Arts & Entertainment
Nominees announced for 31st Annual PGA Awards
The Producers Guild of America has announced nominees for its 31st Annual Producers Guild Awards for Film and Television.
The PGA Awards have long been seen as a strong predictor for the Oscars, with 21 of its thirty winners having mirrored the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Among the nominees, which honor outstanding production across a range of categories, are several films and television shows with strong LGBTQ content.
Notably included are several nods for LGBTQ fan-favorites; “Schitt’s Creek” was a nominee for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television (Comedy); “RuPaul’s Drag Race” for Outstanding Producer of Game and Competiton Television; and “Queer Eye” for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television.
Other nominations for shows with queer storylines include “Fleabag” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” both competing against “Schitt’s Creek” in the episodic comedy category; and “Watchmen,” HBO’s acclaimed series featuring multiple superhero characters who are queer and/or people of color, received a nomination for Best Producer of Episodic Television (Drama)
Though there are no directly LGBTQ-related films nominated in the Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures category (the PGA’s equivalent of Best Picture), one of the contenders, Taika Waititi’s anti-hate Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit,” includes a strongly-implied same-sex relationship between two supporting characters.
The winners will be announced at the Producers Guild Awards ceremony on January 18 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The Guild will additionally present special honors to powerhouse producers and leaders who have left their indelible mark on the entertainment industry. The 2020 honorees include Ted Sarandos (Milestone Award); Brad Pitt, Dede Gardnerand Jeremy Kleinerof Plan B (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures); Marta Kauffman (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television); Octavia Spencer (Visionary Award); and the Lionsgate film “Bombshell” (The Stanley Kramer Award).
The winner of the Innovation Award and the winner in the Short-Form category will be announced at a PGA nominees’ event on January 16 at the Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles. The winners in the Children’s and Sports categories will be announced at a nominees’ celebration in New York on January 13 at the Ascent Lounge.
For a complete list of the nominees, visit the PGA website.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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