Fame Remake on the horizon?

Shana Naomi, Out.com
Article Date: 12/01/2008 12:34 PM

Look, I know I may have gone all crazy for High School Musical, but it's only because in my heart I've always wanted real life to look a lot more like, well, Fame. (My distant runner-up for favorite film in this category is the Sondheim-obsessed Camp.)

A remake of the now-classic 1980 film about kids attending a dramatic arts high school in New York CIty starts shooting this week, with Debbie Allen, Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton and Bebe Neuwirth all lined up to play teachers. (The kids are largely unknowns; Allen had a small cameo in 1980 as a teacher but now will play the school's principal.)

At a special screening of the original in LA earlier this year, Debbie Allen (the original choreographer) was greeted with a standing ovation from a crowd full of former drama and band geeks, and spoke movingly of how the film inspired school districts across the country to implement arts-specific programs. (Three cheers from the queers and other outcasts in the audience!)

I really recommend renting the original, especially if you've never seen it. There's no high kicks special edition DVD, but the film itself holds up well -- and unlike, say, HSM3, the gay character (played by Paul McCrane, later of ER "Rocket" Romano fame) has a storyline that's front and center and, though a bit painful and dated, it's honest and sincere. Here's hoping the remake doesn't go back in the closet.
In the meantime, here, have the lunch scene. It trumps every other "spontaneous" dance number in a teen movie ever, and if this doesn't wake you up on a wintry Monday morning, you've obviously got way bigger problems than a musical can fix:

"You want fame?...Well, fame costs. And here's where you start paying...in sweat!"

Kate Pazakis: Unzipped! Debuts at the Zipper Factory 12/9

Hey Family!

My NYYT homie Kate Pazakis is headlining her own show down at The Zipper Factory. I haven't seen Kate in many years now but let me just tell you fam...this chick can SANG!!!! She can sing her butt off and you know I wouldn't say it if it wasn't so.

One of the biggest voices I have heard in a long time....make sure ya'll check out her set! The Zipper Factory is located at 336 W. 37th street in Manhattan between 8th & 9th Avenues.

Congrats Chica! I know that you are just gonna tear the house down!

Downtown diva Kate Pazakis headlines her first Zipper show, Kate Pazakis: Unzipped! on December 9th, 2008 at 10:30pm. This brand new show uses a mix of pop, rock, country and musical theatre to reveal the woman behind the powerhouse belt. The concert also gives the audience a chance to witness the live recording of Kate's debut album. Featuring new material, original songs, a few fan favorites and a live band headed by Musical Director, Brian J. Nash. There will also be a Special Guest Appearance by Seth Rudetsky.

Kate Pazakis off-Broadway credits include A Broadway Diva Christmas, Newsical and The Sexless Years. She has performed at over one hundred readings and charity benefits including The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for The Actors Fund. Kate has also been seen on NBC performing at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, at Carnegie Hall in Jerry Springer the Opera, and aboard Rosie O'Donnell's family cruises. She will be playing herself in the upcoming "Big Gay Musica Movie" or you can catch her co-hosting "Mostly Sondheim", a weekly musical theater night, at the Duplex every Friday night at 11pm. www.katepazakis.com

Seth Rudetsky is the Broadway host, seven days a week, on Sirius Satellite Radio. As a pianist, Seth has played for more than a dozen Broadway shows including RAGTIME, LES MIZ and PHANTOM. He was the Artistic Producer/Music Director for the first five annual Actors Fund Fall Concerts including DREAMGIRLS with Audra MacDonald (recorded on Nonesuch Records) and HAIR with Jennifer Hudson (recorded on Ghostlight Records, Grammy Nomination). In 2007 he made his Broadway acting debut playing Sheldon (singing "Magic to Do" in a devastating unitard) in THE RITZ directed by Joe Mantello for The Roundabout Theater. Off-Broadway he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed RHAPSODY IN SETH(directed by Peter Flynn) at the Actors Playhouse and has also appeared on TV on LAW ANDORDER C.I. and had a recurring role on ALL MY CHILDREN. As an author, he penned the books THE Q GUIDE TO BROADWAY, now in it's third printing, and the recently published BROADWAY NIGHTS which was just released as an audio book on audible.com featuring Andrea Martin, Jonathan Groff and Kristin Chenoweth . Recently he was the vocal coach on MTV's LEGALLY BLONDE reality show and he currently writes a weekly column on Playbill.com. www.sethrudetsky.com.

