(LR) Parker Guidry as Walden, Abby McEnany as Abby and Theo Germaine as Chris in WORK IN PROGRESS “162”. Photo credit: Adrian S. Burrows / SHOWTIME.
Whatever your entertainment needs, we’ve got you (and hopefully your mind) back with Queerty’s weekly ‘Culture Club’ column featuring some of the highlights from new releases, streaming shows, classics to. review and what to drink while you watch.
The Return: Work in Progress Season 2
Designer / star Abby McEnany returns for another neurotic outing in this unique and very queer piece, very funny sitcom. Season 2 picks up with Abby recovering from her breakup with boyfriend Chris (Theo Germaine). Although she contemplates suicide first, like Abby, she can’t quite perform the deed: life has a way of keeping her busy. Fortunately, Abby is also diagnosed with clinical depression, which leads her to hate herself a little less. Julia Sweeney also returns as Julia Sweeney, whose character of Pat is still the bane of Abby’s existence, though Julia herself remains a trusted friend.
As with season 1, season 2 of Work in progress makes a lot of laughs as it plays with the line between fact and fiction, and confronts the absurdities of mental illness. This is where McEnany’s true genius lies: she has the ability to find extreme humor in a dark subject and in doing so both demonstrates her own courage and inspires others struggling with depression to do the same. . How can such a heavy show also feel so good? Watch, learn and laugh.
Premieres August 22 on Showtime.
Art and Home: My Beauty, My Beauty
We fell in love with this indie darling at Sundance earlier this year. The film follows Lane (Hannah Pepper), a goalless queer woman wandering through life who meets old friends in the French countryside. These friends also happen to be her exes, jazz musicians Bertie (Idella Johnson) and her husband Fred (Lucien Guignard). The trio once reveled in a polyamorous relationship before the friction between Bertie and Lane separated them. Reconnecting with Lane, however, ignites a new passion in Bertie and his vocal styles, which breathes new life into their band. Fred and Bertie begin to see a future for their relationship – and their music – with Lane; that is, until the arrival of Noa (Sivan Noam Shimon), a beautiful woman in Lane’s eyes.
My beautiful, my beautiful confronts the still taboo subject of polyamory with grace and beauty. It owes a lot to the chemistry between the actors: director Marion Hill takes a voyeuristic approach to drama, often shooting a scene from a distance or in a corner of a room, as a fly might observe. This also goes for very frank sex scenes. The approach works well: My beautiful, my beautiful avoids any blunt statements about gender, sex, or relationships, preferring to simply observe its characters and let viewers draw their own conclusions. Shot on location in the French countryside, My beautiful, my beautiful there’s no shortage of lush visuals or complicated relationships in a love story that’s both basic and elusive.
In theaters August 20.
The Legit: on Broadway
Theater fans won’t want to miss this new documentary from Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby. On Broadway chronicles Broadway’s transition from the classical period to the modern era. By the 1970s, the Great White Way and Times Square had gone from an artistic paradise to a seedy mess of prostitution, strippers, X-rated movies, and rat infestation. Jacoby traces how this neglect associated with the AIDS crisis enabled the British invasion by Andrew Lloyd Webber & et. al., soaring ticket prices, and later, how Disney paved the way for American companies to revitalize the New York Theater into a tourist spectacle.
On Broadway doesn’t exactly innovate, but it does offer a fascinating account of the last 50 years of Broadway. It also raises broader questions as to how or if the injection of tourism and business funds helped fuel, or hindered, the artistic growth of theater. Jacoby also discovers incredible archive footage of the Broadway protests of the 1980s, in which stage stars revolted against the demolition of historic theaters in favor of new developments (a scene of Christopher Reeve crying on a ball demolition left a strong impression). With new interviews with Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, George C. Wolfe, August Wilson, Christine Baranski, Hugh Jackman and more, On Broadway plays like a love letter to the theater, a lament from yesteryear and a cautious look into the future of an American institution.
Opening in New York on August 20 and Los Angeles on August 27, followed by a nationwide rollout.
The person in person: Rain Valdez’s razor-sharp tongue
Actor / director Rain Valdez premieres the new season of his digital series with a special live playback of the first four episodes of Season 2, brought to you by Outfest. The new season picks up amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with Belle (Valdez) still in shock to come out publicly as transgender. Amid blockades, hate crimes against Asian Americans, Black Lives Matter protests and other chaos, Belle continues to fight her way through the world, speaking out against injustice wherever she sees fit … debating the moral issues of Canceling Culture. This special live reading will see cast members Alexandra Gray, Sterling Jones and Carmen Scott return alongside Valdez, with Angelica Ross, Trace Lysette, Jacob Tobia and Candis Cayne joining the company for the reading. Since the show’s season 2 production still remains in question, reading it might just prove the only the opportunity to see the story continue.
August 21 at Outfest Los Angeles.
Reunion: Southern Baptist Sissies Live
Writer / director Del Shores is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his award-winning play with a special live reading, featuring an amalgam cast using performers from the original stage version, film adaptation and original tour. Emerson Collins, Leslie Jordan, Dale Dickey and Willam reprise all their roles, in a story about southern alter boys confronting their nascent homosexual urges, and a city of eccentric characters ready to eat them all alive. Viewers can stream this special reading live from their homes, and best of all, proceeds will go to the Del Shores Foundation, including initiatives to provide grants to upstart queer writers and to save small theater spaces affected by COVID- 19. It’s a great way to enjoy a gay night out, theater, and doing it for a good cause.
Streams on YouTube and Facebook on August 22.
The Sip: Sissy Cola
via Shutterstock
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Southern Baptist Sissies, we have chosen to include a very simple “sissy drink” that is both easy to prepare and sweet. Chances are many of you reading this have now mixed up something similar under difficult circumstances … like growing up as a southern queer Baptist. That’s enough for anyone to need a drink.
Mix equal parts each ingredient on ice. Stir and serve.
