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 your weekend.
1) The trailer for Chris Colfer’s upcoming independent film Struck By Lightning was released this week, for which Colfer also wrote the screenplay. Glee’s Colfer has become quite the Renaissance man, having recently signed a deal to write two young adult novels and sold a pilot he wrote to the Disney Channel . Lightning was produced in part by David Permut (Prayers for Bobby), and stars Colfer as a misanthropic high school student who blackmails his classmates into contributing to his literary magazine. The film costars Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids), Sarah Hyland (Modern Family), Allison Janey, Dermont Mulroney, Christina Hendricks, and Angela Kinsey (The Office). Eagle eyed viewers may also notice a teenage gay couple seems to be among those being blackmailed. Watch the trailer below.
2) A bright and glittery corner of gay history is unearthed in the new documentary Sons of Tennessee Williams, released last week on DVD. The film examines how for over half a century the annual Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans has provided a haven for drag performers and gay men to exist and celebrate their lives in an otherwise unfriendly and even dangerous South. Watch the trailer below.
3) Following guest arcs on shows like Will & Grace, Damages, and Desperate Housewives, out comedy legend Lily Tomlin may return to TV full time next season now that she’s been cast in a new ABC pilot costarring Reba McEntire. Malibu County follows a recently divorced rock-star’s wife (McEntire) who is forced to move her family to a small home in Malibu after her ex-husband wipes out their assets. Tomlin will play McIntire’s old-fashioned but kind Southern mother.
4) In addition to creative competition programs, Bravo’s raison d’etre has often been reality television about people with more money than they know what to do with, but the new show Shahs of Sunset looks to put something of a twist on that successful formula. The show will focus on a group of wealthy friends in Los Angeles who are also part of the city’s extensive Persian community, and includes the openly gay and thickly mustachioed Reza. Check out the trailer below.
5) Amy Ray of Indigo Girls fame releases her sixth solo album, Lung of Love, on February 28. Ray’s first performance at SxSW in over a decade will take place this March and tour dates will be announced on her website soon after. Ray was nominated for GLAAD Media Awards for her solo album Prom in 2006 and as part of the Indigo Girls for Become You in 2003. Check out a video of Ray talking about Lung of Love and song clips below.
6) The filmmakers behind Kidnapped for Christ have just under three weeks left on their Indiegogo campaign to raise the money needed to finish their documentary. The film follows the stories of several American teens sent by their parents to an Evangelical Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic, and is being officially sponsored by the International Documentary Association. David is a straight-A student who was taken from his bed in the middle of the night and sent to Esceula Caribe by his parents after coming out as gay. His community banded together after learning what happened to David and started the process to bring the boy home on his 18th birthday. You can watch the trailer below and learn more at their page.
Kidnapped for Christ Trailer from Kidnapped For Christ on Vimeo.