Brian J. Nash (Musical Director) has been music directing and orchestrating for the theater since the age of 16. Recent projects include Crossing Brooklyn (Transport Group), Writing Arthur and Something's Wrong With Amandine at TheatreWorks New Works Festival in Palo Alto, CA, Writing Arthur at NAMT, The $trip, Phenomenon at HERE, The Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds I and II, Undercover Showtunes, and But I'm A Cheerleader for theNew York Musical Theatre Festival, and A Broadway Diva Christmas, starring Ellen Greene and Kathy Brier. Other NYC and regional credits include Songs for a New World, Kate Pazakis' The Sexless Years, Red, Room to Grow, Lend Me a Tenor, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Rocky Horror Show. Brian has produced albums for singer/songwriters Justin Tranter, Shanna Sharp, and Stacy Allyn Baker, recently performed at Town Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Birdland with Natalie Douglas, and is in extensive demand as a pianist and singe throughout NYC; he has also been a featured performer on Rosie and Kelli O'Donnell's R Family Vacations cruises. His first songs were written for two recent editions of The ATrain Plays, and were featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Brian holds a Bachelor's of Music degree from Boston Conservatory and studied record production at Berkley College of Music. For more info please visit BrianJNash.com.
 


For ticket reservations please visit www.TheZipperFactory.com or call 212-352-3101. $15 advanced ticket sale, $20 for tickets at door.

For dinner reservations at the Zipper's Tavern, you may call 212-695-4600.

"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."

Today is World AIDS Day

It’s December 1st-World AIDS Day.

Here’s some facts about how the disease has affected the U.S.:

At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS.

In 2006, 35,314 new cases of HIV/AIDS in adults, adolescents, and children were diagnosed in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting. CDC has developed a new and innovative system designed to estimate the number of new HIV infections (or incidence) for the United States in a given year. Using this new technology, CDC estimates that 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States in 2006.

In 2006, almost three quarters of HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adolescents and adults were for males.

Although blacks, or African Americans, made up only 13% of the population in the 33 states, they accounted for almost half of the estimated number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses made during 2006.

In 2006, persons aged 25–34 and persons aged 35–44 accounted for the largest proportions of newly diagnosed HIV/ AIDS cases.

Check out the official World AIDS Day site for more facts from around the world.

AIDS was ... an illness in stages, a very long flight of steps that led assuredly to death, but whose every step represented a unique apprenticeship. It was a disease that gave death time to live and its victims time to die, time to discover time, and in the end to discover life.

Holiday CD Releases from Aretha, Ledisi & Mandisa

What's up family!!

Now that Christmas is right around the corner...you're gonna need music for those holiday parties. Check out these new holiday music offerings by curvy divas.....

Ledisi - It's Christmas

Mandisa - It's Christmas

And for the first time in her phenomenal career....The Queen of Soul herself....

Aretha - This Christmas Aretha

Happy Holidays ya'll!!!

"I have always thought of Christmas as a good time; a kind, forgiving, generous, pleasant time; a time when men and women seem to open their hearts freely, and so I say, God bless Christmas!"

Curvy Girl Rainell Gets Eliminated on Blush

Who she is: Rainell Chivonne
Makeup Artist
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Rainell, a freelance makeup artist, has an alter ego she calls “The Glamazon,” whose mission is to glamorize the women of the world. Her ultimate goal is to help women accept who they are and feel comfortable in their own skin. Rainell is passionate, confident and very emotional about her work.

Okay, so I checked out this show online, because my friend Mary Moore has been consistently giving me a heads up on "Curvy Girls Doing Big Things" in the media, so I felt compelled to watch Blush. The competition, which bills itself as "The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist" is hosted by Vanessa Marcil. I gotta say that as completely and TOTALLY GAY as this show is....I LOVED IT!!! The kids were in full effect on this one ya'll...lol. And for a refreshing change...size had absolutely no influence on the judging...this one is about what you can DO. Unfortunately, Miss Rainell managed to get herself eliminated on the second episode for the cardinal sin of not following the directions given to her for a "look" for a photo shoot. After the director/photographer told her that he hated the look she had presented....home girl steadfastly refused to change it.

I can't really say too much about this because after watching...I agreed that she really did do it to herself and her attitude was THISCLOSE to being piss poor.

I am sure that she probably is a wonderful makeup artist (she couldn't have gotten that far without being good); I only wished she had stayed longer so that I could really see what she was capable of doing. I am very interested in seeing where she goes from here.

Question Family: Why do competitors get on these reality shows and begin having ridiculous conversations about who is worthy of being there and who isn't? HELLO??? YOU'RE there...why in the hell do you even care about why someone else deserves to be there or not? That says to me that you have taken your eyes OFF the prize.

Blush airs Tuesdays at 10pm (est) on Lifetime

"The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural."