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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Tallulah Bankhead

Published February 28, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan
tallulah 1

Madame Bankhead strikes a cutting pose with Stephanie Powers in Die! Die! My Darling!

Wrapping up an illustrious (yet controversial) acting career with a Hammer Horror may not seem like a fitting exit to some, but her appearance in Die! Die! My Darling! (AKA Fanatic) allows thankful terror freaks to claim the irreplaceable Tallulah Bankhead as one of their own. (Note: Bankhead would go on to appear on shows like Batman and do vocal work for a film called The Daydreamer, but this was her last major onscreen cinematic experience.)

Of course, even the most heartfelt admirers of this notorious theater doyenne would probably never claim that her charms belonged, full time, in a concert hall. Yet the adventurous Bankhead was known to warble a tune or two in various revues and on select radio programs.

Granted, her singing voice is not a technical wonder, but this hard living broad brought the breadth of her experience to the numbers she performed, allowing audiences to believe that she had truly lived every wrangled syllable.

Such is the case with this 1930 recording of What Do I Care? Viva la life experience, darlings!

 

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Fay Wray’s On the Other Hand

Published February 27, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

fay wray on the other handShe may have tamed the beast onscreen. But, as evidenced by her excellent 1989 memoir On the Other Hand, revered scream queen Fay Wray had much more trouble reigning in the flesh and blood men in her real life.

What may also be a (slight) surprise to some is how Wray (1907-2004), a produced playwright in her lifetime, writes so beautiful and economically here. As expected, it is delight to learn about her adventures shooting not only King Kong, but The Vampire Bat, Mysteries of the Wax Museum, The Most Dangerous Game and Doctor X, all of which the author claims were filmed in the same year! Just as fun are her recollections of working with such famed performers (and occasional Oscar winners) as Janet Gaynor, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, with whom she shared a sweet yet unfulfilled crush, and Natalie Wood. But more than anything, it is Wray’s divine resilience and quiet strength that shines the most here.

Domineered by a commanding mother, Wray found her early expressions of artistry (and fledging romance with a talented photographer) curtailed in Hollywood. Eventually finding her way into pictures, she ultimately married John Monk Saunders, a brilliant yet truly troubled screenwriter. Enduring Saunders’ infidelities and violent mood swings with an often silent grace, Wray perfectly presents the emotional circumstances of a modern woman constrained by her times and society’s expectations. Emerging as an important portrait of women in that era, Wray eventually breaks free from Saunders, after their divorce and his eventual suicide, and enters into an affair with famed playwright Clifford Odets, which broadens her artistic horizons. Later, she settles into a loving marriage with Robert Riskin, another writer best known for his collaborations with Frank Capra.Fay-Wray

Having retired, Wray returns to work (in such films as 1957’s Crime of Passion and television programs as Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents) after Riskin’s sudden illness and eventual death. But it is the storytelling lessons she learned from being a muse and collaborator with such erudite men that may stand as her final statement of artistry.

From her beginning descriptions of her return visit to her native Canada, Wray fills On the Other Hand with such simple yet poetic language that it is hard not to fall in love with her and, ultimately, realize that this book may be one of her greatest cultural achievements – that ever present, very hairy beast notwithstanding.

(Used, reasonably priced copies of On The Other Hand are available from such outlets as Amazon and EBay.)

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Heavy Whisper

Published February 26, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan
corinne cover

Art from Corinne Halbert’s Heavy Whisper

Somebody needs to get a remake of Modesty Blaise going right away and give dazzling Chicago artist Corinne Halbert the job of doing the main credits art. Full of sexy yet oh so deadly pop art majesty, Halbert’s new zine Heavy Whisper is both a swinging throwback to 60s model fetish magazines and something completely and, kinkily, her own – making her the perfect candidate for any cinematic revamping of a certain alluring lady spy.

Most importantly, as with all her work, Halbert just seems to having such fun here – reveling in all that life has to offer.

You can purchase Heavy Whisper and other joyous eccentricities at:

http://corinnehalbert.bigcartel.com/

corinne and me

A Halbert and her BGHF!

