DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley

Dennis is joined via Zoom by two of the men behind his favorite indie of the year so far Rent Free, co-writer and director Fernando Andrès and actor-producer Jacob Roberts. The film is about two queer, down-on-their-luck best friends Ben (Roberts) and Jordan (played by David Trevino) who hatch a plan to live rent free for a year in Austin, Texas--on friends' sofas or whatever they can fanagle--while they save up to move to New York City to pursue their dreams. Fernando talks about his goal of making a buddy comedy set in a bleak contemporary economic landscape focusing on a kind of queer friendship that's very familiar to him but underexplored in cinema. Jacob talks about the finding the comedy in cringey hookup scenes, and recalls shooting a key emotional scene with Austin-based actor Bill Wise as Jacob's eccentric and empathetic father. Other topics include: Jacob writing and appearing in several iconic Hasty Pudding musical shows while at Harvard, Fernando being mentored by Austin-based filmmaking legend Richard Linklater, the upside of taking a film from the idea phase all the way through production and distribution in a relatively short period of time, what it's like to live in Austin post-tech boom and why they made one of the most obnoxious characters in the movie a gay "Facebook Guy with a good salary."

Just as we're hitting the 10th Anniversary of Federal Marriage Equality in the US, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Frankie Frankeny, the driving creative force behind the gorgeous and comprehensive new coffee table book Love: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality. Frankie recalls how she first became passionate about the cause of marriage equality decades ago, doing entensive research for the book and discovering stories she never knew before and her hope that the book will be available in schools so queer kids can learn their history in a way that her generation never did. She also talks about contributing her own photos to the book and her hopes that, aesthetically speaking, the book will be something two lesbians in Tennessee or the chic designer Tom Ford would be proud to put on their coffee table. Other topics include: the pressure LGBT couples involved in court cases feel to be perfect and the stress that puts on a relationship, attorney Evan Wolfson's emotional Harvard thesis on the topic, boundary-pushing straight allies like Phil Donahue, Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom, her successful career as a cookbook photographer and why she loves that work and coming out for the first time as a kid to her beloved pet dachshund by saying, "I'm going to have a wife one day." www.justmarried.us

Dennis is joined via Zoom from Portugal by former U.K. boxing manager Kellie Maloney to discuss the new documentary about Kellie's life and transition Knockout Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story. The film, which is now available on VOD, documents her previous life as successful boxing promoter Frank Maloney through her transition to Kellie in 2014 and its aftermath. Kellie talks about falling in love with boxing as a child, taking Lennox Lewis all the way to the Heavyweight Champion, how the physicality of boxing allowed her to vent the stress she was feeling inside and that time Frank the promoter experienced the petty, bullying side of Donald Trump. Kellie also talks about how in her dreams, she's always been female, the back-to-back tragic losses that happened in her life that led to her finally deciding to be true to herself and the decision to go on the Big Brother reality show just eight weeks after coming out publicly as trans. Other topics include: her most surprising supporters, the people close to her who dropped her like a brick, staring with envy at her ex-wife Tracy when she would get ready to go out, the difference between the British press and the American press, having a row with Leslie Jordan in the U.K. Big Brother house then later becoming friends, the full frontal moment in the documentary she tried to have cut, doing female breast exercises when he was alone in the gym then switching back to sparring exercises when someone walked in and the immense relief she felt after she transitioned when she was finally able to face the world as herself.

In this special Tonys week episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller to discuss his book Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir, which documents his journey from a childhood of family dysfunction and always feeling like an outsider to thriving as a Broadway producer with four Best Musical Tonys to his credit (Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights and Hamilton). Jeffrey talks about why he decided to write the book, the elementary school teacher who saw what was special in him, always having the self belief to take big swings and confessing his love to his college best friend, who happened to be future Broadway composer Andrew Lippa. He also recalls an early workshop of Tik Tik...Boom! where he was exposed to the work of Jonathan Larson for the first time. He was so knocked out he wrote Larson a long, passionate letter, which led to Seller producing Rent five or so years later. He recalls being similarly knocked out by Lin-Manuel Miranda's talent at an early workshop of In the Heights. Other topics include: the current renaissance of new musicals on Broadway, why he chose to write so frankly about sex in his book, that time his process server father decided he wanted to become a circus clown, what it was like to start making really good money after growing up poor in a neighborhood of Detroit known as "Cardboard Village," the year his underdog puppet musical Avenue Q beat out Wicked for Best Musical, what Hamilton represents during the second Trump administration, Jonathan Larson's tragic and untimely death just as Rent was about to explode on the scene, what Larson's parents told him on the night after they lost their son and much, much more.

Dennis is joined by his friends and past podcast guests Frank DeCaro and Jim Colucci to talk about a brand new arts festival they are co-programming. It's called Pride Live! Hollywood and it takes place June 11th through the 29th at various venues in Hollywood. JIm and Frank talk about the various events on the agenda, including a Norman Lear tribute, a screening and party of Saturday Night Fever with director John Badham and actress Donna Pescow attending, a Golden Girls tribute, the Where The Bears Are documentary A Big Fat Hairy Hit. a Queer as Folk cast reunion as well as screenings of the films The World According to Allee Willis, Relax, It's Just Sex, The Big Johnson, The Grotto, Unicorn and the Village People musical Can't Stop the Music. Other topics include: feeling a call to fill the hole left by Outfest, the surprising number of guests who said yes, why queer joy is a radical act, the pros and cons of nostalgia and memorabilia collecting, scoring festive outfits on sale at Mr. Turk and their hopes that the fest will be so successful that they will both become insufferable a-holes by Year Three. (www.pridelivehollywood.com)            

