http://playbill.com/news/article/liza-and-patti-and-angela-the-definitive-divas-who-are-gay-icons-352029 Liza and Patti and Angela — The Definitive Divas Who Are Gay Icons
As part of Playbill.com's 30 Days of Pride, correspondent Ben Rimalower offers a collection of famed gay icons.
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The idea of divas as gay icons has gotten a lot of traction over the years. Essay, books and plays (cough, cough, Patti Issues) have been written on the subject and it goes far beyond Broadway, with performers ranging from Lady Gaga to Maria Callas, Meryl Streep to Elizabeth Berkleygarnering the distinction. But Broadway does seem to be ground zero for the phenomenon. If you buy into the notion that gay men, seeking escape from their oppression, have found kindred spirit in the vulnerability of the great ladies of the stage, and have felt empowered by their prowess, and further, that gay men found solace in the fantasy of musical theatre, then it's only natural that the divas of Broadway would hold particular allure.
Liza Minnelli
Click through to read my selections for the Top Ten Broadway Divas Who Are Gay Icons.
Cabaret superstar Liza Minnelli is coming to Sheffield for an intimate evening of chat and performance in association with our own WOW247 entertainments brand.
Promoter Rocco Buonvino, who teamed up with us as official meda partner to bring Sylvester Stallone, promised more Hollywood greats.
An Intimate Evening with Liza Minnelli will be held at Sheffield City Hall on Tuesday, September 22.
New York-based actor, writer, record-business survivor and creator of stargayzing.com
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Even by Hollywood standards, the majesty and misery of Judy Garland's short life was extreme, defined by its operatic intensity and an epic series of (mostly) public peaks and valleys. As we approach the forty-sixth anniversary of her passing (June 22), the Judy Garland story arc remains the gold standard of show business tragedies -- created song by song, pill by pill, comeback by comeback, trope by trope -- to which all other show business tragedies should forever be compared.
Because so many years have passed, I was actually quite surprised to learn that there is someone alive with a first-hand Judy Garland story that has never been told, but there is. Her name is Stevie Phillips and her narrative cuts right through the revisionist bullshit and gets at something far more interesting: a portrait of Garland filled with contradictions and flaws that actually restores Judy's humanity at the same it relates some rather sensational (and terrible) things she did. On June 2, St. Martin's Press published Phillips' Judy + Liza + Robert + Freddie + David + Sue + Me, and trust me, her memoir is much more deftly crafted than its cumbersome title.
Facts are facts, but "the truth" is mutable and can be shaped into whatever narrative we want (or need) to suit our purposes. People who worship idols have their own peculiar psychology and oftentimes will not brook anything that deviates from their truth, facts be damned. As any reasonable person not invested in whitewashing the facts well knows (this includes Stevie Phillips), Judy Garland was nothing if not a study in contradictions: gifted beyond all measure but utterly lacking confidence; a supremely self-centered child-woman who, paradoxically, seemed to lack an actual self; a funny, quick-witted woman who made the world cry for a living. Why deny a great tortured artist the complexity that defined her?
This is a good moment to share that I am big Judy Garland fan. I believe she was an entertainer virtually without peer as well as a fascinating person. I embrace the totality of all the good and the bad qualities that were stuffed in that hot air balloon bound for Kansas, informing the dreams of generations of people around the world as it rose above the Emerald City (not just gay dreamers, by the way). But I do not believe a one-dimensional version of her story. Here are a few other things I believe: that Judy Garland was extremely troubled, but also that she caused a lot of trouble; that everyone who loved her probably tried to help her; that Louis B. Mayer did not want to lose his greatest asset; that Judy was taken advantage of but was exceedingly capable of taking advantage; that in the end Judy destroyed herself because of reasons as baffling and complicated as addiction itself. These are my opinions.
Stevie Phillips began her career in the early 1960s when, as a young woman, she went to work for two of the most important and famous agents in New York, Freddie Fields and David Begelman, (in the case of Begelman, that should be "infamous"). Their star client was Judy Garland who, being Garland, was simultaneously the most gifted person in show business and the client from hell. Phillips soon found herself stuck with a Sisyphean task: being Judy Garland's day-to-day person, responsible for getting her where she needed to be in condition to work. Per Phillips' story, it seemed exhilarating at first, but soon became impossible, then traumatic. Phillips reveals personal information about Garland's sexuality where others have only speculated. She also relates the bizarre and crazy details of Judy's final big comeback before beginning the final descent.
Since I originally wrote about the book a few weeks ago in Stargayzing, the Judy police have come after me. They've called me names on Twitter (Scumbag! Graverobber!) and accused me and Miss Phillips (whom I've never met) of money grabbing. None of the Judy police have read the book, though several have threatened to burn it! (I should add I've never made a cent off my blog or been compensated for contributing here).
But I believe the veracity of Miss Phillips' story because it feels true. Having worked in the entertainment business since I was very young, I can say with complete confidence that there is no awful thing you can imagine that does not actually happen in the parallel universe of celebrity. I identify with Stevie Phillips because I have lived "just outside the spotlight" for most of my life. This is the main theme of my blog Stargayzing and one of the defining motifs of my own narrative, such as it is. Though my only objective is to express myself and to promote an exchange of ideas, I've found this can be challenging when you're dealing with a cult of personality that doesn't permit critical thought but does encourage revisionist history.
