Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Marc Samuel to talk about his two new Netflix projects; the holiday film The Merry Gentlemen and the Ted Danson comedy series Man On the Inside. The Merry Gentleman is like a holiday twist on The Full Monty with Marc playing a reluctant male stripper who, along with his pals, puts on an exotic male review show to save their small town theater. Marc talks about performing the various dance numbers, working opposite male lead Chad Michael Murray, getting in shape for the role and what it's like to work for Netflix generally. He also talks about Man On the Inside and whether or not he felt pressure to be funny, giving that the show was created by Mike Shur of The Good Place and Parks and Recreation fame. Marc also recalls falling in love with acting at the age of five when he saw his father performing in a Chicago stage production of Fiddler on the Roof and how he experienced a full circle moment decades later when his dad got to see him act on stage in Miss Evers Boys in Portland. Other topics include: getting discovered by his commercial agent at the Mexican restaurant Marix in West Hollywood, how Hollywood has evolved in terms of its depictions of gay and black characters, how he's managed to stay positive and ride the ups and downs of the business, his long-time recurring role as Felix LaCroix on General Hospital, why he lives in the mountains instead of in LA proper and why he compares one very specific aspect of his acting career to holding in a fart.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by two women from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis; director Alexis Spraic and Executive Producer Prudence Fenton who was also Allee's life partner. Allee Willis, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2019, is primarily known as a a songwriter (Earth Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Friends theme song, The Color Purple musical) but she was also an accomplished visual artist, collector of kitsch, wild party thrower and internet entrepreneur. Alexis talks about what drew her to Allee as a film subject, sorting through Allee's six storage units of material and how she's tried to incorporate Allee's motto 'If you have a weakness, turn it into a hook" into her own life. Prudence talks about the exhausting prep that went into Allee's legendary house parties, the hurt caused by Allee's father not allowing Allee to be herself and that time a few years ago when the Rembrandts reached out to ask Allee for a share of the "Friends" theme song royalties...years after the show had left the air. Other topics include: Allee's wide array of friends, Allee's foray's into performing, the scandalously low number of female producers in the music business, how Allee dealt with disappointment and the moments in the filmmaking process where they really felt like Allee was guiding them.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author David Ciminello to discuss his delicious debut novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park which is the story of an irrepressible Coney island burlesque queen and meatball entrepreneur named Belladonna Marie Donato. David talks about how the character is inspired by his larger-than-life great aunt Emily who was, in fact, a burlesque performer on Coney Island and actually won a trophy for Best Bust for her 38 DDDs. David also talks about how he got the book published, how he chose the mouth-watering recipes that appear throughout the book and the spontaneous reading that unfolded at a recent extended family gathering where his cousin's daughter read the role of young Belladonna Marie. Other topics include: why David chose to make Belladonna Marie so sex and body positive, working as an actor in L.A. and playing a barber in a classic episode of Seinfeld, writing a movie that Shirley MacLaine directed called The Dress Code and working alongside her on set and why it was important to him to write a book that was "chock-full of queer optimism." Dennis will be interviewing David at LA's Book Soup on Sunday, November 10th at 3 PM. https://www.davidciminello.com/

This episode features excerpts from Dennis Hensley's THE MISMATCH GAME: 20th Anniversary Edition which happened on September 28th, 2024 at the LA LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre in Hollywood. The super-sized panel consisted of Jackie Beat as Bea Arthur, Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Daniele Gaither as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Lenk as Zooey Deschanel and Heidi Klum, Sam Pancake as Lucille Ball, Felix Pire as Ricardo Montalban, Chris Pudlo as Pee-wee Herman and Lory Tatoulian as Melania Trump. And the questions, which were pulled from past shows, featured Mariah Carey, George Takei, Oprah, Melania and the Ladies of The View.  (Note: Dennis recorded the audio on his iPhone and it's not the best so if you can't bear to listen, he totally understands.)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Emerson Collins who is currently starring in the one-man play Buyer and Cellar by Jonathan Tolins at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is a "What if?" story about an underemployed actor who gets a job working in the mall in Barbra Streisand's basement. Emerson talks about what drew him to the play, shares his favorite moment in the show and recalls his harrowing first audition, which happened days after he had emergency appendix surgery. He also talks about working as a producer for writer-director Del Shores (Sordid Lives), getting discovered by Del in a Dallas production of Del's play Southern Baptist Sissies, then taking a leap of faith and moving to LA to appear in the LA production. Other topics include: whether famous people can have real friendships with non-famous people, Emerson's memories of the late, great Leslie Jordan, the shooting permit disaster that almost shut down the film of Southern Baptist Sissies, working retail aa a Banana Republic display visionary, driving for Lyft when he found out he got cast in Rent: Live for Fox TV, why he posts Speedo shots on Instagram and the curvacious and hard-to-read title font Barbra picked for the book that inspired Buyer and Cellar, My Passion For Design. www.emersoncollins.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Frank DeCaro to discuss his gorgeous and glittery new coffee table book Disco: Music, Movies and Mania Under the Mirror Ball. Frank talks about why he wanted to write about disco, what makes a song a disco song, the MAGA-esque Disco Demolition riot that helped kill disco fever in the U.S. and the long list of unlikely performers who jumped on the disco bandwagon like Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman and the cast of the TV cop show Barnaby Jones. Frank and Dennis also discuss their affection for disco fashion, from polyester shirts to Angels Flight slacks to Jordache jeans to sky-high platforms. Frank also shares the unlikely but meant-to-be story of how he managed to score a Donna Summer interview for the end of his book when Summer herself has been dead since 2012. Other topics include: the head-scratching ubiquity of the Village People, the timeless magic of Saturday Night Fever, disco tchotckes, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and the allure of Studio 54, which, as Frank's book describes as "a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor."