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright Tom Jacobson whose latest play Tasty Little Rabbit is currently showing at the Moving Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. The play tells the true story of a 1936 Fascist Italian investigation of pornography charges in Taormina, Sicily. This artistic prosecution uncovers a much darker secret of a 1890s love triangle between photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden, an a 18 year-old Sicilian boy and a mysterious Irish poet. Tom talks about how he first learned of the true story, visiting Sicily as part of his research, the riveting "Kissing Contest" scene at the play's center and why the story is so relevant to today. He also talks about how he's been able to be so productive as a playwright while working a day job as a fundraiser for organizations like the Natural History Museum, LACMA and the Los Angeles Zoo. Other topics include: falling in love with theater as a kid in Oklahoma, using a New York-based alias to get his breakthrough play Cyberqueer produced in Los Angeles, writing plays to upset his mother, being told he's "too old to write for TV" at the age of 33, meeting his husband of 30 years on a blind date and why he loves being a part of the LA theater community.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Kasey Mahaffy who is currently starring as Alfie Byrne, a Dublin bus driver who directs community theater at night, in the musical A Man of No Importance at A Noise Within theater in Pasadena. Kasey talks about relating more to this role than any he's played in the past, how he and the rest of the cast honed their Irish accents, why now is a very meaningful time to be telling this story and what it's like to hear audience members audibly crying while you're trying to play a scene. He also talks about his role in the 2022 L.A. production of Matthew Lopez's epic gay play The Inheritance and how he and the entirely queer cast are still bonded to this day. Other topics include: being married to a fellow actor (Francisco Chapin from TV's Matlock) and how they met on OkCupid, how A Man of No Importance is a valentine to theater in addition to being a coming out story, how nice Matt LeBlanc was to him on his first TV gig on Joey, dissolving into tears at a Keith Haring art exhibit, Jennifer Coolidge sharing stories of road rage and what casting directors really mean when they say, "We need you to be more grounded." www.anoisewithin.org

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Director Lovell Holder & Writer-Performer Roger Q. Mason, the duo behind the provocative and beautifully-crafted new film Lavender Men, which is based on Mason's hit stage play of the same name. The story centers on Taffeta (they/them, played by Mason), the put-upon stage manager of a play about Abraham Lincoln. After one too many backstage indignities, Tafetta cracks and decides to take the whole show over and narrate it as their fantasia and things get wild from there. Roger talks about the film's central themes of why do we, as humans, like what we like and the gulf that often exists between what we desire and what we need. Lovell talks about using the films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Joe Wright's Anna Karenina as touchstones while making the piece, the day during the shoot when he ran out of steam and ideas and meeting Roger when then were both in their late teens. They both talk about working with the editor Morgan Halsey whose father Richard Halsey happened to speak at a screening of American Gigolo that Dennis saw on the very same day that he did this interview. Other topics include: eating an entire apple pie on stage, Mason refusing to take a nap during naptime at the YMCA as a child, the friends that pitched in to make the movie happen and Roger's belief that, "It's never easy to tell the truth in a world that capitalizes on lies and illusion."

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Sarah Kambe Holland whose new film Egghead and Twinkie flips the gay guy-straight girl trope on its head with the story of a gay girl-straight boy friendship that undergoes some changes after the girl comes out. Sarah talks about starting work on the project at 19, taking inspiration from her own coming out story, shooting a road movie within one hour of Orlando, Florida and having most of her crew be under 25 years old. She also talks about moving to the U.S. from Japan at nine and undergoing serious culture shock, incorporating her own love of animation into the movie and the lesson she learned from her actors during one particularly emotional scene. Other topics include: becoming a YouTuber with thousands of subscribers at 15, casting an actress who had never had a speaking role in a film before as Twinkie the Flipcam her family gave her that started her love of filmmaking and her real-life coming out speech to her parents that occured at the chain restaurant First Watch. https://eggheadandtwinkie.com

In this special bonus episode, Dennis interviews his friend Steven Havens, who just won $250,000 as the last man standing on Season 3 of the Fox game show The Floor. Steven talks about how he came to be on the show, the months of rigorous coaching provided by his game designer husband Jeb (who happens to be Dennis's co-creator on the game You Don't Know My Life!), shooting the entire season over one week in Ireland and the moment, minutes before he actually won, when he thought to himself, 'I got this.' Other topics include: promising his husband that he wouldn't talk smack about the other players and then talking smack about the other players, keeping his win a secret for 8 months, how his watch parties gave the people in his life something positive and hopeful to engage with during this dark time, choosing to wear his chef's shirt on the show as an intimidation tactic, getting the "winner's edit," what he plans to do with the money and the moment he almost slipped on stage and brought Rob Lowe down with him. @chefsteveneats on Instagram

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Hillary Carlip the designer and co-author of the most fabulous pop-up book you'll ever see Willis Wonderland: The Legendary House of Atomic Kitsch, which is a book dedicated to the home, kitsch collection and all-round fabulousness of Hillary's friend, the late great songwriter and visual artist Allie Willis. (Allie is also the subject of a documentary that was featured on this podcast last year; The World According to Allie Willis. It's now streaming on Hulu.) Hillary talks about how the pop-up book project came to her, finding illustrator Neal McCullough in Ireland and "paper engineer" Mike Malkovas in Paris and collaborating on this incredibly elaborate book all over Zoom. She also talks about creative endeavors from her past including the memoir Queen of the Oddballs, the photo book Ala Cart, which was inspired by the abandoned shopping lists Hillary's been collecting for years, juggling in the movie Xanadu and winning The Gong Show and host Chuck Barris's mad adoration. Other topics include: her long marriage to TV writer and producer Maxine Lapiduss, watching Olivia Newton-John fall for Matt Lattanzi on Xanadu, managing the ups and downs of a creative career while staying true to herself and the many times during the book's creation when she felt the spirit Allie guiding the way.  www.williswonderlandpopupbook.com www.hillarycarlip.com  

As a Bonus on the main Dennis Anyone, here are two back-to back sample episodes of Dennis's brand new Patreon offering: DENNIS ANYONE: THE PATREON PROJECT, which you can subscribe to for $5 by going to Patreon.com and searching Dennis Anyone.  Topics in Episode 1 include: the Late Night With the Devil actor Fayssal Bazzi learning that I put him on my dreamboard and his response, Four Rooms author David Wichman does the Observation Deck, the Oscar-nominated doc Black Box Diaries, a magazine flashback with the late Michelle Trachtenberg and Dennis's decision in January 2020 to try and be happy anyway. Topics in Episode 2 include: The White Lotus's Leslie Bibb has a magazine flashback, Dennis sees Dancing With The Stars Live, High Art, A Nice Indian Boy and a stage version of Jane Eyre, Paul Rudnick answers a porny question from the Observation Deck, and film producer Lindsay Doran introduces Dennis to the idea of Positive Psychology. DENNIS ANYONE PATREON PAGE

Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer for Part 2 of their conversation about Paul's new novel What Is Wrong With You? as well as his previous novel Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style, both of which offer readers sides of Rudnick they haven't seen before. In Part 2, Paul talks about the raw rage and freedom he felt while writing Farrell alone in a room during the pandemic, the lost gay Koch brother who loosely inspired the book and his early 20's club days in NYC, dancing the night away at Studio 54 and Paradise Garage, both of which are featured in Farrell. He also talks about why enjoys posting on Twitter, the post he wrote that went the most viral and why he can't resist cracking wise about MAGA gals Lara Trump, MTG, Kari Lake and Kristi Noem. He also recalls making Coastal Elites for HBO during lookdown with actors like Bette Midler and Sarah Paulson performing over Zoom in their own homes. Other topics include: the odd jobs he worked when he first came to NYC, how he's kept going through all of the ups and downs of a creative career, making deals with God to get laughs from the audience during his early playwrighting days and how his premier magazine alter ego Libby Gelman-Waxner once fielded a sincere marriage proposal from a besotted reader. (www.paulrudnick.com)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by one of his literary heroes, author, screenwriter and playwright Paul Rudnick, to discuss Paul's new novel What is Wrong With You?, which is about an offbeat assortment of gay and straight characters whose lives and lovelives collide at the destination wedding of a tech billionaire on the billionaire's private island. Paul talks about the stranger whose despondent blog post provided the spark of the book. He also talks about the straight personal trainer-gay client friendship that is at the heart of the book, why he chose to make the billionaire character way more redeemable than our world's current crop of tech billionaires and how he doesn't outline his novels, preferring to let "the characters do the driving." He also discusses his career as a screenwriter, penning scripts for hit films like Adams Family Values, In and Out, Jeffrey and Sister Act, which had such a fraught development process that he chose not to have his name taken off the movie. Other topics include: his decades-long friendship with Tony award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, his fetishistic obsession with design elements like fabrics, luxury brands and high-end materials, how he deals with large-scale personalities like Alan Carr and Scott Rudin when they're working together, whether or not he cries when he writes and the desperation of the super rich. (www.paulrudnick.com)

Dennis connects via Zoom with Roshan Sethi, director of the new film A Nice Indian Boy, which is about and Indian-American doctor named Naveen (Roshan's real-life boyfriend Karan Soni) who falls who falls for a photographer named Jay (Jonathan Groff), who is white but who was adopted and raised by Indian-American parents. Complications ensue when Naveen brings Jay home to meet his family. Roshan talks about the film's origins as a stage play, directing his real life boyfriend Karan Soni in love scenes with Jonathan Groff and the movie's theme of negotiating life after coming out and how big or small do you want to play in terms of being your true self. Roshan also talks about his second career as a doctor and how he works several months a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Other topics include: what gay life is like in India, being mentored by indie mainstay Mark Duplass, how Jonathan Groff leads from love all the time, not being allowed to watch Hollywood movies growing up and the moment from making A Nice Indian Boy that he knows he'll never forget.

Dennis is joined via Zoom and telephone by writer to talk about his new book It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time: The Worst TV Shows In History And Other Things I Wrote. The book attempts to answer the question, "How did this project happen?" about such so-bad-it's-delicious shows like The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special as well as the feature films Can't Stop The Music and Ice Pirates. Bruce shares stories about working with Florence Henderson and Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and reveals the famous socialite who was the Number 2 choice for "Fake Jan" on the show. Bruce, who was adopted as a baby, also shares the story of how, just in the last four years, DNA testing led him to discover a whole new birth family who have become a big part of his life. Other topics include: dealing with the Mormon elders while writing for Donny and Marie, what is was like to work with such 70's TV icons like Bob Hope, Robert Urich, Paul Lynde, Rip Taylor and Sid and Marty Krofft, why he he's happy to host benefits, the secret to his career longevity and the pact that he made to himself early in his career that "no one day should be like the other day."

Dennis is joined via Zoom my playwright Audrey Cefaly & Actor Carolyn Messina from the play Alabaster, which is showing at the Fountain Theater in Los Angeles through March 30th. The play is a darkly Southern tale about a woman named June and her two goats who all survived an Alabama tornado and lived to tell the tale. June's sheltered world is rocked when a New York photographer named Alice comes to photograph her on her farm for an art project and a romance blooms. Oh, and one of the goats, Weezy (played by Carolyn) talks. In the interview, Audrey talks about how the play was inspired by a random image that popped into her head, of a scar-covered woman in a bed and how it then evolved into a love story between two very different women. Carolyn talks about researching goats to prepare for the role of Weezy and how she learned, among other things, that goats have four stomachs. Other topics include: how the two have been friends and collaborators since their high school drama days, the thrill of getting your play published by Samuel French, getting 11 productions of the play produced across the country as a recipient of the NNPN Rolling World Premier program, why their partnership works and meeting audience members after the show and having them share their own stories then ask for a hug.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and sex worker David Wichman to talk about his new book The Four Rooms: An Inqueery On Sexual Freedom and Well-Being. David talks about why he wanted to write the book, the struggles he faced along the way to publishing it and how, once it was finished, he delighted in having AI read it to him in the plummy British voice of actor-director Richard Attenborough. David also talks about why he calls his book "a non-self help book," and how he tries in his writing and his sex work to create a place where gay men can take down their armor. Other topics include: being intentionally smiley in bathhouses and sex clubs, the sacredness of gay divas like Madonna and Kylie Minogue, hearing from fans of his sexual videos from places where being gay is illegal like Syria, being a superfan of Florence + The Machine, why he doesn't have an arrogant guru vibe, what his many exotic travel adventures have taught him about America, digging deep to write his previous book, the memoir Every Grain of Sand and how Stevie Nicks saved his life. www.davidsworld.me  

This episode features excerpts from the February 8th performance of Dennis Hensley's The MisMatch Game at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre. The panelists are Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Jackie Beat as Bea Arthur, Sherry Vine as Rue McClanahan, Melissa Peterman as Rena Z., Felix Pire as Antonio Banderas and Tom Lenk as Tilda Swinton. The questions cover everyone from Jonathan Bailey to Betty White to Benson Boone. The evening was a bizonkers blast and raised over $4,100 for the Center. After the MisMatch Game clips, there's a super-sized So This Happened...where Dennis talks about the Oscar party he attended where he missed a trivia question about Centerstage, a delightful candle-making class he took at General Wax in North Hollywood, going dancing at the Kylie XCX night at Precinct hosted by past guests Mark Nubar and DJ Shyboy and attending the 25th Anniversary benefit screening of Coyote Ugly with most of the cast in attendance. It was true in 2000 and it's true today: you really can't fight the moonlight. 

