6/17/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY CELEBRATING PRIDE MONTH: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar clip (1995). Elite Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. 
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6/10/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY- CELEBRATING PRIDE: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (1994): When drag queen Anthony (Hugo Weaving) agrees to take his act on the road, he invites fellow cross-dresser Adam (Guy Pearce) and transsexual Bernadette (Terence Stamp) to come along. In their colorful bus, named Priscilla, the three performers travel across the Australian desert performing for enthusiastic crowds and homophobic locals. But when the other two performers learn the truth about why Anthony took the job, it threatens their act and their friendship.

Opera Atop a Bus: Felicia (Guy Pearce) performs opera atop the bus, and then later shares a darkly humorous childhood story with Tick (Hugo Weaving).

 
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – Opera Atop a Bus Scene

The guys get an Aboriginal Man (Alan Dargin) in on their campfire performance of “I Will Survive.

 
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – I Will Survive Scene

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Ping-Pong: The drag show at the bar gets upstaged by a raunchy ping-pong performance from Cynthia (Julia Cortez).

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – Ping-Pong Scene

4/29/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Mahogany- Diana Ross And Billy Dee Williams

Mahogany stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. Fresh from the success of Lady Sings the Blues, this film served as Ross’ follow-up feature film. It was released on October 8, 1975.
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4/22/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997 Film)

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella premiered on ABC on November 2, 1997.  Cinderella proved a major ratings success, originally airing to 60 million viewers and establishing itself as the most-watched television musical in decades, earning ABC its highest Sunday-night ratings in 10 years. Theatre, Out and About Continue reading

4/15/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Bob Fosse- Air-otica

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All That Jazz is the semi-autobiographical fantasy film based on aspects of Bob Fosse’s life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The  musical film was directed by Bob Fosse with screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse.
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(Repost) 1/30/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Sepia Cinderella (1947)

Sepia Cinderella (1947) is the second in a series of films produced by Jack Goldberg and Arthur Leonard, made primarily for the 684 theatres (in 1947) that catered exclusively to Black audiences that were kept out, or placed in a special balcony section, in most of the theatres in segregated America. Continue reading

(Repost) 3/20/23 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Lady Sings The Blues (Big Ben) Plus Encore

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Lady Sings The Blues is the story of jazz singer Billie Holiday and is loosely based on her 1956 autobiography. The name of the film was taken from one of Holiday’s most popular songs.

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2/25/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: High Toned (1929)- Starring Buck and Bubbles

Buck and Bubbles were part of the amazingly talented cast of Blackbirds of 1930 along with piano virtuoso Eubie Blake and the magnificent vocalist Ethel Waters. While this revue is considered a landmark event in the history of black classical music, there is an awestruck need to be reminded that it only ran for a total of 26 performances, leaving Ford Lee “Buck” Washington and John W. Bubbles unemployed again. Continue reading

1/10/24 O&A NYC HAIL TO THE KING!: Martin: A Ballet By Gordon Parks (Prelude)

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Martin: a ballet by Gordon Parks, an original five-movement ballet chronicling the struggles of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Filmed in 1990 the work stars John Jones as Dr. King and Sheila Rohan as Rosa Parks, featuring choreography by Real Lamb. “Martin” (PBS, 1990),  about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Parks served as executive producer, director, composer, keyboardist and documentary photographer for this boldly ambitious project. Continue reading

1/7/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Scent of a Woman- Tango

In the scene from the film Scent of a Woman, Frank Slade, a blind retired lieutenant colonel (played by Al Pacino) teaches Donna, a stranger whom he met at a restaurant, how to dance the tango. Continue reading