Dennis continues his conversation with TV writer Stan Zimmerman, author of the memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. In Part 2, Stan talks about working on the Gilmore Girls and learning to write dialogue in the show's unique, fast-paced style. He also talks about the humiliating T-shirt gift he got from Roseanne and Tom Arnold while working on Roseanne, taking random meetings with icons like Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins and Pia Zadora, being a judge/mentor on the Bravo reality show Situation: Comedy, getting into playwriting and directing theater later in his career and going to Russia to work on the Russian Roseanne and meeting sexy Russians on the gay app Hornet. Other topics include: the holiday movie he wrote for Donna Mills, Loni Anderson, Nicolette Sheridan, Morgan Fairchild and Linda Gray, going to Studio 54 and telling Andy Warhol to stop taking his picture, his natural optimism, the thrill of having his beloved mother come to tapings, and why he wore glasses to pitch meetings when he didn't actually need them. After the interview, Dennis recalls his epic 60th birthday weekend.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by television writer Stan Zimmerman to talk about his memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, which documents his career working on such iconic shows as Roseanne, The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls as well as The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. In this first part of a two-part interview, Stan talks about his midwest upbringing and how his mother bought him the ballet shoes he wanted behind his father's back. He also talks about meeting his longtime writing partner Jim Berg, why they work wll together and how they landed a gig on the first season of The Golden Girls when they were still in their 20's Stan also recalls feeling like he had to stay in the closet on that job but feeling like he had an ally in Estelle Getty. He talks about the culture of fear that was so common in TV writers rooms in those days and expresses hope that things are better today. He also talks fondly about working with director Betty Thomas on the first Brady Bunch Movie as a punch-up writer and feeling like his contribution was finally being properly appreciated...only to end up without a screen credit thanks to an old WGA rule. He also recalls Bea Arthur being concerned that the Golden Girls writing staff was too young, Rue McLanahan being extra funny when she said words ending in E-R, and the eyebrow raising thing Betty White would do when Estelle Getty flubbed her lines. Other topics include: the warm fuzzies Stan gets when he talks with Golden Girls fans, suggesting RuPaul for that cameo in The Brady Bunch Movie, Pia Zadora's giant cell phone and how when it comes to a career in entertainment, it's all about perseverance.  

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers from the Echo Theater Company's production of Samuel D. Hunter's play Clarkston, which is playing at the Atwater Village Theatre in LA through October 21. Here's the synopsis: "Welcome to Clarkston, Washington, where Jake (Michael) and Chris (Sean) meet working the night shift at Costco. Jake, a middle-class, educated new hire who’s a distant relative of explorer William Clark, has fled his privileged life in Connecticut after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Chris, a would-be writer with a meth-addicted mom, is stuck in what he fears is a dead-end life in a dead-end town. Soon, their tentative attraction develops into something much deeper and more complicated. The two actors talk about what drew them to the project, the play's complex themes around friendship, loyalty and the things in life that we don't even give ourselves permission to want. Other topics include: taking a field trip to Costco and gorging at the food court, hearing the audience cry during intense scenes, the emotional hangover from doing the show, and taking an onstage selfie every night and seeing friends in the audience in the background. www.echotheatercompany.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-singer-dancer-influencer Garrett Clayton to discuss his new cabaret show Hero To Villain, which hits LA on September 19 and Palm Springs on September 21st. Garrett talks about the journey of the show, which takes the audience from Garrett's good guy role in Disney's Teen Beach Movie to his more recent stage work, playing villains in shows like It: The Musical and Excorcistic. He also talks about ditching his wholesome Disney image to play real life gay porn star Brent Corrigan in the 2016 film King Cobra opposite Christian Slater, James Franco and Alicia Silverstone (who actually ended up officiating Garrett's wedding.) Garrett also talks about moving to LA with nothing but a dream and a borrowed mattress, getting a job at the LA cafe Crave (where he met his husband Blake) and having his wedding covered by People magazine. Other topics include: wanting to model himself after Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, the pressure to stay closeted he felt from his former reps, finally coming out in an Instagram post, having to  leave the man he was in love with at home when he went to industry parties, developing a huge social media presence during the pandemic that has since turned into a lucrative side-business, the rush of playing Corny Collins in Hairspray Live! with Martin Short and Jennifer Hudson and leaving the rep who told him he needed to stay closeted because, "Nobody wants to fuck the gay guy, they want to shop with him."   

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Michael Selditch to talk about his new documentary Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field, which is all about the iconic stylist behind the clothes on Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Run the World and The Devil Wears Prada. Michael talks about what inspired him to want to make the movie, how he got Patricia to agree to being documented and what makes her work so singular and fabulous. He also talks about interviewing such Field devotees as Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie. Other topics include: Field's long love affair with a much younger woman, the queer icons who once worked at Field's NYC boutique including Laverne Cox and Candace Cayne, shooting with drones in Manhattan, Michael's previous narrative feature Fixing Frank--which is coming to streaming soon--and that time Patricia complimented his outfit, which totally made his day. https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/1731-2/

Dennis is joined by singer-actor David Burnham to talk about his new cabaret show Burnham Sings Buble, in which he interprets the music of Michael Buble, singing hits like "Home" and "Everything" along with more obscure Buble gems. David also talks about his previous touring show, a tribute Tom Jones, which, in true Tom Jones fashion, featured pants so tight David almost passed out. David also talks about his career in musical theater, from being plucked from nowhere at 19 to take over for Donny Osmond in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to appearing in the original cast of Light in the Piazza to finally getting to play Fiero in Wicked on Broadway after originating the role in the workshop productions and being passed over for the original Broadway cast. Other topics include: the moment he first realized he could sing, why the Elvis song "Blue Christmas" takes him back to a sixth grade kiss with a girl in the Sunday School room, the song that makes him emotional every time he sings it, the rude awakening he got after finishing the Joseph tour when couldn't get arrested in New York, having to go on as Matt Morrison's understudy in Piazza on opening weekend and not even knowing the blocking and that time the crazy heckler in the front row of Joseph turned out to be Donny Osmond. https://www.davidburnham.com/

