Peter Mac as the legendary Judy Garland

Judy Garland– The legendary entertainer’s life has always been so tied to gay culture and the fight for LGBT equality that even today, forty years after her death, our celebrations and traditions are still influenced by the force of nature that was Judy Garland.

Gay men loved going to see Judy Garland's live show at Carnagie Hall in New York City. Her death helped to fuel the events surrounding the Stonewall riots and the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

Today we’re talking to Peter Mac, one of the best known Judy Garland tribute artists in the country. For over a decade Peter has been portraying the diva in his one man show “Judy and Me” and now he’s in L.A. for “Judy Takes Broadway” – a remarkable tribute to the diva’s love for the Great White Way.

Join us as we take a closer look at Judy Garland as a misunderstood artist, portrayed by the media as messy and tragic, when in fact she was a triumphant woman who used humor as way to cope with life’s enormous challenges.

Listen as we talk to Peter about why Lucille Ball called Judy the funniest woman she knew, Judy Garland’s podcast recorded on a Nazi Machine, how a gay scene developed around her Carnegie Hall show in New York and the influence her death had at the Stonewall riots.

[Originally posted on 06.16.11]

Featured Music:
Judy At Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland: iTunes

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Peter Mac as the legendary Judy Garland

Judy Garland– The legendary entertainer’s life has always been so tied to gay culture and the fight for LGBT equality that even today, forty years after her death, our celebrations and traditions are still influenced by the force of nature that was Judy Garland.

Gay men loved going to see Judy Garland's live show at Carnagie Hall in New York City. Her death helped to fuel the events surrounding the Stonewall riots and the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

Today we’re talking to Peter Mac, one of the best known Judy Garland tribute artists in the country. For over a decade Peter has been portraying the diva in his one man show “Judy and Me” and now he’s in L.A. for “Judy Takes Broadway” – a remarkable tribute to the diva’s love for the Great White Way.

Join us as we take a closer look at Judy Garland as a misunderstood artist, portrayed by the media as messy and tragic, when in fact she was a triumphant woman who used humor as way to cope with life’s enormous challenges.

Listen as we talk to Peter about why Lucille Ball called Judy the funniest woman she knew, Judy Garland’s podcast recorded on a Nazi Machine, how a gay scene developed around her Carnegie Hall show in New York and the influence her death had at the Stonewall riots.

Featured Music:
Judy At Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland: iTunes

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Everyone loves a tragic diva, and her death on June 22, 1969 is the stuff of legend. Some historians say because of the sorrowful atmosphere of her death, many LGBT people reacted violently when police raided the Stonwall Inn, a gay bar run by the mob in New York City on June 28, 1969.

It’s considered the first instance in American history when gay people fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities. It’s seen as the defining event that marked the start of the modern gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

Here is the rehearsal footage and the final show for one of her last appearances at the Hollywood Palace.

Before:

After:

Judy Garland, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and Tina Turner- gay men love their divas. Today we’re talking to campy singer Melissa Young about her new show “Out: A Rainbow Icon Celebration.”

Melissa takes a look at the gay rights movement as seen through the lens of the entertainers we all love. Can guys like George Michael and Elton John be divas? We certainly think so!

Listen as Melissa sings in our home studio songs from her show and takes questions from you- through our Facebook page. Did Judy Garland’s death really spark the modern gay rights movement? Why is Madonna so different from all the other divas?

Does the ubiquitous rainbow flag have origins in Perú? And what about those who propose a redesign of the gay pride flag. Check out their designs here.

We’re also joined by her pianist Joshua Stephen Kartes a music composer who wrote a choral piece in his own artificial language Aspelan. How does one go about creating an artificial language? Is it anything like Klingon?

Listen as we talk about the hot news that matters to you most:

You have the right to remain sexy! National Health Service leaflet in the UK advises school students that they have the right to an enjoyable sex life.

Gay penguins may be getting a divorce as a conniving lady penguin has entered the scene. Is she the Liza Minnelli of penguins?

The Michael Jackson mystery continues as LaToya says her brother Michael was murdered.

Truck driving themed board game “My Trucking Luck” created by Randy Cox gives kids a hands on perspective of life on the road. Sorry kids, no meth addiction cards or truck stop hookers in this edition.

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof1022 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Check out today’s sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo code
field to get the special discount.

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Check out Curtis Jensen’s fantastic video of San Francisco’s drag queen Easter Bonnet contest. Curtis writes in the forums: “Yes Halloween is totally fucked up in San Francisco, but I’ll just bet you don’t have an Easter Celebration quite like this anywhere BUT San Francisco. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do it up right in the name of that reanimated corpse of a savior.”

Easter has come and gone. One of the strangest holidays on the calendar, Easter can happen anytime in April or March. It’s very sneaky that way.

The reason Easter’s occurrence is different every year is so confusing has to do with a multitude of different factors. Everything from the patterns of the moon to the occurrence of Jewish Passover to the vernal equinox have their hand in why it plays peekaboo with the calendar.

Of course, Easter is associated with many different traditions. The most obvious is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which in modern times is what Easter is really all about. So what do bunnies, bonnets and colorfully dyed eggs have to do with all of that religious symbolism?

Some might argue that the Easter Egg represents “new life,” as a chick would hatch from an egg. Another theory is that eggs were forbidden during the celebration of Lent, so on Easter eggs are once again allowed and therefore celebrated. The colorful eggs can possibly be traced to a tale where Mary Magdalene announced Jesus’s resurrection to the Emperor of Rome. The Emperor pointed to an egg on his table and said to Mary, “Christ has not risen no more than that egg is red.” Immediately after making this statement, the egg turned blood red.

Whatever the origins, the most frequently forgotten tradition is that of the Easter Parade. Popularized in the 1948 film starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, and by the song of the same title, Easter Parades featured extravagantly-coiffed bonnets and a parade to show them off along with the participants’ “Easter Best” clothes.

The GLBT community should embrace such fanciful traditions and make them into something even more fabulous, but it’s hard to find an Easter Parade in the LGBT communities other than in San Francisco, which puts on one hell of a show. Of course the activity of coloring eggs is always a treat but I propose from the bottom of my very gay heart that we bring back the Easter Bonnet and the Easter Parade and make it what Judy Garland intended- a fabulous showcase of spring extravaganza.

Check out this colorful story about the trials of war, told from the perspective of the everlasting and delicious Marshmallow Peep.