Midwest residents also have a couple days left to check out Corinne’s one woman show at AdventureLand Works on Paper, 1513 N. Western, which closes on February 27th.  Pieces featured in Heavy Whisper are on display along with numerous colorfully psychedelic looks at childhood and youthful adventure. More information is available at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/AdventureLandWOP

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Patty Duke

Published February 21, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

pattyFor over twenty years, the expressive Patty Duke faced down satanic cults, nefarious home wreckers, monstrous matrons and ferociously uncontrollable domiciles in such television films as She Waits, Amityville: The Evil Escapes, The Babysitter, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby and countless other terror saturated vehicles.

But, alas, as with so many other fair maidens, it is the uncertainties of love that seemed to most plague the divine Duke. Her 60s single, Don’t Just Stand There, released when she was a teen starring on The Patty Duke Show, chronicles her frustrations over a mate who just can’t seem to commit…although, the way this ginger smoked wonder is able to multi-track her voice while singing on national television is probably just as scary as it is wondrous…and might have had something to do with frightening off any potential dates.

Food for thought…

 Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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The Baby Magic’s Rent a Place in Hell

Published February 19, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

baby magic

Angsty, confrontational and bizarrely fun…no, I am not talking about the group of leather bound lesbian nuns who raised me…but the latest slab of vinyl from Chicago’s favorite art punk band, The Baby Magic!

Fronted by the dynamic Mary Beth Brennan, Rent a Place in Hell not only has a title that belongs in every horror loving music freak’s library, but it is full of propulsive, in your face tunes that simply won’t roll over and play dead when you retire for the night and turn out the lights.

Swirling with a creepy new wave vibe, the title track is, ultimately, an encouraging (if slightly sarcastic) proclamation to follow your dreams despite naysayers and the arduous responsibilities inherent in one’s “meaningless job”. Modern feminist attitudes are happily embraced as numbers such as Don’t Mess With Me and Bad Dog tear apart misogynist attitudes with Brennan’s expert role playing and fierce bite. But, nicely, all of the numbers here, including the aggressive Frank Sinatra and the quirkily poppy Huts, examine societal judgments and restraints with an aim at destroying pedantic thinking and a sheep like acceptance of one’s fate.

Throughout, Brennan is expertly aided by her partners in crime, Patrick Coleman and Santiago Guerrero. Coleman’s guitar and Guerrero’s drums slash, stab and pummel their way through the songs’ often complex and ever changing rhythms with skill and fervent passion, making this 7 song adventure an always stimulating and frequently challenging (in the best way possible) affair.

To purchase Rent a Place in Hell visit:

https://thebabymagicmusic.bandcamp.com/

…and be sure to keep up with The Baby Magic’s frequent shows and music video releases at

https://www.facebook.com/thebabymagicmusic/, as well.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

 

Review: Cabaret (Touring Production)

Published February 17, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

shannon cabaretAs the tortured Anna Morgan in The Ring, the lovely and versatile Shannon Cochran was best remembered for trying to rid the world of the evil that would come to be known as Samara. In the current touring production of the musical Cabaret, Cochran, bringing elegant resourcefulness to the role of Fraulein Schneider, again faces an oppressive force that threatens to destroy her.

The beating heart of Kander and Ebb’s legendary look at the last days of care free decadence in Berlin before the rise of the Nazi Party, the resigned Schneider, who runs an eroding boarding house with as much dignity as she can muster, has touched a chord in audiences for decades. Finding love, at long last, with Herr Schultz (the completely delightful Mark Nelson here), a happy go lucky fruit vendor, the stern Schneider begins to blossom onstage with girlish enthusiasm. But witnessing violent reactions to Schultz’s Jewish background causes the stricken Schneider to forgo her heart’s desire and opt for survival, one of the show’s most definitive tragedies.

Nicely, this production allows the beautiful Cochran to supply Schneider, generally viewed as a dowdy matriarch type, with an unaccustomed, slim regality. Taking cues provided from the song So What?, in which the Fraulein recounts the days of her well to do youth, Schneider may look like a former beauty queen, but Cochran fills her with so much weary humor and curt wisdom that she never appears out of place in her dreary surroundings. It’s a totally winning performance that adds much gravitas to the emotional ending of the musical’s first act. randy cabaret

Of course, Schneider is not alone in playing against type here. The sweet faced Randy Harrison, best known as Justin from Showtime’s Queer As Folk, is seemingly a far cry, temperamentally and visually, from the exotic quirkiness of Alan Cumming, an actor who has practically owned the role of the Emcee since Cabaret’s incredibly popular 90s revival. But Harrison’s take on the Emcee is authentically dazzling in its own right. Harrison brings a subtle flow to the proceedings while delightfully attacking the perverted joy and sexual deviance that are inherent in the part. Like Cochran, Harrison’s devotion to the role also makes his character’s fate all the more tragic. Ultimately, the poignant dashes of reality provided by these two powerhouse performers are this production’s truest strength.