Dennis is joined by two of the filmmakers of the new documentary Still Working 9 to 5, which is about the classic film comedy from 1980 and the ongoing movement for equality for women that the film depicted. Gary co-directed the film and Larry executive produced it. The twin brothers talk about how they first got the idea to make the documentary, the challenges of landing and scheduling interviews with stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman, and how they were able to score a haunting new Kelly Clarkson-Dolly Parton duet version of the title song for their end credits. They also talk about how they worked with co-director Camille Hardman to weave the serious story of the women's equality movement over the last 50 years in with the glamorous, funny behind-the scenes story of making the original 9 to 5 film. They also recall how the bottom dropped out of the documentary market just as they were premiering at South By Southwest in 2022 and wondering if they'd ever get a proper streaming release. (They are--woohoo!--in the fall of 2024.) Other topics include: their powerful and occasionally spooky connection as twins, the snarky male reviewers who didn't appreciate 9 to 5 when it first came out, appearing together as twins on shows like Fear Factor and The Truth About Food and their very humble first Christmas in LA after leaving North Carolina to pursue their dreams. It involved a sad futon, top ramen for dinner and a check for $50,000 from Fear Factor that they couldn't cash because it arrived on Christmas eve and all the banks were closed. www.stillworking9to5.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by the filmmakers behind the new gay thriller Ganymede, Colby Holt & Sam Probst. The film is about a high school wrestling star from a strict Christian family who develops feelings for his openly gay classmate, which causes him to be haunted by a terrifying creature. The co-directors, who are also husbands, talk about where the original idea  came from, what it was like to shoot the movie in Colby's hometown in rural Kentucky, how they came to cast the openly gay two-time Teen Choice Award nominee Jordan Doww as their troubled protagonist and how watching RuPaul's Drag Race helped them decompress after long days on the set. Other topics include: the movies they find terrifying, tracking down a real shock therapy machine to use as a prop, what it was like for Colby to come out in high school, Sam watching the gay film Latter Days in secret n college before coming out, how the pair first met at the gay country Charley's in Chicago at 3 AM on a Monday night and how Colby's mom worked on the fim as a hair consultant and nailed co-star Robyn Lively's Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side highlights. 

Dennis connects via Zoom with musician Greg O'Connor to talk about his debut album The Place I've Never Been and what it's been like to venture out as a solo artist after decades of writing songs and scores for TV and movies. Greg talks about what inspired him to take such a big swing in his mid-50's, the artists that inspired him like Toto, The Beach Boys, Steely Dan and Bleu, finding collaborators on Facebook and Instagram and posing on a hillside with a piano and live bull for the album's striking cover art. Greg also talks about the real-life experiences that inspired the album and videos, like being ghosted by someone he'd been dating for a while and subsequently falling in love with his fiancé, photographer Kevin Sikorski after meeting on Hinge. He also talks about his extensive work in TV and film, writing music for recent films My Home Unknown and Baby Boomer Yearbook (directed by Grease's Randal Kleiser) and TV shows like The Ben Stiller Show, The Big Gay Sketch Show and MadTV, for which he won an Emmy. Other topics include: falling in love with music at four, writing the viral song "Laura Dern" for the Independent Spirit Awards a few years back, shooting two music videos in one day in Capetown, South Africa and being closeted at USC and waiting in line outside of the Mother Lode bar in West Hollywood and being terrified someone would drive by and see him. www.GregOConnor.com

Dennis connects via Zoom with Jeffery Bowman who is the founder and co-host of Legendary Bingo, a West Hollywood staple since 1998. Jeffery talks about the event's humble beginnings, how he enlisted the queen Belle Aire early on as his first drag co-host and how the event has raised over $9 million to date for countless local charities. He dishes about all the celebrities that have appeared at Bingo over the years including Molly Shannon, Ed Asner, Paula Abdul, Richard Simmons, Seth Rogan, Lesley Ann Warren and his first-ever celebrity guest Jean Smart. He also talks about his more recent creative endeavor; writing, recording and releasing songs on Spotify under the name Jeffery Leonard Bowman. His song "No Shelter," about his own experience with rescue animals, is connecting with other animal lovers all over the world and Jeffery couldn't be more thrilled about it. Other topics include: how both Jeffery and Dennis have worked with and been delightfully scandalized by drag legend Willam at Bingo and The MisMatch Game respectively, how great it feels when someone compliments him on his music, the corporate gigs that make it so he's able to make his living from Bingo, why it's never not a pain in the ass when a reality show wants to shoot at Bingo, co-starring with Ron Jeremy in the movie Orgasmo, why people love the game of Bingo generally, finding great collaborators on Craig's List and his favorite celebrity guest caller ever. (Here's a hint: She's 50 years-old.) www.bingoboyinc.com

