Category Archives: LGBTQ Alphabet Soup

Special focus on Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer Issues

Holiday Flee Market in the Classic Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower

Posted on December 21, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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DAS LILA LIED – THE LAVENDER SONG – “We just happen to be Different from the Others!”

Posted on November 7, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

My recent posts about the Newfest LGBT Film festival included an enthusiastic look at the handsomely restored print of the first known movie to sympathetically portray homosexuality, Germany’s 1919 “Anders als die Andern” (“Different than the Others”). Soon after posting … Continue reading →

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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

Posted on November 4, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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A Queer Baker’s Dozen of NewFest LGBT films – Part 2

Posted on October 27, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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MOONLIGHT & the Queer Baker’s Dozen of NewFest LGBT Films – Part 1

Posted on October 25, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Moonlight – The Pass – Esteros – Lazy Eye I am “recovering” from watching 14 LGBTQ themed movies over the course of four and a half days.  Not “recovering” in a bad way, only in as much as after seeing … Continue reading →

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MARCHING WITH THE QUAKERS – A NYC Pride Parade Photo Diary

Posted on June 28, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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HAPPY PRIDE DAY – One Year to the Day Our Day Had Come

Posted on June 26, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Happy Pride Day, everybody.  Today is the Last Sunday in June, when New York City commemorates the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement and the 1969 Stonewall riots with our Pride Parade and Festivities.  Ed and I will be … Continue reading →

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NfaC Pride Month Repost: THE NEARLY INVISIBLE BISEXUAL MALE

Posted on June 4, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

June is Pride Month.  So I thought I should make my first post of the month a post that deals heavily with LGBTQ issues.  And although my many posts related to my musical Speakeasy almost invariably deal with LGBTQ issues, … Continue reading →

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The Inspiration for SPEAKEASY’S DUCHESS BENTLEY – Part 2 of The Terrific, Transgressive and Tragic Tale of Gladys Bentley

Posted on March 4, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Gladys Bentley, the model for the character Duchess Bentley in Speakeasy, enjoyed a terrific career as deliberately outrageous Lesbian nightclub singer during the Roaring Twenties, but saw her prospects plummet during the far less permissive Great Depression.  Almost all homosexual … Continue reading →

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The Inspiration for SPEAKEASY’S DUCHESS BENTLEY – The Terrific, Trangressive and Tragic Tale of Gladys Bentley – Part 1

Posted on March 2, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

In the musical Speakeasy – John and Jane’s Adventures in the Wonderland, Jane Allison first meets Duchess Bentley, Harlem nightclub singer and unabashed lesbian, when she finds herself outside a door being angrily knocked upon by Minister Fish, who implores … Continue reading →

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Gay City News Review for Speakeasy

Posted on February 21, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

“An offbeat, mind-blowing fantasia on identity, taboo romance, and queer culture circa 1930.” “One of the most wildly ambitious, inspired theatrical endeavors I’ve seen on an Off Off Broadway stage.  Bursting with an excess of ideas and passion.” “The score … Continue reading →

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BROADWAY BULLET PODCAST INTERVIEWS DANNY ASHKENASI ABOUT SPEAKEASY

Posted on February 16, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

  Broadway Bullet’s Michael Gilboe interviewed me back in December for his seventh season of Broadway Bullet podcasts.  Episode 703 includes that interview.  It begins on the 37 min 24 second mark. Michael Gilboe always provides unedited full length versions … Continue reading →

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Speakeasy Drag Make-Up Workshop

Posted on February 14, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Last Saturday we held a drag make up workshop, specifically focused on drag make up styles of the 1920’s and 1930’s.  Veteran drag artist Terry Lee King and his colleague Cesar Castillo explained the finer points of drag make-up while … Continue reading →

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SPEAKEASY REHEARSAL SCRAPBOOK 2

Posted on February 10, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

    Matias Polar and Kayleigh Shuler (John and Jane Allison)

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The BROADWAY BLOG spotlights SPEAKEASY

Posted on February 8, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

The Broadway Blog has posted an article about Speakeasy.  Find it here or read the excerpt below: Opening — ‘Speakeasy: John and Jane’s Adventures in Wonderland’ February 8th, 2016 Matthew Wexler Before there was Hedwig and the Angry Inch, there … Continue reading →

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SPEAKEASY REHEARSAL PICTURE SCRAPBOOK 1

Posted on February 6, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Matias Polar, Allie Radice, Anne Bragg

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