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer-composer Margot Rose to discuss her new autobiographical musical Unconditional, which is playing at the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles through March 9th. The play tells the story of how Margot became a mother of twins in her forties, got a divorce from her wife and then suffered an unfathomable loss in her sixties when her daughter Nora died suddenly in a car accident. The play asks the question: How do we, as human beings, go on after a devastating loss? Margot talks about feeling like her daughter Nora would have wanted her to create this play, how she gets through the show without her emotions overwhelming her and the moments during development where she truly felt Nora's presence. Other topics include: being a sexy Hollywood lesbian in the 80's ("I was very Shane-y from The L Word"), why her kids have always called her Marm, the current Joni Mitchell renaissance, giving excellent Tooth Fairy, and the message of hope that she hopes audiences take away from Unconditional. www.unconditionalmusical.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer Mitch Silpa to talk about his one-person show 5 Game Shows & a Funeral, which documents the five different times he appeared on TV game shows as well as how the appearances affected his family and the way he felt about himself at the time. The five shows he appeared on are well-known shows like Card Sharks, Scrabble and Shop Till You Drop and as more obscure shows like Grab Bag and Hollywood Showdown. He wins some, he loses some and he learns some. Dennis shares stories from various shows he appeared on--or attempted to--like Jumble, That's The Question, Family Feud, Deal or No Deal, The Price Is Right and $25,000 Pyramid. Other topics include: faking sick as a kid so you could stay home and watch game shows, the day-to-day pressure of trying to not seem too gay as a kid, which game show hosts are the hottest and the appeal of game shows generally. Mitch also talks about being recognized as the flight attendant from Bridesmaids, often on airplanes, and recalls the recent Hollywood Forever cemetary screening that made him feel like a total rock star.

Dennis is joined by documentarian Kyle Henry to talk about his film Time Passages, which he describes as "time traveling through his family's archive to try and understand my family and myself." Kyle himself appears on camera and so does his mother, who has dementia and is living in a nursing home when the film begins. Later in the film, COVID hits his mother's nursing home and Kyle worries that he'll never get to be in the same room with her again. Kyle talks about what the time was like and how he believes there is stull so much unresolved COVID trauma. Other topics include, gay boys and their moms, faking Fisher Price-esque peg dolls for his movie's reenactments, staging epic disaster movies with his toys as a child, the wig he more to play his mom on camera, meeting and kissing his husband at an "anti-Valentine's" party and his Marine Corp drill instructor dad and the lovely way he came to embrace Kyle and his creativity. www.timepassagesfilm.com  

Once again, Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren't that into. The films discussed include A Real Pain, The First Omen, Conclave, Babygirl, Strange Darling, Maxxine, Late Night With the Devil, The Girl With the Needle, Flow, The People's Joker, National Anthem, September 5, Saturday Night, Sing Sing, Green Border, Nickel Boys, No Other Land, Emelia Perez, I'm Still Here, Good One, My Old Ass, Hard Truths, Thelma, I Saw the TV Glow, Love Lies Bleeding, Nightbitch, Deadpool and Wolverine, A Complete Unknown, The Last Showgirl, The Piano Lesson, Hundreds of Beavers, Hitman and Problemista. They also talk about the movies they're looking forward to in 2025, including Wicked: For Good, Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Paul Thomas Anderson's currently untitled action movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren't that into. The films discussed include: Memoir of a Snail, Anora, Scrambled, Wicked, The Brutalist, The Fall Guy, The Substance, Challengers and Queer, which Drew plays a supporting role in. The trio also talks about what a great year it was for cinema generally and Drew shares memories of shooting Queer in Rome and explains that he got cast in the movie because the director, Luca Guadagnino, was a fan of Drew's Chloe Sevigny comedy shorts. 

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Luke Willis, the director, co-writer and co-producer of Lady Like, a new documentary about RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 runner-up Lady Camden AKA Rex Wheeler. Luke recalls first meeting Rex through the San Francisco ballet scene where they both had danced professionally, then being knocked out the first time he saw Rex perform as Lady Camden, not knowing Rex had started pursuing drag. Luke talks about telling Rex soon after that first show, "Let's make fun, campy, queer stuff together," and so they did. Their collaborations on short films eventually led to the documentary, which follows Rex's week-to-week journey as his season of Drag Race airs through the finale and beyond, but it also delves deep into Rex's troubled childhood and his future post Drag Race. Other topics include: Luke dropping out of college after his sophomore year to become a ballet dancer, the enduring magic of the movie Centerstage, how the perfectionism of dance is reflected in both his own work and Lady Camden's, that time he was in The Nutcracker growing up but kept it a secret, his most cherished memories from his dance career, the suitcases full of cash top drag queens take home from a club gig, the timeline he gave himself to get a feature film finished and that time he and his team built a spectacular ice cave for a Lady Camden video for under $100. https://www.ladylikemovie.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and TV and film writer Steve Yockey to discuss Steve's latest play, Sleeping Giant, which is playing at the Road Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The play, which is about a group of people dealing with a mysterious lake monster, is Steve's way of exploring authoritarianism, a theme that is even more timely today than it was when he starting writing the play in 2018. Steve talks about his journey as a writer; from making the decision to abandon the business school path in college in order to study playwriting, to getting withering critiques for his first play and not writing for years afterward, to making the transition from theatre to TV. He also talks about the bold and out there pitch he gave for how he would adapt the book The Flight Attendant that won him the job writing the HBO series. And he opens up about the outpouring of love and support he received from fans after Netflix cancelled his most recent show Dead Boy Detectives, after one season. Other topics include: Sharon Stone showing up with a wig she had made to play Kaley Cuoco's mom on The Flight Attendant, why he loves to have spectacle in his plays, why he likes to feature queer characters in his plays and the lesson he has to keep learning over and over again, with each new medium that he goes into. https://roadtheatre.org/