Dennis is joined in person by author A. Ashley Hoff to discuss his new book With Love, Mommie Dearest, his follow-up to Match Game 101, which he discussed on the podcast a few years back. Ashley talks about why he wanted to write this book, what surprised him while he was conducting interviews and doing research and why be believes that Faye Dunaway, who plays screen legend Joan Crawford in the film, is a "sorceress commanding the elements." He also recalls talking with Christina Crawford, who wrote the tell-all the movie is based on, at a screening of the film in Chicago years ago and learned that while she doesn't particularly like the film, she's proud that it shined a spotlight on the then-taboo topic of child abuse. Ashley also talks about watching the new documentary Faye on Max and finding that it pretty much tracks with the research he conducted for the book, even though he was never able to interview Dunaway herself. At one point, Dennis and Ashley are joined by author and superfan Abdi Nazemian who has been obsessed with the movie since he was 10 years old and has a juicy Faye story of his own to share. Other topics include: Joan Crawford's up-from-nothing resilience and determination, why the bullying aspect of the film might resonate with queer people, that time Dennis interviewed Faye Dunaway for Us Magazine and was kept waiting for four hours, the fact that Mommie Dearest was a financial success, how no one in Hollywood sets out to make a flop and what it is exactly that makes something campy.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A. theater director Bart DeLorenzo to talk about his newest production, Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Odyssey Theatre, as well as his career in general. Bart talks about why the 90 year-old play--about three young, struggling artists who can't seem to live without each other--seems so resonant in this moment. He also talks about his directing process, how he reads a play over and over and over again before he starts putting it on his feet and how he believes there are always two plays going on in any given production; the play on stage and the story that's unfolding in the audience. Other topics include: his memories of seeing plays as a child, what he's observed about Gen Z as a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts, working with Joan Rivers on her autobiographical play A Piece of Work, looking for actors who make his "heart leap" during the casting process, why he loves Los Angeles how he reacts to people whp say theater in LA sucks, and how "nothing good can ever come from reading reviews." https://www.bartdelorenzo.com/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Zach Meiners and Elena Joy Thurston, two of the three conversion therapy survivors profiled in the new documentary Conversion, which was also directed by Meiners. (The third survivor profiled is Dustin Rayburn AKA Dusty Ray Bottoms from RuPaul's Drag Race). Zach talks about what inspired him to make the film, why he used detailed miniatures to tell the story visually and how when he was struggling with his sexuality, he always felt like "the worst person in every room." Elena talks about her background as a devout Mormon wife and mother who found herself overwhelming drawn to a woman in her life. She also talks about the social fallout in her Mormon community when she decided to finally live her truth and how, just a few years later, her current family situation is "wildly wonderful" in a way she never expected. Zach and Elena also talk about how conversion therapy is actually an industry that constantly needs to be fed and how the recent laws that have been passed are important but that they've barely put a dent in the problem. Other topics include: American Idol alum David Archuleta's recent coming out, how conversion therapy can often lead to self harm, the surprising amount of queer activism at Brigham Young University and the pair's hopes that the film can be a catalyst for change.    www.conversionmovie.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Argentine-born filmmaker Tomás Gómez Bustillo to talk about his delightful, three-time Indie Spirit Award-nominated film Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, which was first mentioned on this podcast earlier this year when Drew Droege raved about it during our year-end movie wrap-up. The movie is about an elderly woman in a small rural town in Argentina named Rita (Wild Tales Monica Villas) who is so competitive with the other ladies from her church that she fakes a miracle to try and improve her status. Tomás talks about how the film was partly inspired by the time he spent as a young Catholic missionary in towns just like Rita's. He also talks--cryptically--about the giant swerve the movie takes halfway through and how many people he shared the script with told him he could never pull it off. He also recalls getting rejected by Sundance and another major festival and actually having a ritual where he let it go. He burned a piece of paper with the film's name on it, thanked the film for all it had brought to his life and accepted that it wasn't going to be a festival movie...and then days later, he got accepted by South By Southwest, where the film was a breakout hit. Other topics include: graduating college with a degree in Political Science in Argentina and then leaving that path behind to study film at AFI in Los Angeles, his love for magical realism, how his pursuit of music led to him discovering filmmaking, why The Lion King f-ed him up as a kid and the movie costume he wish he owned so he could wear it around the house. www.chroniclesofawanderingsaint.com

Dennis connects via Zoom with two of the people behind the play The Sandwich Ministry; playwright Miranda Rose Hall and Armando Huipe, who is the Executive Director of the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles where the show is running through July 7, 2024. The play is one of the best things Dennis has seen on stage in years. The story concerns three women, two of whom are queer, who gather in a church basement to make sandwiches for people in need after a once-in-lifetime storm hits their community.  Miranda talks about what inspired her to write the play, her own background growing up in an LGBT-friendly Presbyterian Church in Baltimore and her goal of examining how to live in a time of chronic emergency. Armando recalls reading the play for the first time during a massive rainstorm in LA and being moved to tears by it. He also explains how the sandwiches being made by the actors on stage are actually packed up after the show and given to local organizations to help feed people in need. Other topics include: the recent Tony Awards, the doubts and fears that come with choosing to pursue an artistic life, the challenges of getting folks back to the theater after the pandemic, the importance of third spaces in people's lives and what kind of sandwich is the most delicious.  www.skylighttheater.org