Cabaret runs through February 21st in Chicago at The Private Bank Theatre, 18 W Monroe Street. For info on tickets and other stops on the tour: www.cabaretmusical.com.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Fay Ray

Published February 14, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

fay-raySupposedly named after artist William Wegman’s dog, obscure New Wave band Fay Ray’s moniker naturally conjures up images of America’s first queen of scream.

In fact, the spookily effective Love is Strange, featured on their only major label release Contact Me, definitely seems to recount how the theatrically inclined Fay Wray’s Ann Darrow must have felt about her biggest co-star, King Kong!

H-m-m…I guess that’s art influencing art, for those keeping score!

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Ira Levin/Barbra Streisand

Published February 8, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Prolific Ira Levin sure knew how to write about men who left a mark. His Rosemary’s Baby has haunted many a generation – damn kid! – and the subject of his song He Touched Me sure produced a trembling sensation within a young Barbra Streisand, whom covered the tune on her second LP, My Name is Barbra, Two.

Love is exhilarating, no? Especially when you throw those Boys From Brazil into the mix!

Until the next time…SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Kassie DePaiva…and the Disappearing Soap Character!

Published February 5, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Kassie ExitA ghost is scary. But, a soap opera character disappearing into thin air…now that’s truly terrifying!

Of course, that is exactly what seems to have happened with Days of Our Lives’ Eve Donovan, so passionately portrayed by Evil Dead II’s irreplaceable Kassie DePaiva. The victim of several unfortunate plotlines during her year and a half run, DePaiva’s Eve was written out of the show by the current powers-that-be. But any fans hoping for a wrap-up of her adventures on the character’s final airdate were in for a rude surprise.

In fact, as of this writing, Eve is still actually in the middle of several storylines. As of Tuesday, February 2nd (her last episode), she was dealing with a tentative reconnection with an ex-husband, as well as the complications of being the sometime girlfriend of Days’ powerful district attorney. Most importantly, she is still (supposedly) acting as the singing mentor to one of the show’s teens, Claire, with an audition at Juilliard for the young girl in the offing. Even more strangely, on her final show, Eve had a run-in with Claire’s mother, Belle, a legacy character, setting up what should have been an interesting rivalry. Frankly, it was one of the most confusing (non) exits in soap opera history, and DePaiva, who invested the character with grit and remorse, deserved so much better.

Of course, earning an Emmy pre-nomination for her work (as Eve dealt with the murder of her only child) must surely be some kind of comfort to DePaiva, a distinguished soap opera veteran, and her loyal fans. She will, also, be making a truly fun appearance on the Valentine’s Day episode of Castle, where she will reunite with a bevy of her former One Life to Live co-stars.castle

Still…if Days viewers do happen to catch a stray, toned leg high stepping to a sophisticated beat or a thin, bedazzled arm gesticulating wildly in the background…they should have no fear. It’ll just be poor old Eve trying to fight her way out of sudden invisibility…something that the glorious DePaiva will never have to worry about.

www.kassiedepaiva.com             https://www.facebook.com/kassie.depaiva

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Drinkin’stein

Published January 31, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

drinkenstein

Mary Shelley might be rolling over in her grave…or maybe she’s lifting up her ghostly petticoats and doing a happy little hoedown.

One certainly can’t fault Dolly Parton’s sense of creativity by comparing the effects of drinking to the Frankenstein monster with her song Drinkin’stein. Of course, Sylvester Stallone’s delivery may be another story! As part of the plotline for the movie Rhinestone, in which Dolly’s Jake has made a bet to turn Stallone’s tough cabbie into a country singer, Stallone surely gives the fun tune a whirl…but the results, for some fans, might simply be monstrous!

You can decide here:

Parton, also, performed the song, in its entirety, in 1984, as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGGF_-b9ZW4

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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