For this special New Years episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by his career and life coach friend Barbara Deutsch to do a podcast version of Barbara's famous year-end Completion / Creation Workshop. Barbara has been leading clients through this process for years--usually in groups-- and has graciously agreed to take Dennis through a version of the workshop on this podcast. The questions she has participants tackle are as follows:  • What worked for me this year? • What didn't work for me this year? • What did I lose/gain? • Specific accomplishments in career. • Eye opening concepts that helped me cope? • Who or what still upsets me?  • What do I want to be acknowledged for? After that, participants come up with a "theme" to take them into the new year. Dennis does all of this while occasionally being called on his BS and told to "cut it out" by Barbara. It's warranted. Play along at home and start 2025 off with a fresh perspective! Other topics include: Barbara's first book Open Up or Shut Up, her upcoming follow-up 20 Percent Stupid or The Girl Who Said Yes, why she serves her clients snacks and then lies about it to her therapist, Dennis's big new creative ideas for 2025 and why it's perfectly fine and even healing to tell your dog you're proud of him. www.thebarbaradeutschapproach.com

In this special holiday crossover episode, Dennis Hensley pops in to the Derek and Romaine Show to talk about all things holiday-time; from gift giving to favorite traditions to decorating to Mariah. Happy Holidays! (Note from Dennis: I heard from a listener my audio is a little low in this ep. Sorry about that...it was mixed on their end and can't be fixed till after the holidays)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by two of his friends from the Xana-crew; Eric Seppala and Ruston Harker who have something unique in common. They both created passion projects during the pandemic involving Barbies and Instagram, which continue to today. Ruston's account is @dolldecree and it features short animated vignettes involving Barbie and her friends, saying pithy things and looking fabulous. Eric's account is @olivianewtonjohnisadoll and it's exactly what it sounds like. Using Barbie dolls, Eric has painstakingly recreated looks from Olivia's career; from her breakout days in the 1970's to Xanadu to the Physical era to her more recent memoir launch. Both men talk about what inspired them to start the accounts, their different creative processes--Ruston uses AI, Eric is totally old school--their most popular posts, and what having this side project has brought to their lives. Other topics include: the shame attached to wanting to play with Barbies as a boy, the Christmas gifts they'll remember forever, the joy of connecting with other Xana-fans, and constantly wondering if you're crazy for putting so much time, money and passion into these doll projects. The episode ends with a special musical moment; a bangin' cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Under the Mistletoe" performed by Dennis's past guests Matt Zarley and Kathy Deitch. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and poet Brian Sonia-Wallace to talk about his book The Poetry of Strangers, which documents his adventures traveling the country as a typewriter poet-for-hire. He recalls the stunt that led to him first getting into public typewriter poetry when he declared during an open mic type show that he was going to make his rent money doing nothing but poetry. It worked...and led to his career as what he calls a "rent poet," which is like a rentboy but for poems. He talks about some of the places this vocation has taken him; from paid residencies at the Mall of America and on an Amtrak train to a gathering of witches in Salem, Massachusetts to a political campaign in Chatanooga, Tennesssee. Other topics include: being invited to the White House for the ceremony where the AIDS quilt was displayed on the White House lawn, starting the Pride Poets booth at Weho Pride, why he never feels imposter syndrome at his rent-poet typewriter but he does when he sits down at his laptop to write his own projects and the idea that the mistake is actually part of the art. And at the end of the interview, he writes a poem for Dennis. Yes, there are tears. (www.rentpoet.com)

Dennis is joined by one of his pals from the Xana-crew, Bill Morgan, who is the co-author of a book called Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia 1960s & 1970s. The book features every TV tie-in toy you remember from your childhood and a bunch that you never even knew existed. Bill talks about first getting obsessed with collecting when his ex was given a set of Three's Company trading cards as a kind of gift. Seeing the cards were numbered Bill wanted to collect them all and a new passion was born. Bill talks about shooting the photos for the book himself while his partner did most of the writing. He also discusses some of the TV shows featured in the book like The Brady Bunch, The Bionic Woman, Family Affair, Gilligan's Island, Charlie's Angels, Welcome Back Kotter and The Partridge Family and he explains why The Partridge Family bus toy was his 'white whale' as a collector. Other topics include: the year he ruined Christmas by being too honest, his passion for collecting Disney records on vinyl, growing up Mormon and coming out at 15, how collecting worked before E-bay, making friends with people from the shows he loved and the Farrah phenomenon of 1977.  www.TVtoys.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Broadway veteran Hugh Panaro to talk about his album and cabaret show Man Without a Mask, which is playing in Los Angeles on December 5th at the Catalina Jazz Club. Hugh talks about making the leap to recording and doing his own cabaret show after years of appearing on Broadway and on the West End in shows like Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd and Phantom of the Opera, in which he logged over 2500 performances as the Phantom. In regards to that show, Hugh talks about the mask itself, what it's made of, how it's maintained and how he feels about it. He also talks about working on Phantom with Hal Prince and choreographer Gillian Lynne who gave him very explicit instructions on how to sex-up the song "Music of the Night." Hugh also talks about discovering he could sing after playing the organ in church and then finding a home in musical theater as a chubby, artsy kid who often got bullied in school. Other topics include: getting to tour Europe and share gelato with Barbra Streisand, appearing in the late 90's gay rom-com movie Broadway Damage, surviving Broadway flops like Lestat and The Red Shoes, meeting Dr. Ruth after a show, the healing power of music and how most people on Broadway are genuinely nice people...except for that one unnamed diva who literally slapped her dresser for giving her the wrong leg panty hose first.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Marc Samuel to talk about his two new Netflix projects; the holiday film The Merry Gentlemen and the Ted Danson comedy series Man On the Inside. The Merry Gentleman is like a holiday twist on The Full Monty with Marc playing a reluctant male stripper who, along with his pals, puts on an exotic male review show to save their small town theater. Marc talks about performing the various dance numbers, working opposite male lead Chad Michael Murray, getting in shape for the role and what it's like to work for Netflix generally. He also talks about Man On the Inside and whether or not he felt pressure to be funny, giving that the show was created by Mike Shur of The Good Place and Parks and Recreation fame. Marc also recalls falling in love with acting at the age of five when he saw his father performing in a Chicago stage production of Fiddler on the Roof and how he experienced a full circle moment decades later when his dad got to see him act on stage in Miss Evers Boys in Portland. Other topics include: getting discovered by his commercial agent at the Mexican restaurant Marix in West Hollywood, how Hollywood has evolved in terms of its depictions of gay and black characters, how he's managed to stay positive and ride the ups and downs of the business, his long-time recurring role as Felix LaCroix on General Hospital, why he lives in the mountains instead of in LA proper and why he compares one very specific aspect of his acting career to holding in a fart.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by two women from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis; director Alexis Spraic and Executive Producer Prudence Fenton who was also Allee's life partner. Allee Willis, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2019, is primarily known as a a songwriter (Earth Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Friends theme song, The Color Purple musical) but she was also an accomplished visual artist, collector of kitsch, wild party thrower and internet entrepreneur. Alexis talks about what drew her to Allee as a film subject, sorting through Allee's six storage units of material and how she's tried to incorporate Allee's motto 'If you have a weakness, turn it into a hook" into her own life. Prudence talks about the exhausting prep that went into Allee's legendary house parties, the hurt caused by Allee's father not allowing Allee to be herself and that time a few years ago when the Rembrandts reached out to ask Allee for a share of the "Friends" theme song royalties...years after the show had left the air. Other topics include: Allee's wide array of friends, Allee's foray's into performing, the scandalously low number of female producers in the music business, how Allee dealt with disappointment and the moments in the filmmaking process where they really felt like Allee was guiding them.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author David Ciminello to discuss his delicious debut novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park which is the story of an irrepressible Coney island burlesque queen and meatball entrepreneur named Belladonna Marie Donato. David talks about how the character is inspired by his larger-than-life great aunt Emily who was, in fact, a burlesque performer on Coney Island and actually won a trophy for Best Bust for her 38 DDDs. David also talks about how he got the book published, how he chose the mouth-watering recipes that appear throughout the book and the spontaneous reading that unfolded at a recent extended family gathering where his cousin's daughter read the role of young Belladonna Marie. Other topics include: why David chose to make Belladonna Marie so sex and body positive, working as an actor in L.A. and playing a barber in a classic episode of Seinfeld, writing a movie that Shirley MacLaine directed called The Dress Code and working alongside her on set and why it was important to him to write a book that was "chock-full of queer optimism." Dennis will be interviewing David at LA's Book Soup on Sunday, November 10th at 3 PM. https://www.davidciminello.com/