Dennis is joined via Zoom by film critic Alonso Duralde to discuss his new coffee table book Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance In Film. It's a beautifully written and designed book about at the history of queer people in the movies, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Alonso talks about the artists and films that weren't on his radar before he began his research and shares insights about some of the films in the book like including Prick Up Your Ears, Philadelphia, Brokeback Mountain, Parting Glances, Longtime Companion and Making Love. He also talks about what it's like to be the busiest gay in film criticism with five regular podcasts--Linoleum Knife (with his husband, film critic Dave White), Breakfast All Day, Maximum Film, Deck the Hallmark and the just-launched The Film Library. Other topics include: the gay cinematographer that shot Rocky, why queer millennials love The Mummy, how he cries more watching movies than he does in real life, his seeming unflappability, the 2016 surprise party for Dennis that Alonso attended, getting recognized on the street and the movie that made him cry so hard he had to go to the lobby to pull himself together. Following the interview with Alonso, there's also a short interview with comedian Jim David who appears in the new Netflix documentary Outstanding.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Bryan Terrell Clark who plays a gay teacher "Mr. Tea" on the BET+ mystery-comedy series Diarra From Detroit. Bryan talks about how he knew the show's creator and star Diarra Kilpatrick for years before working with her and how thrilled he was to learn she was writing the role of Mr. Tea with him in mind. He also talks about how he sees Mr. Tea as the Bea Arthur-esque truthteller of the ensemble and how gratifying it is to play the type of gay character he would have liked to seen when he was growing up. He also talks about growing up in Baltimore with a pastor for mother and a drug dealer and addict for a father and how both of those experiences shaped the man he is today. He also shares the incredible story of how he came to believe in God after his father failed to pick him up from middle school leaving him feeling totally abandoned and alone as night fell and how he found salvation in the most unlikely of places. Other topics include: the profound connection he felt to Marvin Gaye when the played the singer in Motown: The Musical on Broadway, what it was like to deliver George Washington's farewell address in Hamilton on stage at the same time that President Obama was giving his own farewell address in Washington, the idea that "being gay is not romantic," which is a line Mr. Tea says in Diarra From Detroit, slaying on the red carpet with help from his costume designer husband, how he sees expressing black and queer joy as a kind of resistance and what Gay Pride means to him. (www.bryanterrellclark.com)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Christian McLaughin, author of the novels Glamourpuss and Sex Toys of the Gods, to talk about his newest project; the play Trumpery, which is having its world premier at the LA Fringe Festival through June 28th. Here's the shows not-so-implausible premise: Ex-President Trump (Austin Walker) is running from the law on a yacht with his wife Melania (Lauren Howard Hayes), daughter Tiffani (John Cantwell AKA Love Connie) daughter Ivanka (Tatjana Vujovic), son-in-law Jared Kushner (Felix Pire) and a mysterious stowaway (Natalie Whittle) and mayhem ensues. Christian talks about having the inspiration for the play way back in 2016, experiencing a breakthrough on the storyline while playing peek-a-boo with his cats on his birthday, why he simply had to include Tiffani's real vanity pop single "Like a Bird," and the kismet of having the show debut between the real Trump's conviction and sentencing. Christian also talks about his early days in LA, his career as a television writer on shows like Married With Children, Desperate Housewives and the 2001 MTV soap Spydergames, which he created. Other topics include: his life-long love of movie posters and the online store he started to sell them (www.westgategallery.com), revising his debut novel Glamourpuss for Kindle for its 25th anniversary, being college roommates with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, the night comedian Geri Jewell came to see herself parodied in Christian's stage spoof The Phacts of Life, reenacting scenes from Search for Tomorrow as a child, how his parents are both awesome LGBT allies, and feeling more inspired and prolific than he has in his entire career. (www.trumpery2024.com)

Dennis is joined via Zoom from London by K Anderson, host of the podcast Lost Spaces. On its surface, the show is about lost queer spaces like bars and bookstores, but on a deeper level it about queer people discovering who they really are, often on a dance floor. K talks about how he first got the idea for the podcast, how doing it has changed his life, the workload of doing a podcast and why so many gay bars have shame-based names like Alibis and Incognito. He also talks about his own lost space, a gay bar in Adelaide, Australia called Mars Bar, where he had many adventures as a young man coming out. Other topics include: the bliss of making out in a nightclub, paying too much to see Diana Ross in concert, the Kylie mega-mix that he used to hate but now he's sort of come around on Kylie, small town gay bars, composing his own theme music and the thrill of getting sticky trousers on a dance floor.

Dennis is joined by author Carl Siciliano for Part 2 of their conversation about Carl's new book Marking Room and his decades-long career, fighting to protect the lives of LGBTQ youth in New York City. Carl talks about the most difficult part of writing the book; reliving the murder of his young friend Ali Forney. He also talks about the big themes he wrestles with in Making Room, specifically humans seeming need to humiliate each other and Americans need to believe that they're always the good guys. Carl also talks about lighter subjects, like the Thanksgiving weekend in 2016 when both Madonna and Lady Gaga wanted to make top secret visits to the Ali Forney Center. Other topics include: how his looks effected his work, seeing his own family background in the stories of young people who'd been kicked out of their homes, the human cost of the gentrification of Times Square, why the monks cried when he left the monastery he spent time in as a young man.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Carl Siciliano to discuss his new book Making Room: Three Decades of Fighting for Beds, Belonging and a Safe Space for LGBT Youth, which documents his founding of the Ali Forney Center in New York City in 2002 as well his many years at the Times Square youth center Safe Space before that. It was at Safe Space in 1994 that Carl met Ali Forney, a non-binary black young person who had been living on the street since they were 12. The pair developed a unique bond and when Ali was senselessly murdered by a gun shot to the temple, one of the ways Carl dealt with his grief is to start a new youth center specifically for queer youth and to name it after Ali. Carl talks about the capacity for love and unshakeable faith in God that made Ali so unique and recalls how he used Ali's memorial to get more media attention to the plight of the citiy's homeless queer youth. Other topics include: the day Tyra Banks showed up to walk the runway with Ali, dealing with unsympathetic and bullying politicians like Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Cuomo, a moment of grace he experienced on a train back from Coney Island with several of his kids, how he ended up with a parrot that says "Sit your butt down" and his complicated journey with Catholicism. He also shares a story about Bea Arthur from The Golden Girls that's guaranteed to make you love her more than you already do. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720043/making-room-by-carl-siciliano/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Capella Fahoome, a film producer who also works as what she calls a "Production Whisperer," which is a consultant who helps sets run more smoothly. Capella talks about how she first got into film, the rookie mistakes she made when she was first starting out and the difference between being a Set Whisperer and a Set Wolf. Dennis also talks to Capella about a Masters Program she completed that Dennis has been interested in; the Masters of Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Other topics include: working as a producer on films like Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey and I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking), dealing with rejection, why she loves Gen Z and the mistake she came very close to making as a producer that could have landed in her a Florida jail.  www.capellafahoome.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by photographer and director Mike Ruiz to discuss his latest project, Vanessa Williams new music video "Legs," his long friendship with Williams and how he relates to the song's theme of being fabulous at any age. Meanwhile, Dennis recalls how he once asked Vanessa Williams to dance at a Halloween party in 1986 and she said no, she was taking a break. Mike also talks about how he first fell in love with photography in his late 20's after working for years as a model. Then he recalls shooting with such A listers as Prince, Dolly Parton, Betty White, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and most recently, Jack Reacher hunk Alan Ritchson. Other topics include: being obsessed with his dad's body-building mags when he was a kid, the perils of trying to forge friendships with celebrities, appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, America's Next Top Model and The A List, treating his body like an art form through body building, the charity work for animals and the LGBT community, being repeatedly sexually harassed as a model, his childhood obsessions with Studio 54 and Patrick Duffy in The Man From Atlantis and why he loves to say, "Yaaassss" during his photoshoots. www.mikeruiz.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Kevin Daniels and Logan Arditty, who co-star in the play Monsters of the American Cinema, which is produced by the Rogue Machine theater company and showing at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood through May 19th. Dennis caught the play and was struck at the connection between the intergenerational pair who are the only actors in the cast. Here's the play's synopsis: "When his husband dies, Remy Washington (Daniels), a Black man, finds himself both the owner of a drive-in movie theater and a caregiver to his late husband’s straight, white teenage son, Pup (Arditty). Their relationship fractures when Remy discovers Pup and his friends have been bullying a gay teen at his school." In the interview, Kevin and Logan talk about what drew them to the piece, the special bond they've developed on stage and off, how they memorized all those lines and the thrill they get when they can hear audience members cry and occasionally scream. Other topics include: the moments they they wanted to act, managing the ups and downs of a creative career, their favorite scary movies (Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp), Kevin's stint playing Magic Johnson in the Broadway play Magic/Bird and his new film Not Another Church Movie, Logan's upcoming films Trust In Love and Stay Out, the magic of live theater and how cool it is to be on a billboard on Melrose Avenue with your very first play. www.roguemachinetheatre.org

