trailer. He’s hysterical this season.

ZOOK: The only bummer is that we couldn’t bring back Honey Garret from season one this time, but we are going to try to work her in to a Thanksgiving special for the DVD.

BLADE: What was your favorite part of putting together season two?

ZOOK: For me a lot of the fun is the script. Rick and I and Joe outlined the script together, then Rick went off and wrote a first draft, then he gave it to me, and I sort of did my half on it, and then we all sort of tweak it. To me that is one of the most fun things, is when we read through it, when we read through the final draft before we start shooting and giggle a lot.

DIETL: But then when we actually get to the shoot that is a lot of fun. It’s funny, because we are doing longer episodes, so the hours are longer and the shoots are more grueling, physically, but they are always fun because we make each other laugh. You know, that is the fun part of the actual performance, getting in front of the camera and doing it.

ZOOK: I got to make out with several guys this season, which was a lot of fun.

BLADE: Are there any plans for a season 3? How long do you guys want to keep this going?

COPP: We would like to keep it going for as long as we can as long the three of us are having fun doing it we are going to try and do it. But it all depends on how much we sell, how many downloads we sell, how many DVDs we sell. We have to make our budget. Our budget this year was double what it was last year.

ZOOK: As long as people stay supportive, donate, buy, we are going to keep going. We’ll do it for the next seven to 10 years.

DIETL: Rick and Ben are the ones who do the writing. Rick usually picks up the mystery himself and he got to get on that for season three if we’re going to do that. They have to write a Thanksgiving special, before they can think about season three. If we do it we are getting on a schedule now, where we shoot it in the beginning of the year, then releasing it at the beginning of the summer, then selling the DVDs Novemberish.

ZOOK: That is the worst thing about this is asking for money and the great thing is we don’t have a network breathing down our necks asking us to change things or cut things. We can just do what we want, but it is coming out of our pocket. I am sure people are tired of hearing us ask them to buy our DVDs.

Up Next

‘Kinky Boots’ takes six Tonys

Don't Miss

Cartoon: Happy Pride 2013!

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

3 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

9 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP

Theater

National tour of ‘Gatsby’ comes to National Theatre

Out actor Edward Staudenmayer talks playing the show’s gangster

Published

1 day ago

May 10, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Edward Staudenmayer plays Meyer Wolfsheim in ‘The Great Gatsby.’ (Photo courtesy National Theatre)

‘The Great Gatsby’
May 12-24
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
$59-$196
Thenationaldc.com

Often dubbed “The Great American Novel” for its depiction of ambition and self-invention alongside the reversals of success, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” says it all in a fast read.

Set against the excesses and energy of the Roaring Twenties, “The Great Gatsby,” novel and now the same-titled hit Broadway musical with a jazz/pop original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, tells the story of Nick Carraway and his friendship with Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic millionaire intent on reuniting with ex-lover, Daisy Buchanan.

It was during a four-month 2025 run in Seoul, South Korea, that out actor Edward Staudenmayer first played the show’s heavy, Meyer Wolfsheim, a gangster who helped Gatsby make his murkily acquired fortune. As Meyer, Staudenmayer opens the second act with, appropriately enough, “Shady.”

Now three months into a year-long North American tour, the show is poised to enjoy a brief run at Washington’s National Theatre (5/12-5/24).

While putting on his eyeliner prior to a recent Wednesday matinee at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, the upstate New York-based actor shared about Gatsby and a life in theater.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Despite your good looks and terrific voice, you’re rarely the leading the man. How is that?

EDWARD STAUDENMAYER: I’m definitely a character man. I’ve been painting lines on my face to play old men since I was in high school. I was the youngest freshman in college playing old Uncle Sorin [in Chekhov’s “The Seagull”].

There have been many villains. Some darker than others. Meyer Wolfsheim is a very bad guy, but he doesn’t haunt me once I’m offstage. I play a lot of pickleball.

BLADE: Is it true that like so many of Fitzgerald’s characters, Wolfsheim is famously based on someone the writer encountered in life.

STAUDENMEYER: That’s true, Wolfsheim is pretty much a direct portrayal of real-life mobster and 1919 World Series fixer [Arnold Rothstein].

BLADE: When did the 1925 novel first surface on your radar?

STAUDENMAYER: Like many of us, I was assigned “The Great Gatsby” in high school. It was short, and filled with sex and illicit activities. I thought it was great. Definitely wasn’t a Judy Blume novel.

Interestingly, the book wasn’t originally a huge a success for Fitzgerald, but because it was about war and having the girl at home, they gave it to GIs leaving for WWII. After returning, a lot of those guys went on the GI Bill and became English teachers. They assigned the book to their students.

BLADE The idea that the book’s first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay and enamored with Jay Gatsby is long discussed among readers and scholars. Does the musical touch on that?

STAUDENMAYER: Yes, there’s conjecture about Jay and Nick, and it’s implied in our show. It’s also implied about Jordan Baker, Jay’s fleeting romantic interest. Ultimately, she’s a confirmed bachelor, and a professional golfer who only wears pants.

Our performers are really good. Josh Grasso who plays Nick is fantastic. I’ve had to stop watching him in his last scene; it’s not good for Meyer Wolfsheim to take his curtain call crying. Our Gatsby, Jake David Smith, is good too. He’s gorgeous like Superman and sings like an angel.

BLADE: Do you ever imagine backstory for your characters whose sexuality is undefined?

STAUDENMAYER: I do, but not with Wolfsheim. I don’t see it. I’m trying to be as butch as possible with this ruthless killer.

BLADE: Have you had to do that in your career?

STAUDENMAYER: For a long time, I wore a mask to hide my gayness. I worked hard on being believable, that I was into the girl or that I was a tough guy.

It’s a different world now, and it’s so refreshing to be around the younger actors today; they’re remarkably open and comfortable.

BLADE: What was your coming of age like?

STAUDENMAYER: I played high school football in Palm Springs [he chuckles, alluding to the arid gay mecca], and I was pretty good too. But much to the chagrin of my parents and coaches, I quit the team to act in our senior year play. My super butch dad played semi-pro football and he was an ex-cop. I’m named after him. While I didn’t become my dad, I’ve played him often on stage. He was a true Gaston [the bumptious rival in “Beauty and the Beast”]. And like Gaston, he used antlers in all his interior decorating.

BLADE: Did he live to see your success in theater?

STAUDENMAYER: He did. Life was challenging growing up but the last 10 years of his life we couldn’t get off the phone with each other [his voice catches with emotion]. He accepted me entirely, and we became very close.

BLADE: Looking ahead, is there a part you’d especially like to play?

STAUDENMAYER: Like all baritones I’d love to play Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” I’ve come close but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s still time.