This episode features excerpts from Dennis Hensley's THE MISMATCH GAME: 20th Anniversary Edition which happened on September 28th, 2024 at the LA LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre in Hollywood. The super-sized panel consisted of Jackie Beat as Bea Arthur, Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Daniele Gaither as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Lenk as Zooey Deschanel and Heidi Klum, Sam Pancake as Lucille Ball, Felix Pire as Ricardo Montalban, Chris Pudlo as Pee-wee Herman and Lory Tatoulian as Melania Trump. And the questions, which were pulled from past shows, featured Mariah Carey, George Takei, Oprah, Melania and the Ladies of The View.  (Note: Dennis recorded the audio on his iPhone and it's not the best so if you can't bear to listen, he totally understands.)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Emerson Collins who is currently starring in the one-man play Buyer and Cellar by Jonathan Tolins at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is a "What if?" story about an underemployed actor who gets a job working in the mall in Barbra Streisand's basement. Emerson talks about what drew him to the play, shares his favorite moment in the show and recalls his harrowing first audition, which happened days after he had emergency appendix surgery. He also talks about working as a producer for writer-director Del Shores (Sordid Lives), getting discovered by Del in a Dallas production of Del's play Southern Baptist Sissies, then taking a leap of faith and moving to LA to appear in the LA production. Other topics include: whether famous people can have real friendships with non-famous people, Emerson's memories of the late, great Leslie Jordan, the shooting permit disaster that almost shut down the film of Southern Baptist Sissies, working retail aa a Banana Republic display visionary, driving for Lyft when he found out he got cast in Rent: Live for Fox TV, why he posts Speedo shots on Instagram and the curvacious and hard-to-read title font Barbra picked for the book that inspired Buyer and Cellar, My Passion For Design. www.emersoncollins.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Frank DeCaro to discuss his gorgeous and glittery new coffee table book Disco: Music, Movies and Mania Under the Mirror Ball. Frank talks about why he wanted to write about disco, what makes a song a disco song, the MAGA-esque Disco Demolition riot that helped kill disco fever in the U.S. and the long list of unlikely performers who jumped on the disco bandwagon like Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman and the cast of the TV cop show Barnaby Jones. Frank and Dennis also discuss their affection for disco fashion, from polyester shirts to Angels Flight slacks to Jordache jeans to sky-high platforms. Frank also shares the unlikely but meant-to-be story of how he managed to score a Donna Summer interview for the end of his book when Summer herself has been dead since 2012. Other topics include: the head-scratching ubiquity of the Village People, the timeless magic of Saturday Night Fever, disco tchotckes, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and the allure of Studio 54, which, as Frank's book describes as "a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor."

Dennis continues his conversation with TV writer Stan Zimmerman, author of the memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. In Part 2, Stan talks about working on the Gilmore Girls and learning to write dialogue in the show's unique, fast-paced style. He also talks about the humiliating T-shirt gift he got from Roseanne and Tom Arnold while working on Roseanne, taking random meetings with icons like Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins and Pia Zadora, being a judge/mentor on the Bravo reality show Situation: Comedy, getting into playwriting and directing theater later in his career and going to Russia to work on the Russian Roseanne and meeting sexy Russians on the gay app Hornet. Other topics include: the holiday movie he wrote for Donna Mills, Loni Anderson, Nicolette Sheridan, Morgan Fairchild and Linda Gray, going to Studio 54 and telling Andy Warhol to stop taking his picture, his natural optimism, the thrill of having his beloved mother come to tapings, and why he wore glasses to pitch meetings when he didn't actually need them. After the interview, Dennis recalls his epic 60th birthday weekend.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by television writer Stan Zimmerman to talk about his memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, which documents his career working on such iconic shows as Roseanne, The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls as well as The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. In this first part of a two-part interview, Stan talks about his midwest upbringing and how his mother bought him the ballet shoes he wanted behind his father's back. He also talks about meeting his longtime writing partner Jim Berg, why they work wll together and how they landed a gig on the first season of The Golden Girls when they were still in their 20's Stan also recalls feeling like he had to stay in the closet on that job but feeling like he had an ally in Estelle Getty. He talks about the culture of fear that was so common in TV writers rooms in those days and expresses hope that things are better today. He also talks fondly about working with director Betty Thomas on the first Brady Bunch Movie as a punch-up writer and feeling like his contribution was finally being properly appreciated...only to end up without a screen credit thanks to an old WGA rule. He also recalls Bea Arthur being concerned that the Golden Girls writing staff was too young, Rue McLanahan being extra funny when she said words ending in E-R, and the eyebrow raising thing Betty White would do when Estelle Getty flubbed her lines. Other topics include: the warm fuzzies Stan gets when he talks with Golden Girls fans, suggesting RuPaul for that cameo in The Brady Bunch Movie, Pia Zadora's giant cell phone and how when it comes to a career in entertainment, it's all about perseverance.  