For the 10th Anniversary of Dennis Anyone, Dennis flips the script and gets interviewed by one of his past guests, filmmaker and longtime Dennis Anyone listener Robert Chandler. This is Part 2 of their interview, in which Dennis recalls some of his most memorable interviews with folks like Leslie Jordan, Kate Flannery, Mitchell Anderson and Dick DeBartolo from Match Game and Mad Magazine fame. They also discuss the guests Dennis would love to get on the show like author and birdwatcher Christian Cooper and American Idol alum David Archuleta. Other topics include: the CD of music Dennis made in the 1990s, a summer trip to rehab, the world's loneliest voicemail inbox, turning 60 and the Xanadu luncheon to end all Xanadu luncheons. 

For the 10th Anniversary of Dennis Anyone, Dennis flips the script and gets interviewed by one of his past guests, filmmaker and longtime Dennis Anyone listener Robert Chandler. Dennis recalls the beginning of Dennis Anyone, his first guests, why he does it and how it feels to have done 410 episodes. He also talks about why he likes interviewing people, how he sees interviewing as an art form and how he feels about it the way Katy Perry feels about singing "Firework." Other topics include: Dennis's early Bravo-lebrity moment as a Main Gay on the first season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on The D List, the Fashion Police writers strike of 2013 and how it changed him, the glory days of national magazines and local gay rags, Dennis's thoughts on straight actors playing gay roles, what makes a great Dennis Anyone guest and why it's cool to be kind.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Brian Sloan whose 1997 gay rom-com I Think I Do is coming to streaming this month in a newly restored version. It's also being celebrated at a Newfest screening and cast reunion on April 15th at the BAM Rose Cinemas in New York City. Brian talks about what originally inspired him to write the movie, the thrill of arriving at set on Day 1 and seeing all those trucks and how hard it was to cast the movie because no agents or managers wanted their clients to play gay characters. He also shares memories of working with cast members Tuc Watkins, Guillermo Diaz, Christian Maelen and the late Alexis Arquette. Other topics include: why he chose to feature multiple Partridge Family songs on the film's soundtrack, seeing the movie Porky's behind his parents' back, playing hardball with Elaine Stritch, wanting to be blond Chris Partridge and the thrill of meeting multiple married gay couples who say that going to see I Think I Do together was their first date.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmakers Monica Villamizar and Jordan Bryon to talk about their new documentary Transition, which Jordan is also the main subject of. Here's the film's synopsis: Australian journalist Jordan Bryon gains incredible access to a Taliban unit during the fall of Afghanistan. The countryʼs transition coincides with his own physical transformation as a trans man. While he and his local videographer, Teddy, embed with the Taliban, Jordan conceals his physiology and is accepted as a man. However, if the Taliban were to find out, he and Teddy would likely be in grave danger. The film follows Jordanʼs journey, as he paradoxically gains more freedom as he transitions, while deftly chronicling the increasing oppression of women as the Taliban transitions to power. Jordan talks about why he felt more at home embedded with a Taliban unit than he does at a queer bar in Sydney, how he met his girlfriend Kiana who also appears in the film and why his mom is so cool. Monica talks about what drew her to the story, the frustration of not being able to shoot in certain places because she's a woman and how she'll never forget how shocked she was to learn that many of the young Talibs she met had no idea who Osama Bin Laden even was. Other topics include: bra burning rituals, what things are like in Afghanistan now, nerve-wracking airport checkpoints and the surprising reactions they've gotten so far from the movie.

