More than once, we bloggers have lamented, or at least pondered, the phenomenon of musicals being made into movies and vice versa. Hairspray has seemed like the weirdest possible example, going as it did from campy film to cheerful stage musical to downright-ecstatic-and-still-campy movie musical. And then there's the film version of Mamma Mia!, which could be terrible, Meryl Streep notwithstanding. But yesterday, I saw some even crazier movie-to-musical-to-movie casting news.

Here it is: Drew Barrymore has been cast as Edie Bouvier Beale in HBO's adaptation of the bizarro documentary-turned-musical Grey Gardens.

Jessica Lange will play Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (the mother of Barrymore's character).

If you haven't seen the documentary or the Broadway musical, here's the usual summation: A mother and daughter — who just happen to be Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin — let their lives and their house go to ruin, invoking the ire of the local authorities and the shame of their famous family. A better way to summarize it is to tell you that Jenny Schecter once professed her deep love for the documentary. … continue reading

The Tony Awards are always really gay. And I don't just mean that gay men are out in force — though, of course, they are (the 2007 Best Direction of a Musical category was the gayest thing ever). Nor do I just mean there are some out (and awesome) stars like Cynthia Nixon, Cherry Jones and Sarah Paulson (the former was in attendance last night, but the latter two were not). The theater also seems to attract intoxicating lesbian-ish types like Tyne Daly, Swoosie Kurtz and Vanessa Redgrave. Strong, ridiculously talented women creating magic on the stage? Yes, please!

Here are some of my favorite moments of last night's awards:

1. Julie White wins for playing gay.
White (also known as Nadine on Grace Under Fire) took home the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for the The Little Dog Laughed. I'm still kicking myself for missing that show, in which White played a lesbian Hollywood agent (AfterElton reviewed it early on). But her acceptance speech was proof enough that she deserved the award. She's got that thing, whatever it is — that inherently funny thing that makes you giggle when she does something dorky like mock-scold the playwright who almost didn't give her the part. Also? She's gorgeous.

Here are some choice quotes from White's acceptance speech: … continue reading