Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Keep the Lights On, one of the year’s best LGBT-themed films, opens in several NY and LA-area theaters this weekend, with additional engagements being added around the country in the coming months. The film follows the loving but dysfunctional relationship of an aspiring filmmaker and his meth-addicted boyfriend over the course of a decade in New York. Lights premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year before moving on the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Teddy Award for best scripted feature film with an LGBT theme.
2) The pioneering television show In The Life is coming to an end. Co-chairs Henry van Ameringen and Jayne Baron Sherman released a statement on Wednesday announcing that the final broadcast of the long-running LGBT journalism show will air on PBS in December 2012. The TV show is produced by In The Life Media, and has previously been honored by NLGJA and received several GLAAD Media Awards. In The Life Media will continue as an organization and will work to create a web-based archive of important historical LGBT videos. You can watch all of the episodes online here.
3) Out singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge released her 12th studio album this week, titled 4th Street Feeling. One of her most personal albums yet, Etheridge takes listeners on a trip with her back to her small hometown of Leavenworth, Kansas, while also revealing her future. Etheridge co-produced the album with Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones) and Steven Booker (Duffy). You can buy her new album on iTunes now. Check out one of her new songs below.
4) Former American Idol and The Voice contestant Frenchie Davis debuted her first single and music video “Love’s Got a Hold on Me” from her upcoming debut album, Just Frenchie. The name of the album is inspired by her time on reality competition shows. She says, "I decided to name it Just Frenchie because a lot of people have been hearing me sing for almost a decade now, but most of what they've heard was other people's music." This year, Davis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "I dated men and women… Now I'm in love with a woman I think I can be with forever." The new album will contain dance tracks and will be released later this year. Check out her new music video below.
5) Dark Horse Comics announced that they are partnering with Once Upon a Time and Buffy writer Jane Espenson and Brad Bell, the creators of the groundbreaking and popular series Husbands, to create an online comic book series based on the show. Online, Husbands follows the lives of two gay celebrities facing the fallout from their drunken Vegas wedding. But in the comic, it appears Cheeks and Brady will also have super powers. Espenson explains that the “show is set in a marriage-equalized world, so it's already got a hint of an alternate-universe thing going on.” The comic book will be available on iTunes starting October 24th. Catch all of the Husbands episodes online here. You can also check out behind-the-scenes footage here.
6) The popular scripted web comedy series The Variants returned for its third season. The Variants was created by Richard Neal, owner of the award-winning Zeus Comics in Dallas, Texas, and longtime customers Joe Cucinotti and Ken Lowery. The show stars Neal and other employees of Zeus Comics playing fictional versions of themselves. Neal and employee Barry are both openly gay. The season premiere finds the Zeus Comics crew developing a commercial for the store and discovering new ways to innovate in the world of declining print media. The Variants showcases the absurd side of retail life, and episodes will now be released weekly instead of monthly. Check out all of the episodes on the official website here.
7) Bombay-based writer and director Sridhar Rangayan needs help getting his film Breaking Free finished. The documentary is about the struggle for LGBT equality in India and the obstacles the community face. The damaging Section 377, which criminalized homosexuality in India, has recently been overturned. Now, there are those trying to appeal the decision because they feel that this will cause the destruction of India’s moral fabric. You can donate at the Breaking Free Indiegogo page here, and check out a video below.