This is a special crossover episode with the film podcast Linoleum Knife Presents More Linoleum Knife hosting by husbands and film critics Dave White and Alonso Duralde who Dennis has been friends with since the 1990s. They invited Dennis on to talk about one of his favorite movies ever, Xanadu starring Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. Dennis shares a slew of memories related to the film, like when he watched it in his hometown of Holbrook, AZ and the power went out during the screening, that time he got to be a paid to dance in front of the screen while the movie was playing and the chilling encounter he once had on stage with an actress from Xanadu: The Musical that haunts him to this day. Other topics include: the Outfest sing-along Xanadu screening where Dennis saved the day, Michael Beck's short shorts, the roller disco trend and Cher's role in it and that time Dennis got to meet ONJ and kind of choked. https://www.patreon.com/LinoleumKnife  

Part 2 of Dennis's conversation with author Abdi Nazemian focuses on his latest book Only This Beautiful Moment, which recently won the Stonewall Award from Young Adult Literature. Abdi talks about drawing inspiration for the multigenerational story from his own family, how he was able to write scenes set in Iran despite having left there when he was a child and the longing he feels for the country and it's people. He also talks about what it feels like to have his two most recent books banned in many schools, how that affects his bottom line and how he learned the hard way not to engage with online trolls. Other topics include: being an Associate Producer on the film Call Me By Your Name, going back to school to get his MBA, the power of telling the truth instead of chasing what you think the market wants, why young people give him hope, the perils of social media and why he chose to set a scene in the men's room of the late great Silver Lake piano bar The Other Side. https://www.abdinazemian.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Abdi Nazemian (Only This Beautiful Moment) to discuss his previous book Like A Love Story, which is about three high schoolers in the late 1980's who are obsessed with Madonna. Dennis first met Abdi at a queer writers mixer and commented on Abdi's Madonna T-shirt. They discovered they were both big fans of Madge so it made sense to talk for the podcast after they had both seen Madonna's current Celebration Tour. Abdi and Dennis compare notes about the tour and share the moments they found most inspiring and moving. Abdi also talks about how his Madonna obsession inspired the plot of Life a Love Story and how the book ended up being a breakthrough success for him after publishing several other books. Other topics include: Abdi's obsession with old Hollywood, how he got his entire boarding school into Mommie Dearest, what the label "Young Adult Novel" actually means, the time he almost met Madonna as a kid in France, where he was when he heard she'd been hospitalized and the question he'd really like to ask Madonna about the spoken-word section of "Vogue."

In this special episode of Dennis Anyone, Dennis is joined by five friends he's known since 1986 when he moved from Arizona to Los Angeles to take part in a 12-week long performing workshop put on by American Center for Musical Theater at held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. This reunion meal happened in 2017 and was held at the Moorpark, CA home of Kristin Dahl and her husband Eric and the other attendees are Sherri Fleming, Karole Forman, Dennis Osborne and Jon Thomas. The group talks about what that intensive workshop meant for them in their lives and share what they remember about that time and each other. Other topics include: bad auditions, dream roles and teachers that hurl insults, play mind games and worse in order to toughen you up for show business.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by TCM host Dave Karger to discuss his new book, 50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars and Filmmakers On Their Career Defining Wins, which features delicious new interviews with icons like Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Martin Scorsese and Mel Brooks as well as lesser-known winners like Precious screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, documentarian Jessica Yu and sound mixer Kevin O'Connell who was nominated 20 times before finally taking home the gold for Heartbreak Ridge. Dave talks about how some winners revealed to him that they were going through tough times in their personal lives on the same night they were achieving Oscar glory as well as how the win impacted their career. Dave also talks about some of the more dishy stories in the book; like how Joan Crawford tried to horn in on Rita Moreno's Oscar glory, how Marlee Matlin was in Betty Ford for rehab when she got nominated and how John Travolta's "Adela Nazeem" gaffe cause one nominee to hit the flask. Other topics include: how awesome it was to write for Entertainment Weekly in the 1990s, the interview subject that intimidated him, how he made the transition from print journalist to TV host, how being a nice guy has served him well in Hollywood and why he's totally in awe of actors. Dave also plays a lightning round of movie-related questions from the Observation Dec, which produces musings about Porky's, Sixteen Candles, Singing in the Rain and Broadcast News.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include Barbie, Anatomy of a Fall, Dicks: The Musical, A Good Person, Cassandro, Oppenheimer, NYAD, Poor Things, Origin, Passages, The Iron Claw, Past Lives, 80 For Brady, Book Club 2, Rustin, Ferrari, The Teacher’s Lounge, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?, Problemista, Kokomo City, You Hurt My Feelings, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Monica, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, Theater Camp, Wonka, The Color Purple, Cocaine Bear, Red, White and Royal Blue, Maestro, Knock at the Cabin and Killers of the Flower Moon. Dennis also talks about getting to attend the world premier of J Lo's visual album This Is Me...Now and getting caught up in the j Lo of it all.     

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include The Zone of Interest, American Fiction, M3GAN, Bottoms, All of Us Strangers, Somewhere In Queens, May December, The Holdovers, Fast X, Fallen Leaves and Monster. They also talk about what a great year it was for cinema generally and Dennis shares a story involving a fan of the short film he made with Glenn Gaylord and Nadya Ginsburg ten years ago called If We Took a Holiday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs8GMjyiYGQ  