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actors Michael Sturgis & Sean Luc Rogers from the Echo Theater Company's production of Samuel D. Hunter's play Clarkston, which is playing at the Atwater Village Theatre in LA through October 21. Here's the synopsis: "Welcome to Clarkston, Washington, where Jake (Michael) and Chris (Sean) meet working the night shift at Costco. Jake, a middle-class, educated new hire who's a distant relative of explorer William Clark, has fled his privileged life in Connecticut after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Chris, a would-be writer with a meth-addicted mom, is stuck in what he fears is a dead-end life in a dead-end town. Soon, their tentative attraction develops into something much deeper and more complicated. The two actors talk about what drew them to the project, the play's complex themes around friendship, loyalty and the things in life that we don't even give ourselves permission to want. Other topics include: taking a field trip to Costco and gorging at the food court, hearing the audience cry during intense scenes, the emotional hangover from doing the show, and taking an onstage selfie every night and seeing friends in the audience in the background. www.echotheatercompany.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-singer-dancer-influencer Garrett Clayton to discuss his new cabaret show Hero To Villain, which hits LA on September 19 and Palm Springs on September 21st. Garrett talks about the journey of the show, which takes the audience from Garrett's good guy role in Disney's Teen Beach Movie to his more recent stage work, playing villains in shows like It: The Musical and Excorcistic. He also talks about ditching his wholesome Disney image to play real life gay porn star Brent Corrigan in the 2016 film King Cobra opposite Christian Slater, James Franco and Alicia Silverstone (who actually ended up officiating Garrett's wedding.) Garrett also talks about moving to LA with nothing but a dream and a borrowed mattress, getting a job at the LA cafe Crave (where he met his husband Blake) and having his wedding covered by People magazine. Other topics include: wanting to model himself after Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie, the pressure to stay closeted he felt from his former reps, finally coming out in an Instagram post, having to  leave the man he was in love with at home when he went to industry parties, developing a huge social media presence during the pandemic that has since turned into a lucrative side-business, the rush of playing Corny Collins in Hairspray Live! with Martin Short and Jennifer Hudson and leaving the rep who told him he needed to stay closeted because, "Nobody wants to fuck the gay guy, they want to shop with him."   

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Michael Selditch to talk about his new documentary Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field, which is all about the iconic stylist behind the clothes on Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Run the World and The Devil Wears Prada. Michael talks about what inspired him to want to make the movie, how he got Patricia to agree to being documented and what makes her work so singular and fabulous. He also talks about interviewing such Field devotees as Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie. Other topics include: Field's long love affair with a much younger woman, the queer icons who once worked at Field's NYC boutique including Laverne Cox and Candace Cayne, shooting with drones in Manhattan, Michael's previous narrative feature Fixing Frank--which is coming to streaming soon--and that time Patricia complimented his outfit, which totally made his day. https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/1731-2/

Dennis is joined by singer-actor David Burnham to talk about his new cabaret show Burnham Sings Buble, in which he interprets the music of Michael Buble, singing hits like "Home" and "Everything" along with more obscure Buble gems. David also talks about his previous touring show, a tribute Tom Jones, which, in true Tom Jones fashion, featured pants so tight David almost passed out. David also talks about his career in musical theater, from being plucked from nowhere at 19 to take over for Donny Osmond in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to appearing in the original cast of Light in the Piazza to finally getting to play Fiero in Wicked on Broadway after originating the role in the workshop productions and being passed over for the original Broadway cast. Other topics include: the moment he first realized he could sing, why the Elvis song "Blue Christmas" takes him back to a sixth grade kiss with a girl in the Sunday School room, the song that makes him emotional every time he sings it, the rude awakening he got after finishing the Joseph tour when couldn't get arrested in New York, having to go on as Matt Morrison's understudy in Piazza on opening weekend and not even knowing the blocking and that time the crazy heckler in the front row of Joseph turned out to be Donny Osmond. https://www.davidburnham.com/

Dennis is joined by two of the filmmakers of the new documentary Still Working 9 to 5, which is about the classic film comedy from 1980 and the ongoing movement for equality for women that the film depicted. Gary co-directed the film and Larry executive produced it. The twin brothers talk about how they first got the idea to make the documentary, the challenges of landing and scheduling interviews with stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman, and how they were able to score a haunting new Kelly Clarkson-Dolly Parton duet version of the title song for their end credits. They also talk about how they worked with co-director Camille Hardman to weave the serious story of the women's equality movement over the last 50 years in with the glamorous, funny behind-the scenes story of making the original 9 to 5 film. They also recall how the bottom dropped out of the documentary market just as they were premiering at South By Southwest in 2022 and wondering if they'd ever get a proper streaming release. (They are--woohoo!--in the fall of 2024.) Other topics include: their powerful and occasionally spooky connection as twins, the snarky male reviewers who didn't appreciate 9 to 5 when it first came out, appearing together as twins on shows like Fear Factor and The Truth About Food and their very humble first Christmas in LA after leaving North Carolina to pursue their dreams. It involved a sad futon, top ramen for dinner and a check for $50,000 from Fear Factor that they couldn't cash because it arrived on Christmas eve and all the banks were closed. www.stillworking9to5.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by the filmmakers behind the new gay thriller Ganymede, Colby Holt & Sam Probst. The film is about a high school wrestling star from a strict Christian family who develops feelings for his openly gay classmate, which causes him to be haunted by a terrifying creature. The co-directors, who are also husbands, talk about where the original idea  came from, what it was like to shoot the movie in Colby's hometown in rural Kentucky, how they came to cast the openly gay two-time Teen Choice Award nominee Jordan Doww as their troubled protagonist and how watching RuPaul's Drag Race helped them decompress after long days on the set. Other topics include: the movies they find terrifying, tracking down a real shock therapy machine to use as a prop, what it was like for Colby to come out in high school, Sam watching the gay film Latter Days in secret n college before coming out, how the pair first met at the gay country Charley's in Chicago at 3 AM on a Monday night and how Colby's mom worked on the fim as a hair consultant and nailed co-star Robyn Lively's Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side highlights. 

