Danny Garvin, Who Was A Stonewall Riots Demonstrator, Dead At 65

Danny Garvin, Who Was A Stonewall Riots Demonstrator, Dead At 65
Danny Garvin, who participated in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, died Dec. 9 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and liver cancer in New York. He was 65.

Niece Debi Carey confirmed the news to The Huffington Post in an email, noting that Garvin was surrounded “with all his family and close friends” at the time of his death.

“Danny was more like a brother to myself and my siblings,” Carey wrote. “He touched everyone in a special way and left a piece of him in everyone’s heart and soul.”

A lifelong New Yorker, Garvin was born on March 1, 1949. At age 20, he was one of a number of demonstrators involved in the six-day uprising at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969.

Author and historian David Carter described Garvin and Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt as “the two most knowledgeable sources” on the historic riots. Both Garvin and Lanigan-Schmidt were interviewed for Carter’s 2010 book, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution.

Carter, Garvin and Lanigan-Schmidt were also featured in the PBS American Experience documentary, “Stonewall Uprising,” by award-winning filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner. That documentary was based on Carter’s book.

“Danny’s gentle and sensitive nature brought a great deal of warmth and humanity to the history of this watershed event in the LGBT civil rights movement and also endeared him to his friends and family,” Carter said. “Of all the persons I met working on the book, he was the sweetest. I will always miss him and consider myself blessed and honored to have been his friend.”

Family and friends honored Garvin and his legacy at a memorial service on Dec. 12 and at his funeral the next morning on Dec. 13.

Garvin is survived by his sister, Annie Ahearn, two nieces, two nephews and three great-nephews.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/danny-garvin-stonewall-dead_n_6329340.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Here’s What You Need To See At Sundance 2015

Here’s What You Need To See At Sundance 2015

filmguide

Just to remind everyone what a bellwether of LGBT cinema it is — last year’s Sundance Film Festival brought us the U.S. (and often World) premieres of such exciting LGBT films of 2014 as Love Is Strange, Stranger By The Lake, Lilting, To Be Takei, The Skeleton Twins and the Oscar-shortlisted The Case Against 8 just to mention a few. So basically you can expect that many of the films listed below will become the hits of 2015! This year’s festival runs January 22- February 1 in Park City, Utah. Nearly 120 films will be shown (selected from amongst the more than 12,000 submissions the festival received this year: approximately 4,000 features and 8,000 shorts). Here’s a quick A-Z list (these are the festival’s official descriptions from their LGBT film list), click thru on the titles to investigate further. And if you are actually going to attend the festival don’t miss the annual Outfest Queer Brunch on Sunday, January 25th from 11-1 at the Grubsteak Restaurant (but be sure to subscribe to the Outfest email newsletter to get on the list so you can actually get in).

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The Amina Profile / Canada (Director: Sophie Deraspe)

During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet. World Documentary section.

Call Me Lucky
Call Me Lucky / U.S.A. (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait)

Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation. U.S. Documentary section.

The D Train
The D Train / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel)

With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he’s changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer. U.S. Dramatic section.

Dope
Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa)

Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky. U.S. Dramatic section.

Grandma
Grandma / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Paul Weitz)

Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future. Cast: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Sam Elliott. Premieres section.

I Am Michael
I Am Michael / U.S.A. (Director: Justin Kelly, Screenwriters: Justin Kelly, Stacey Miller)

The controversial true story of a gay activist who rejects his homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor. Cast: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts. Premieres section.

Larry Kramer doc
Larry Kramer in Love and Anger / U.S.A. (Director: Jean Carlomusto)

Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention. U.S. Documentary section.

The Mask You Love In
The Mask You Live In / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Siebel Newsom)

Is there a “boy crisis” in America? Is our male population suffering due to our emphasis on power, dominance, and aggression? The Mask You Live In explores how our narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys, men, and society at large and unveils what we can do about it. Documentary Premieres section.

Nasty Baby
Nasty Baby / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva)

A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O’Hare. NEXT section.

The Royal Road
The Royal Road / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Olson)

This cinematic essay, a defense of remembering, offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes. Cast: Jenni Olson, Tony Kushner. New Frontier section.

The Summer of Sangaile
The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, Holland (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté)

Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaityte, Aiste Dirziute. World Dramatic section.

Take Me To The River
Take Me to the River / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel)

A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret. Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye. NEXT section.

Ten Thousand Saints
Ten Thousand Saints / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman, Screenwriters: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini)

Based on the acclaimed novel, Ten Thousand Saints follows three lost kids and their equally lost parents as they come of age in New York’s East Village in the era of CBGB, yuppies, and the tinderbox of gentrification that exploded into the Tompkins Square Park Riot of 1988. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch. Premieres section.

Tig
Tig / U.S.A. (Directors: Kristina Goolsby, Ashley York, Screenwriter: Jennifer Arnold)

This documentary explores comedian Tig Notaro’s extraordinary journey as her life unfolds in grand and unexpected ways, all while she is battling a life-threatening illness and falling in love. Documentary Premieres section.

For complete information about all the other great movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival be sure to visit the official website.

Jenni Olson
Jenni Olson (@JenniOlsonSF) is VP of e-commerce at WolfeVideo.com and has been writing about LGBT film since 1986. She is a card-carrying Sundance Film Festival member and is now a five-time festival alum as she will be attending this year with the world premiere of her new film, The Royal Road. This piece is cross-posted on FilmmakerMagazine.com, Queerty.com and AfterEllen.com — whichever of these you’re NOT currently reading warrants your attention as well.