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and director Luke Yankee whose new play Marilyn, Mom, and Me will have its World Premier on  February 16th at the International City Theatre in Long Beach, CA. The play is about Luke's mother, Oscar-winning actress Eileen Heckart and her close friendship Marilyn Monroe while they were shooting the movie Bus Stop together in the mid-1950's and how that relationship affected Luke's own feelings about his mother. Luke recalls that whenever he would mention Marilyn to his mother, she would burst into tears and how that ultimately inspired him to write the play. Luke also talks about the extensive research he did, the Cartier earrings that Marilyn gave to his mother (that eventually were left to Mary Tyler Moore after Heckhart died) and the thrill he got recently when he learned that his mother was indeed at one of the Ella Fitzgerald shows that Marilyn pressured the Mocambo club to host in 1955. Other topics include: Heckart's negative reaction to Luke when he came out and how she eventually came around, what it's like to cast actors to play your mother and yourself, the only Hollywood star who intimidated his mother (hint, it was Bette Davis) and the moment during rehearsal where he got so choked up, he had to step away to collect himself. www.lukeyankee.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Curtis Chin to discuss his new memoir Everything I Learned, I Learned In A Chinese Restaurant, which is about his upbringing as one of six kids raised by parents who owned a Chinese restaurant in downtown Detroit called Chung's. Curtis talks about what a magical place Chung's was and what it was like to visit it recently when it was sealed up and abandoned. He also recalls how his parents encouraged him to talk to and befriend everyone who came to Chung's and how that openness has helped him in his life. He also talks about his deep love for his hometown of Detroit even though he knew five people who had been murdered by the time he was 18, including Vincent Chin, whose much-publicized case inspired Curtis to become a writer. Curtis also talks about realizing he was gay and enjoying himself with a stolen International Male catalog in the walk-in freezer of Chung's because that was the only place he could be alone. Other topics include: going to Boys State as a teen, being a young Republican like Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, the movie star who came into Chung's and was a total jerk, why his mother was so pissed at Ronald Reagan, coming out to his parents in a Bob's Big Boy and the stories from readers he's heard on his extensive book tour that move him to tears. www.curtisfromdetroit.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by novelist Tim Murphy to discuss his latest novel Speech Team, which he describes as a book about "small T trauma." The book is about four friends in their 40's who were on their high school speech team who reunite and decide to confront the teacher who led the group and said some f-ed up things to each of them back in the 80's. Tim talks about how this is his most autobiographical novel yet and how he actually prefers to write about characters who are less close to home. Dennis, who was also on his high school speech team in Arizona, compares notes and memories with Tim about what the experience meant to them and they each recall the different "cuttings" they performed at tournaments. Dennis also asks Tim about his earlier novel, Christadora, and how he was able to write so vividly and accurately about the worlds of addiction, recovery and early AIDS activism. Other topics include: his substack Caftan Chronicles where he does long-form interviews with gay men of a certain age, the Phil Collins song that reminds him of his favorite speech team memory, how he sometimes cried when he writes and the pride he takes in having "stuck with writing all these years out of some base belief that something would come out of it." https://thecaftanchronicles.substack.com/

Dennis is joined joined via Zoom by the Fab Five from the new gay webseries Open To It, which is about a happy Weho couple named Greg and Cam who decide it might be fun and exciting to open things up sexually,...and hijinks ensue. Playing the game with Dennis are writer-director-EP Frank Arthur Smith who plays Greg, EP-director Greg Wolf, EP-director Matt Hartman, actor Tim Wardell who plays Cam and actor Jason Caceres who plays Princeton the irrepressible twink who shakes things up. The questions in play are "What's something you witnessed or experienced where you thought, 'Only in Weho?' and "What's a story from your life that might make a good episode of Open To It?" The answers involve everything from fitting room hookups to dogs on the bed during sex to getting frisky in the bushes by the Abbey. Watch Open To It at OutTV.dom and learn more at www.opentoitseries.com . And to book a virtual game night for your crew hosted by Dennis, visit www.youdontknowmylife.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Adam Sank, the star and writer of the one-man show Adam Sank: Bad Dates, which plays Oscar's in Palm Springs on January 11th and 12th. Adam talks about how the show grew out of his stand up act and evolved into a much richer, more theatrical experience than anything he had done previously. He also talks about people always asking him why he's single at 52 and he's come to not care whether or not he's ever in a romantic relationship again. Other topics include: his best day job working at the New York Times, what it's like the date the hottest guy around, his first gay bar, overcoming tragedy, why good verbal is important in porn, that time he worked the door at an underwear party, his daily Facebook unfriending ritual and why Bad Dates is the most meaningful thing he's ever done on stage. www.adamsank.com

For his first episode of 2024, Dennis is joined via Zoom by his pals actor-writer Craig Chester (Swoon, Adam & Steve), writer-showrunner Jack Kenny (Warehouse 13, The Book of Daniel), author Byron Lane (Big Gay Wedding, A Star Is Bored) & Terry Ray (actor and co-founder of The Bent Theater Company) for a few rollicking rounds of You Don't Know My Life! Apart from all being brilliantly talented and funny, all four guests currently live in Palm Springs so Dennis came up with special Palm Springs-related questions just for the occasion. The stories and musings that emerge are sexy, sun-soaked and hysterical; from skinny-dipping on New Years Eve to octogenarian orgies to accidentally mistaking Berry Manilow for Rod Stewart at a Mexican restaurant. To book a virtual game night for your crew hosted by Dennis, visit www.youdontknowmylife.com

For his final episode of 2023, Dennis is joined by filmmaker Todd Verow and actor Guillermo Diaz from the new gay thriller You Can't Stay Here, which is about a repressed photographer who becomes obsessed with visiting the gay cruising area the Ramble in New York's Central Park. The producing team recall how they first connected over Instagram, with Guillermo sending Todd a message that said "I like your work. Let's do something together." The pair also talk about what it was like to shoot in the Ramble and sometimes having to wait for strangers to finish having sex so they could get their shot. Todd also talks about how he's managed to stay so prolific as a filmmaker, how his feelings about depicting sex have evolved over the years and what his favorite part of the filmmaking process is. Guillermo talks about his decision to be out and take chances in his career, what it was like to be on Scandal and the thrill of recently directing his own movie, Dear Luke, Love Me, which is due out in 2024. Other topics include: how the film got its title and theme song, the manager who told Guillermo he needed to up his on-screen murdering to counteract his gayness, the real-life Raccoon Man who appears in the film...with his raccoons...and as a tribute to the year's end, Dennis, Todd and Guillermo share their own personal highlights of 2023.