Dennis connects via Zoom with musician Greg O'Conner to talk about his debut album The Place I've Never Been and what it's been like to venture out as a solo artist after decades of writing songs and scores for TV and movies. Greg talks about what inspired him to take such a big swing in his mid-50's, the artists that inspired him like Toto, The Beach Boys, Steely Dan and Bleu, finding collaborators on Facebook and Instagram and posing on a hillside with a piano and live bull for the album's striking cover art. Greg also talks about the real-life experiences that inspired the album and videos, like being ghosted by someone he'd been dating for a while and subsequently falling in love with his fiancé, photographer Kevin Sikorski after meeting on Hinge. He also talks about his extensive work in TV and film, writing music for recent films My Home Unknown and Baby Boomer Yearbook (directed by Grease's Randal Kleiser) and TV shows like The Ben Stiller Show, The Big Gay Sketch Show and MadTV, for which he won an Emmy. Other topics include: falling in love with music at four, writing the viral song "Laura Dern" for the Independent Spirit Awards a few years back, shooting two music videos in one day in Capetown, South Africa and being closeted at USC and waiting in line outside of the Mother Lode bar in West Hollywood and being terrified someone would drive by and see him. www.GregOConnor.com

Dennis connects via Zoom with Jeffery Bowman who is the founder and co-host of Legendary Bingo, a West Hollywood staple since 1998. Jeffery talks about the event's humble beginnings, how he enlisted the queen Belle Aire early on as his first drag co-host and how the event has raised over $9 million to date for countless local charities. He dishes about all the celebrities that have appeared at Bingo over the years including Molly Shannon, Ed Asner, Paula Abdul, Richard Simmons, Seth Rogan, Lesley Ann Warren and his first-ever celebrity guest Jean Smart. He also talks about his more recent creative endeavor; writing, recording and releasing songs on Spotify under the name Jeffery Leonard Bowman. His song "No Shelter," about his own experience with rescue animals, is connecting with other animal lovers all over the world and Jeffery couldn't be more thrilled about it. Other topics include: how both Jeffery and Dennis have worked with and been delightfully scandalized by drag legend Willam at Bingo and The MisMatch Game respectively, how great it feels when someone compliments him on his music, the corporate gigs that make it so he's able to make his living from Bingo, why it's never not a pain in the ass when a reality show wants to shoot at Bingo, co-starring with Ron Jeremy in the movie Orgasmo, why people love the game of Bingo generally, finding great collaborators on Craig's List and his favorite celebrity guest caller ever. (Here's a hint: She's 50 years-old.) www.bingoboyinc.com

Dennis is joined in person by author A. Ashley Hoff to discuss his new book With Love, Mommie Dearest, his follow-up to Match Game 101, which he discussed on the podcast a few years back. Ashley talks about why he wanted to write this book, what surprised him while he was conducting interviews and doing research and why be believes that Faye Dunaway, who plays screen legend Joan Crawford in the film, is a "sorceress commanding the elements." He also recalls talking with Christina Crawford, who wrote the tell-all the movie is based on, at a screening of the film in Chicago years ago and learned that while she doesn't particularly like the film, she's proud that it shined a spotlight on the then-taboo topic of child abuse. Ashley also talks about watching the new documentary Faye on Max and finding that it pretty much tracks with the research he conducted for the book, even though he was never able to interview Dunaway herself. At one point, Dennis and Ashley are joined by author and superfan Abdi Nazemian who has been obsessed with the movie since he was 10 years old and has a juicy Faye story of his own to share. Other topics include: Joan Crawford's up-from-nothing resilience and determination, why the bullying aspect of the film might resonate with queer people, that time Dennis interviewed Faye Dunaway for Us Magazine and was kept waiting for four hours, the fact that Mommie Dearest was a financial success, how no one in Hollywood sets out to make a flop and what it is exactly that makes something campy.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A. theater director Bart DeLorenzo to talk about his newest production, Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Odyssey Theatre, as well as his career in general. Bart talks about why the 90 year-old play--about three young, struggling artists who can't seem to live without each other--seems so resonant in this moment. He also talks about his directing process, how he reads a play over and over and over again before he starts putting it on his feet and how he believes there are always two plays going on in any given production; the play on stage and the story that's unfolding in the audience. Other topics include: his memories of seeing plays as a child, what he's observed about Gen Z as a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts, working with Joan Rivers on her autobiographical play A Piece of Work, looking for actors who make his "heart leap" during the casting process, why he loves Los Angeles how he reacts to people whp say theater in LA sucks, and how "nothing good can ever come from reading reviews." https://www.bartdelorenzo.com/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Zach Meiners and Elena Joy Thurston, two of the three conversion therapy survivors profiled in the new documentary Conversion, which was also directed by Meiners. (The third survivor profiled is Dustin Rayburn AKA Dusty Ray Bottoms from RuPaul's Drag Race). Zach talks about what inspired him to make the film, why he used detailed miniatures to tell the story visually and how when he was struggling with his sexuality, he always felt like "the worst person in every room." Elena talks about her background as a devout Mormon wife and mother who found herself overwhelming drawn to a woman in her life. She also talks about the social fallout in her Mormon community when she decided to finally live her truth and how, just a few years later, her current family situation is "wildly wonderful" in a way she never expected. Zach and Elena also talk about how conversion therapy is actually an industry that constantly needs to be fed and how the recent laws that have been passed are important but that they've barely put a dent in the problem. Other topics include: American Idol alum David Archuleta's recent coming out, how conversion therapy can often lead to self harm, the surprising amount of queer activism at Brigham Young University and the pair's hopes that the film can be a catalyst for change.    www.conversionmovie.com