Jenni

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Towleroad's Top 10 Plays and Musicals of 2014

Towleroad's Top 10 Plays and Musicals of 2014

Hedwigtop10

BY NAVEEN KUMAR

Theatre is risky business. Trusted safety precautions include movie adaptations (What’s your damage, Heather?), stars above the title (NPH, lick my glasses!) and proven classics with stars above the title (Swooning for Denzel? Get in line). Though some hedged their bets, the year’s best plays and musicals took big risks that paid off. Whether breathing new life into beloved stories or creating new ways of telling (with puppets!), the top of the crop never failed to thrill, entertain and enlighten. From highbrow to lowbrow and, well, Hedwig—read on for a list of my top 10 favorites.

10. Heathers: The Musical: Transforming the treasured and twisted 1988 teen flick into a stage musical was no easy feat, but writers Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy pulled it off with an intoxicating mix of verve and camp. Profane, over-the-top and, yes, ballsy—Heathers wins the award for this season’s guilty pleasure most likely to get stuck between your teeth. But the musical also toed a fine line with its carefully crafted tone, balancing its bubblegum cynicism with genuine sympathy for every social strata of high school hell.

TIOY9. This Is Our Youth: Director Anna Shapiro’s fine-tuned production of Kenneth Lonergan’s seminal Gen-X comedy about twenty-somethings stalling to come of age in NYC marks the play’s Broadway debut, and a high point in both its nearly 20-year history and the fall season. With dynamite performances from Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Tavi Gevinson, Lonergan’s trio of hyper-articulate, aimless thrill-seekers buzzes with the hallmark frenetic energy of youth in any age.

8. The Bridges of Madison County: With a soaring, resonant score by Jason Robert Brown (sung to perfection by Kelli O’Hara and Stephen Pasquale) and book by Marsha Norman, Bartlett Sher’s Broadway production elevated its Harlequin romance-inspired material into a vividly intimate and deeply felt love story. Also based on James Waller’s best-selling novel, Sher’s production was as nuanced and graceful as Clint Eastwood’s 1995 film is sappy and melodramatic.

Bootycandy7. Bootycandy: Writer-director Robert O’Hara’s semi-autobiographical and provocative coming-of-age tale about growing up black and gay defied generic formula for a more daring, fractious kind of storytelling. From outrageously funny to touchingly intimate, O’Hara’s collage of colorful snap-shot scenes assembled into a refreshingly inventive and wholly effective big picture of life outside the margins.

Countdown continues AFTER THE JUMP

CV6Casa Valentina: Provocateur Harvey Feirstein’s fascinating new play based on a Catskills retreat for heterosexual (and variously homophobic) transvestites in the early ‘60s threw open the door on a little-known slice of history and grappled with its most troubling implications. Led by Patrick Page and Reed Birney (Tony nominated for his performance), the stellar cast of Joe Mantello’s Broadway production for Manhattan Theatre Club delivered a dynamic and captivating look at the slippery nature of gender and sexual identity.

Hedwigmch5. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Cult fanatics and green inductees alike feel their hearts thump and jaws hit the floor in Michael Mayer’s high-octane Broadway production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s 1998 downtown classic, which brought home this year’s Tony for Best Musical Revival. The production’s original stars Lena Hall and Neil Patrick Harris also nabbed their own Tonys, while Michael C. Hall (starring as Hedwig through Jan. 18)  is considered a must-see, and anticipation is running high for Mitchell to join the show for an eight-week run beginning Jan. 21.

4. A Raisin in the Sun: Denzel Washington was the big-name draw of this exquisitely acted production of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 drama (this year’s Tony winner for Best Revival), but the supporting cast of women walked away with the show—led by Sophie Okonedo (who won a Tony for her performance), a tremendous LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Anika Noni Rose. Director Kenny Leon’s uncluttered storytelling and attention to the Younger family dynamic brought this tale of black struggle in mid-century Chicago pulsing to new life.

HandToGod4543. Hand to God: Playwright Robert Askin’s searing, incisive and wildly entertaining dark comedy about an awkward boy and his possessed sock puppet hacks away at the bedrock of western religion with shocking humor and stark insight. MCC’s riotous and bracing Off-Broadway production, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, transfers to Broadway’s Booth Theatre this March, featuring a must-see, virtuoso performance by Stephen Boyer as both the boy and his puppet.

2. Disgraced: Smart, sleek and tightly woven, director Kimberly Senior’s Broadway production of Ayad Aktar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama unfolds slowly and carefully before reaching its explosive, starling climax. The story of a second-generation Pakistani man, his artist wife and their two friends raises challenging and provocative questions about identity, race, sex, art, faith and more—all in 90 enthralling minutes of grounded, scintillating human drama.

Curious21. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Director Marianne Elliot’s production of Simon Stephen’s propulsive play is imaginative and transporting and in a way rarely ever achieved onstage. Based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling 2003 novel of the same name, this story about a boy investigating the murder of his neighbor’s dog and unraveling the secrets of his own past burrows into the mind and sticks hard and fast—with minimal sets, nimble actors and a breakout performance by Alex Sharp.

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar (photos: joan marcus, chad batka, brigitte lancombe, matthew murphy)


Naveen Kumar

www.towleroad.com/2014/12/towleroads-top-10-plays-and-musicals-of-2014.html

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