From personal experience I know that living inside the bubble of a star's narcissism, though initially very exciting, is surprisingly noisy and airless. Once there you will soon lose the ability to hear your own voice. Working with stars is almost always a Faustian deal. I understand, as Phillips perceptively notes, how childhood trauma breeds pathological ambition; how you get roped into abusive relationships with bosses who you both love and hate; how it gets so blurry that you don't know where their life ends and yours begins. It doesn't matter whether it is Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston or Michael Jackson, where there are drugs, idolatry and fame, there is some iteration of the "Judy Garland story."
Stevie Phillips enters the Garland narrative in its tawdry, final act, when even Judy apologists struggle to manipulate the facts. By that time, Judy Garland (the person), was a sad, lonely lady with advanced addiction issues struggling to make a living and blaming everyone else for her troubles (reference the late night drunken autobiography tapes for proof). This is classic addict stuff. According to Phillips, who survived the psychodrama of being Judy's de-facto personal assistant to become a highly regarded talent manager and film producer with a long list of credits, (hence the book's clunky title), life with Judy in the early-1960s made for a pretty harrowing coming-of-age story.
Phillips communicates both the good and the bad with great empathy and respect and refreshing regard for the facts. This has, no doubt, pissed some people off. Here's my take: it's 2015 and unless you're a TCM junkie, a gay man over 40, or a young musical theater kid, nobody really cares anymore. The piano bars are gone and young, assimilated gay men have no need for the Judy Garland victim narrative. I'm told that upon coming out, gay men no longer automatically receive a commemorative copy of Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall upon coming out. Like water at a restaurant in California, you have to ask for it. (I'm joking, but only a little).
Here is an alternative theory: in this era of reduced attention spans, reality TV and auto-tuned singers who are really talentless strippers, Phillips' salacious stories are Judy's best chance for continued survival with millennial homosexuals. They still get Joan Crawford, but only as she is filtered through the Mommie Dearest lens. You probably won't find young gay men watching Sadie Thompson. Sadly, to many of them, Garland's singing sounds like Jeanette MacDonald did to me: formal, fussy, arcane, corny. Don't believe me? Try playing "The Trolley Song" for a young gay kid who isn't into Broadway: total disconnect. They grew up listening to Britney Spears and Beyonce and this, my friends, is what we're up against. After a life of stunning achievement that, one thought, would have cemented her status as an icon for perpetuity, the demographics appear to be against the Garland legacy's survival. Is it possible that the legend of Judy Garland may now actually depend on not obfuscating the facts so Judy can remain America's symbol of innocence?
After Garland's death, Phillips, who clearly had the stomach for this sort of thing, became a first-tier manager and producer herself, whose star clients were Liza Minnelli and Robert Redford, whom Phillips represented during their biggest years. There is some great post-Garland material in the book as well (we all must give Liza tremendous credit for her incredible survival skills), but it's the Garland stuff that resonates most.
In the end, this is Stevie Phillips' story, expressed with humor and a surprising amount of humility for a Hollywood power broker. Some may not want to believe that, say, Judy Garland accidentally lit herself on fire and Phillips had to "put her
out," and what that conflagration might say about who Judy Garland really was, but it's Stevie's narrative and it belongs to her. We are all free to draw our own conclusions.
Previously unseen and undated images of Ronnie Barker, Liza Minnelli and Woody Allen have been released after they were unearthed in an archive. The TV Times images were found in A4 envelopes packed up inside boxes at the British Film Institute (BFI) in London, after being stored there for more than 50 years. Only a tiny fraction were published before they were stashed away.
Hollywood royalty Liza Minnelli will be live and in conversation at a live Q and A in Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium this September!
Get up close and personal with one of film and theatres most celebrated icons this September. Liza will be talking about her life with a chance for the audience to speak to her in a live Q and A in Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium on the 24th of September 2015.
Best known for her role in 1972’s Cabaret, Minnelli is one of the most acclaimed and well-loved performers on both stage and screen. Between her hit films and selling more albums than you can count (even if you used both hands and both feet), Liza Minnelli has endeared herself to the public throughout her career.
She had the original hit with New York, New York, as the title from her movie with Robert De Niro in 1977, two years before Sinatra made it his signature song and later duetted it with her many times live on stage.
Switching between old school and contemporary pop in the late 1980s, she toured The Ultimate Event with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr, including an appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1989 and recorded the pop album Results produced by British duo Pet Shop Boys. Many of her albums are live records.
She has also racked up Tony Awards, a special “Legends” Grammy, two Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy. Other major film roles saw her appear opposite Dudley Moore in 1981’s comedy Arthur and 1988 sequel Arthur 2: On the Rocks, as well as 1991 musical drama Stepping Out. She also recently made an appearance as herself in the movie Sex and the City 2.
In 2000, Minnelli was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Don’t miss this opportunity to get up close and in conversation with this legend of stage and screen.
After a 90 minute interview, the evening will end with a few intimate songs, with the 69 year old accompanied by her long time musical director and pianist Billy Stritch, plus a Q&A session with her fans in the audience.
Liza Minnelli is recognised as one of the all-time greats for a reason; her talent is almost beyond words. Experience this for yourself by securing Liza Minnelli tickets today!
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