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Notes from a Composer
Category Archives: LGBTQ Alphabet Soup
The Young Lovers’ Path to Speak Easy
Two Fawns in the Wood Dance into the Light Maybe it’s just a dream. Maybe it’s real. Maybe it doesn’t matter either way. For the shame and the betrayal are felt just as acutely. In the musical Speakeasy, an … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged 1920s, 1930s, adultery, Alice in Wonderland, Dance into the Light, Dream, Fawn, Fawn in the Wood, Gershwin, Jane Allison, John Allison, Lewis Carroll, magical realism, musical, Prohibition, Queer, same-sex, sexual identity, Speakeasy, Through the Looking Glass, Trial of the Tarts
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SPEAKEASY – The Irony of the Young Lovers’ Duets
Curious Colorful Night – It’s a Dream – Momentary Bliss Three lovers’ duets that are not what they seem to the ear Ah, young lovers’ duets. A hallmark of musicals, especially those of the 1920s and 1930s, and so of … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged 1920s, 1930s, Curious Colorful Night, curiouser, drag ball, duet, ingenue, irony, It's a Dream, Jane Allison, John Allison, Lewis Carroll, lovers, magical realism, Momentary Bliss, musical, Queer, Roaring Twenties, Speakeasy, Subculture, Wonderland
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SPEAKEASY – Advice from a (Lesbian) Caterpillar
Two songs from “Speakeasy” explore two sides of a closeted 1920’s lesbian For many years I hoped to write a musical about the queer subculture of Roaring Twenties New York, but didn’t find my “in” until I came upon the … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged 1800s, 19th Century, Alice in Wonderland, Caroline Chrysalides, Caterpillar, Female Friendships, flappers, Jane Allison, Jazz Age, lesbian, Lewis Carroll, LGBTQ, magical realism, musical, My Passion, operetta, Roaring Twenties, sexual revolution, Speakeasy
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The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Plays The Soundtrack to Our Story
Saturday night we attended the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band performing a concert at Symphony Space titled “Once Upon A Time … The Soundtrack to Our Story”, with music referencing and inspired by the history of the Gay … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News
Tagged Alicia Hall Moran, Band, Big Apple, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian Belovitch, Celtic Folk Songs, Colleen Meenan, Gay, Gay Rights, Hair, Henco Espag, Holst, It's Raining Men, Kinky Boots, Kyle Post, lesbian, Let the Sunshine In, LGBTQ, March, Mars, Paul Schaeffer, Pride, queen, Reginald Brown, RuPaul, Symphonic, Symphony Space, The Generations Project
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Speakeasy Highlight Reel
It’s the one year anniversary of the workshop performances of “Speakeasy – John and Jane’s Adventures in the Wonderland“. To mark the occasion, here are some screen shots of the Speakeasy Highlight Reel, a 13 minute edit of selections from … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged 1920s, Alice in Wonderland, ball, Cheshire, Danny Ashkenasi, drag, highlight, history, LGBTQ, musical, Prohibition, Queer, reel, Speakeasy, White Rabbit
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COMPLETE OSCAR NOMINATIONS LIST – with plenty personal notes, comments and trivia – updated with winners
This year’s Oscar nominations have been announced, and for once the media pundits and social media consensus are much happier with the overall outcome, with few gripes and much to celebrate. Which doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty sighs about … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News
Tagged 2017, Academy Awards, Amy Adams, animated, Arrival, August Wilson, Debzel Washington, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Hugh Grant, Kevin O'Connell, La La Land, Lion, Lord of the Rings, Loving, Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea, Meryl Streep, Moonlight, Nominations, O.J.: Made in America, OcarsSoWhite, Oscars, short film, sound, The Red Turtle, Viola Davis, Zootopia
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New Categories for Movies, Theater and LGBTQ Themed Articles
Three new categories have been added to the Notes from a Composer archives: Cinema Scope – For the love of movies, and not just the musicals Live! On Stage – Live performances / a life in the theater … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Notes in the News
Tagged archive, category, Cinema, Danny Ashkenasi, LGBTQ, music, Notes from a Composer, theater
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Holiday Flee Market in the Classic Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower
This post features holiday music from the damn bestest Lesbian holiday album ever: Venus Envy’s 1990’s cult classic “I’ll be a Homo for Christmas” The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower is the most famous building in Brooklyn. Completed in 1929 it … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Musicabilia, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged brooklyn, Carols, Flee Market, folk, Fort Greene, Holiday, lesbian, marble floor, Mecca of Dentistry, mosaic, One Hanson Place, Park Slope, parody, photography, Skylight, Smorgasburg, Tower, vault, Venus Envy, Williamsburgh Savings Bank
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QUEER SEX ON SCREEN – The Handmaiden, Theo & Hugo, and what’s left (i.e. Part 3) of the Newfest Baker’s Dozen
The Handmaiden – Paris 05:59: Theo & Hugo – Baby Bump – Where Are You Going, Habibi? – Different from the Others Between writing my second piece on the Queer Baker’s dozen of LGBT films I saw at the NewFest … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup
Tagged Adventures of Felix, Anders als die Andern, Baby Bump, Bruce LaBruce, Different from the Others, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Jacques Martinea, Kuba Czejaj, Magnus Hirschfeld, Olivier Ducastel, Paragraph 175, Paris 05:59: Theo and Hugo, Park Chan-Wook, Richard Linkletter, Short Bus, Shortbus, Stranger by the Lake, Théo & Hugo dans le même bateau, The Handmaiden, The Sting, Tor Iben, Weekend, Where Are You Going Habibi?, Wo Willst Du Hin Habibi?
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A Queer Baker’s Dozen of NewFest LGBT films – Part 2
Akron – I Love You Both – Women Who Kill – Don’t Call Me Son – The Cult – The Nest – (and a Lazy Eye addendum) I experienced a marathon weekend of new LGBT movies from around the world … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup
Tagged Akron, Ann Muylaert, bisexuality, Don't Call Me Son, Doug Archibald, festival, film, Hunky Dory, I Love You Both, Ingrid Jungermann, Krystal Archibald, Lazy Eye, LGBT, Manhattan Murder Mystery, NewFest, Queer, Suicide Kale, The Cult, The Nest, Women Who Kill, Woody Allen
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MARCHING WITH THE QUAKERS – A NYC Pride Parade Photo Diary
Sunday, June 26, was Pride Day in New York City. Close to 2 million people watched hundreds of thousands of marchers within about 485 contingents (groups and floats) make their way down 5th avenue, 8th Street and Christopher street, from … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News
Tagged 5th Avenue, Charles Busch, Christopher Street, Empire State Building, Episcopal Priest, Flatiron, k d lang, king, LGBT, Love and Pride, memorial, National Monument, NYC, Photo Diary, Pride, Pridetrooper, Quaker, Religious Society of Friends, Stonewall, U2, When Pigs Fly
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